For some time, my mom and I have been fans of Rosie O’Donnell. She hosts a talk show daily in New York on ABC (Channel 7) at 10 A.M.. We watch her show together every day. Since mom works, most of the time we tape the show and watch it after dinner. Rosie has a great show and is a wonderful person. She is very active in raising money for worthy causes, especially charities that benefit children. On her show she has celebrity guests and always treats them with respect. Rosie never talks bad of anyone, and donates a lot of her time supporting various charities. She is also very generous and has donated her own funds to many of the charities she supports. She has formed a foundation, For All Kids, to benefit various other foundations helping sick and troubled kids. We have been trying to get tickets for her show for some time. We were unsuccessful last year but did manage to catch her performance at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on Memorial Day weekend. At that time she posed for a picture with us and autographed my Rosie doll and Kids Are Punny book (The entire proceeds of this book goes to charity). She was especially nice in coming off the stage to me in my wheelchair since I couldn’t get to where she was going to be signing autographs. When my mother’s birthday was approaching in November, I especially wanted to see her get to the Rosie show. Because she had recovered from a major surgery, this would be a special treat if it could happen. Instead of just sending in a request for tickets, which are distributed by lottery, I wrote to Rosie on my ticket request and explained why I wanted tickets. I was disappointed when mom’s birthday came and went and I didn’t receive any response from Rosie or her show. We celebrated mom’s birthday with a big party and the whole family (my older brothers and sister and their families) celebrated Christmas and New Years, and I kind of forgot that I didn’t get the tickets for mom. Suddenly in the January 11th mail came a response from the Rosie O’Donnell show, telling me I had two tickets for the January 18th performance. Wow! I was very excited and called mom at work to tell her the great news. We could both hardly wait for the 18th to come. The night before the show I was very excited. My mom and dad surprised me. While I was sleeping, they used my dad’s computer to make T-Shirt transfers and make two “We Love Rosie” shirts for mom and me. The shirts had a large copy of the picture we took with Rosie in Vegas. On the morning of the 18th, an extraordinary thing happened. My father, mother and I got out of the house before 7AM to take the drive into Manhattan. We had to be at the NBC studios where Rosie’s show is televised by 8:15 A.M.. (That’s right, even though her show is on ABC, it is televised from an NBC studio at Rockerfeller Center.) Once there, we had to line up according to the type of ticket we had – reserved, stand-by or V.I.P. Because of my wheelchair, they put us at the front of the reserved ticket holders line. Since the wheelchair can only go in one place, all the way at the top of the studio behind the Rosie O’Donnell sign seen on the show, we weren’t displacing anyone, but merely being given a clear path to our seats. At about 8:45 A.M., a man named Joey Kola came down to explain to people how they were to conduct themselves during the show. He explained when to clap and when to be quiet. He basically explained the proper etiquette to everyone and told us that during the show he would give us signals when to clap and so forth. We were taken up through security and brought to another line outside the studio. Then we again were taken out of the line and finally brought into the studio. We were treated very nice. Two men brought a platform over to raise my wheel chair so I could have a good view of the show. Everyone received chocolate milk and Yodels for a snack before the show. And everyone also received an “All Star Café” key chain and a "Loonette" doll from “The Comfy Couch” Children’s Show. (Loonette was one of Rosie’s guests that day.) While we were enjoying the chocolate milk and yodels, Joey came over to us. He explained that after the show, Rosie would autograph things for the kids, down by the stage. He said he knew we couldn’t get there with the wheelchair and that he would ask Rosie to come up to me. I had my "Kids are Punny Two" book with me and was happy to hear that. Finally after more preparations led by Joey, it was time for the show to begin. Rosie came out to a cheering audience and mom and I were thrilled to be part of that audience. We were not in a good spot to be seen on TV but we had a good view and enjoyed the show. (Later in viewing the tape of the show we could see our heads as tiny balls in one scene. No-one watching would know it was us, but we know where we were sitting and we know it was us.) Rosie’s guests, in addition to Loonette, were Martha Stewart and David Hasselhoff from Baywatch. The opening announcement for the show, which was on the day after the Jets lost to the Broncos, was made by the Bronco’s number one fan, a guy named Ted something, who was being inducted into the Fans Hall of Fame. There was a lot of kidding about the game (Rosie was rooting for the Jets naturally) during the show, and Rosie announced that in honor of the Jets fine effort, the entire audience was being treated to lunch at the All Star Café, in Times Square. The show was very interesting, seeing the things that go on off camera, - the makeup people touching up the stars makeup, the stage crew moving things around etc. The studio is actually very small but on TV, thanks to the things you can do with a camera, it looks a lot bigger than it is. When the show was over, Joey came up to us again. He told us not to move, that Rosie was coming up to see us after she finished autographing for the kids. Sure enough, Rosie came up to mom and me. She gave me a picture that she dedicated and signed in person. She spoke with us a few minutes, commented on our T-shirts, autographed my Kids Are Punny 2 book and posed for another picture with us. Then Joey gave me an official Rosie O’Donnell Kooshball shooter. Now it was time to go. On the way out we received our luncheon tickets and a kooshball pencil. At the All Star Café, a buffet luncheon was served. We had burgers, dogs, chicken sandwiches and veggie burgers and all the trimmings. We also had plenty of soda to drink and some nice cookies and brownies for dessert. Finally it was time to head home. It was after two o’clock, and since we had all gotten up early (for us) we were tired after a busy but happy day at the Rosie O’Donnell Show.

This picture of Rosie with mom and I was taken when Rosie came up the studio to see me after her show. Dad's camera didn't work (his batteries were low) but Rosie had one of her staff take this Poloroid picture for us. She really is a wonderful and kind person.

Rosie autographed my Kids Are Punny Books for me. This is the original book where she said "Elizabeth, You Rock!"

Here is an autographed photo of Rosie.

And finally this is another autographed photo of my favorite TV personality!

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LAST UPDATED 10/11/99