Okay, don't let my mom fool you for one second. She LOVES this meet and greet just as much as I do.
And quite frankly, if I'm not able to meet Captain Jack Sparrow, even if I do have my own standing right next to me, there's one meet and greet at the Halloween parties that I absolutely cannot miss.
I mean, would you want to miss this???
I have actually missed this character, found out his schedule, and gone back later when I knew he would be there.
Oh, yes, my friends. I'm a groupie, and from the look on Tarzan's face, he knows it.
It's men with dreads, what can I say?
So that's how we come to the next memory in this delightful collection, and that's my meet and greet with Tarzan. Much like Tink considers the Polynesian resort to be her Poly, I consider this guy to be my Tarzan. And quite frankly, he is on loan to the rest of you folks until I get to see him again.
Let's just say that I haven't always seen this Tarzan at every party, and when I do run into him, it really makes my evening. I mean, look at him! You all do remember my DIS name, yes?
A little back story. It was the summer after my sophomore year in college. I was doing an internship at our local art museum in the administration department. It was a great internship, it was a great summer, but I had some sort of quiet discontent in me that I couldn't put my finger on. Sort of ironic considering the state of affairs in my life right now.
And then Tarzan came out in theaters. And I loved it. I loved it with a passion I rarely feel for any film, never mind that it was put out by Disney. I loved the lush scenery, the new animation concepts, the characters, the music. I loved it all. Something in it spoke to me, and I went to see it, in the theater ten times. I even called out from the internship a couple of times and went to see it. That's about the extent of my naughtiness in college.
I may not have partied in college (and I went to art school, so picture that), but I skipped work to go to a Disney film. And if that doesn't speak volumes about me, I don't know what does.
I even insisted one of my college professors (whom I was very close with and who has since passed as well) come see it with me; he did and he loved it. That professor is another story for another time, but that summer, that movie was my salvation.
And meeting Tarzan brings back a little sense of that peace. I'd give anything to have that feeling right now.
Never mind the serious heart palpitations as well.
So when you're meeting a man who's basically wearing a loin cloth, where do you put your hands?
Well, fortunately, Tarzan, although lord of the jungle and all things wild (tee hee), happens to be a complete gentleman, and will take your hands in his, prom photo style so that you may have your romantic shot together.
And believe me. Even if he's meet and greeting with Jane, or Turk, or whoever, I will politely take pictures with them first, and then ask very nicely if I may have my picture alone with Tarzan. I remember one year, Jane told me, in her delightful British accent, "Happens all the time."
Now, Mom will insist that she's just doing this for me, but as I said, don't let that fool you. She likes it just as much as I do.
Maybe even more...
I miss them. Whenever we would go visit our grandparents we would go to Freeport and eat at the Friendly's there. He would always let us get one of the kids ice cream treats. It is one of the great memories I have with him.
