The following story is very touching and also very heart wrenching, concerning someone who was very special to Abby. This is a sad story, but it is also inspirational in its own way. It shows that there is a place for kindness and goodness, and that dreams can come true in this life, as well as in the life to come. It shows that what we do is important to others, and that an act of kindness continues on, even after we are gone. I hope this story inspires the reader to look for opportunities to help others, and to discover what the most important things in life are.
It turns out that Elicia lived in South Bend, IN which is in the far northern portion of the state. I was even more excited to learn she lived in my home state regardless of the distance from Indianapolis to South Bend. As we became e-mail pals, I learned that Elicia's name was really Mary Powell. She used a pen name online and in the fanzine to remain anonymous. It never occurred to me why this would be important to think about so I took her explanation in stride and never questioned her about it. As time went by, we started talking with eachother on the phone. Mary sort of took me under her wing, I guess, and I'll never know exactly why she "chose" me, but she did. She was about my mom's age and had a son roughly a year older than me, I think. She was married and had a great family life.
The Monkees' 30th anniversary was coming up in 1996 and I was elated to learn that the guys were going to have concerts again. This was my chance to finally see one! They were to perform in Cincinnati, OH at the zoo there, in July of 1996 and I was fortunate enough to have a good friend who tolerated my fascination with the Monkees and drove me to the show (at 17, my parents were not going to allow me to go alone or drive by myself). Earlier that year, I had started Davy Devotees, and spoke with Mary about how badly I wanted to meet Davy and how I knew it was never going to happen because he wouldn't make a trip to Indianapolis and I could not travel by myself to see him. Mary kept telling me not to give up and to believe in my dream. She told me that I never knew what would happen and to have faith.
Mary and I had made tentative plans to meet up at the show in Cincinnati. I really wanted to finally meet her in person. Something happened and she couldn't make the show which I knew a bit in advance so I wasn't totally shocked when she didn't get to the concert. A few months prior to the concert, she started sharing more "insider" information about the Monkees and her connection to them with me. She had been following them for a few years, having met Peter in particular several times. In fact, I believe he pretty much knew her by name if not just by sight. I can't recollect exactly what her relationship was with the members of the group (mostly Peter and Micky) but I think she may have been a casual friend of both of theirs. I thought this was awesome! Of course to me this seemed like a whole different world since I had never known anyone with her type of background before. Mary shared bits of her life with me on the phone through our friendship as time went on. I think it was in May of 1996 that we became aware of a Monkees concert in Merrillville, IN (which was very close to South Bend, where Mary lived).
As soon as my parents gave me permission to attend this concert AND the one in Cincinnati, OH, I instantly called Mary. At this point, I was more excited at the idea of getting to see Mary in person than attending 2 concerts in one month, honestly. Mary told me she really thought she could make this show! On top of that, she finally told me one final important aspect of her life. She was best friends with a lady who was dating Micky Dolenz (I won't mention her name to protect her identity but she is legitimate). This lady lived in Florida and Mary was almost positive she could come up to Indiana for this concert. At first thought, I was overwhelmed at the thought of finally meeting Mary AND the girlfriend of a Monkee! As August 16 got closer, Mary called and confirmed this lady would be at the concert. They purchased tickets and plans were made.
On the night of August 14, I received a phone call from Mary, saying she had a surprise for me. She said someone wanted to talk to me and she put Micky's girlfriend on the phone. She introduced herself and told me, "I spoke with Micky and he has reserved 3 backstage passes for you and your friend for the show." I instantly flipped out. I don't know how many times I thanked her that night. Mary was put back on the phone and she said something like, "Didn't I tell you not to worry about meeting Davy?" I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I was. Mary was so happy for me, she kept laughing and saying, "Isn't this exciting?" It seemed to be as fun for her to hear my reaction as it was for me at the thought of meeting Davy. That's the type of person Mary was. We made plans to meet at Mary's hotel room a few hours before the concert in 2 days.
I also had plans to meet with some internet friends at a Denny's restaurant before that same concert so this was going to be one heck of a day for me! When my friend and I got to Merrillville and checked into our own room (this was a different friend from the concert in Cincinnati), I instantly called to Mary's hotel which was just down the strip. She wasn't in yet but they took a message from me to have her call me. We waited and waited and finally decided to go to her hotel. As I got there, I saw some people in Monkees t-shirts (I was wearing mine with Davy's photo on the front) and some of them stopped me, asking about my shirt. That was kind of fun. Upon getting to the check in desk at Mary's hotel, I learned that she WAS in her room now! We rushed up there and knocked on the door. She knew it was me before she opened the door because she called my name. We hugged eachother and it really did feel like seeing a long lost friend. It turns out she never got my phone message which is why she didn't call me back. I was so giddy and Mary was so loving towards me, she was as genuine in person as she was on the phone. She told me Micky's room was just a few doors down and that his girlfriend should be coming in any second. When she came in, I started thanking her all over again and both of them seemed so enlightened by my innocence and gratitude. Micky's girlfriend had some pictures of her with him and she shared some nice stories about him with me and my friend. She and Mary shared some inside jokes, and the atmosphere was so nice. I didn't get to spend much time with them because of the fateful internet gathering I had to attend but I did get to at least spend a bit of time talking with Mary. They didn't really shoo me away but they seemed to have some plans too. We made plans to meet up later after they had gotten the passes from the box office which is where Micky said they would be waiting. I was to run back to their room after the internet gathering and get the passes.
So, I went to the internet gathering and met Joe whom I talked to for so long that I was running late for my second meeting with Mary!! We had to hurry and exchange phone numbers so that my friend and I could run back to the hotel room. My friend got to the room first because I had to search for a parking place and when I got up there, Mary sullenly opened the door, Micky's girlfriend was looking very disappointed. I said, "What happened?" and Mary said, "We tried and tried but the lady at the box office couldn't give us the passes. I'm so sorry." I was so completely disappointed, I started bawling right there! That was my one and only chance to meet Davy. Mary quickly rushed to me and gave me a hug and said, "NO!! I'm just kidding! Don't cry. We have the passes!" and Micky's girlfriend hurriedly gave them to me. Mary felt so bad for putting me through that but she was so fast to comfort me. My friend said, "See, I told you not to do that." I think at that moment Mary saw just how special what she did for me was. I know she understood it was something I wanted badly before but I don't know that it registered with her until then that it was so special.
We made plans to meet in Indianapolis and maybe travel together to see more shows. I had to rush out because the concert would start in about an hour or so. When we got to the concert, we ran into Mary again and she gave us her tickets (which were center stage a few rows back) because Micky had upgraded her seats for them. After the show, we ran into Mary and her pal in the hallway, looking for the "backstage train" that was to contain people with backstage passes. I hung onto Mary for dear life as we fought through the crowd to make our way backstage. When we got backstage, she and her friend stayed off to the side, just observing the surroundings, talking with eachother. I could tell this was "old hat" for her and that this whole backstage thing didn't NEED to happen because she would have hung out with Micky regardless, meaning it was that much more special that she went to the trouble to get little old me back there. Micky came out first, followed by Peter and then Davy (who was the only one who was swamped by the crowd). When Davy came out and over to where I was standing I looked over at Mary who was absolutely glowing and she mouthed, "You're welcome." That was the last time I saw her. (I'm getting very emotional as I type this...)
She and her friend made a very discreet exit as Micky exited. I had no doubt in my mind, I'd hear from Mary in a few days because she was going to follow the tour to a few more cities and then would return home. She had planned on going to Moline, IL the next day.
When I got home the next day, my dad told me he had received a phone call about Mary. My parents were well aware of who Mary was and what she had done for me. My dad sat me down and said that he got a call from a club owner in Illinois who owned the place or worked at the place where the Monkees were going to perform (in Moline, IL). The club owner told my dad that he knew I was very important to Mary and he should contact me to let me know that Mary had a brain aneurysm the day after the concert in Merrillville and that she was in a coma in an Illinois hopsital and that it didn't look good, but she would be flown back to South Bend to be placed in a hospital in her hometown soon. I remember falling to the floor when I heard the news. I had never experienced a death in my family or amongst any close friends before. I had never met anyone like Mary before. At this point, I learned that I meant as much to Mary as she did to me. My mom ran to me and held me as I cried and I went straight online, posting on the bulletin boards again that Mary was sick and for fans to please pray for her. There was an instantaneous outpouring of love and friendship to me and others who knew Mary and I didn't even know they knew her, after this post online. It seemed that everyone who was "someone" in Monkeedom as we call it, knew of Mary or knew her. It turns out, she was very well known which is why she used a pen name online. Many people knew she had such good connections to the Monkees so she was extremely cautious about who she chose as a friend and who she shared portions of her life with. As her condition in a coma remained, the club owner called again (again while I was out of the house) and told my dad that Mary had spoken about me the day after the concert and how happy she was she made my dream come true that night. He said that I meant a lot to Mary and to keep praying for her.
In September, she was taken off of life support and she quietly died in a hospital in South Bend, IN. Mary lived just long enough to make my dream come true. Her husband, whom I had never spoken to or heard from before, sent me an e-mail shortly after her death, telling me how much I meant to her and how good a friend I was to her. I was so touched that I didn't know how to reply and felt such a complete and total sadness as if a part of me was now missing. I still say to this day that I would gladly give back that meeting with Davy if I could just have my friend back. It is very overwhelming to me to have seen the tremendous outpouring of love from these Monkees fans online who were sending me of all people, e-mails about Mary and how nice she was and that I must have been very special to her. I never knew Mary was so "famous" nor did I have a clue she cared so much about me. She never had a daughter and I think that's how she saw me.
I dedicated the September 1996 edition of my newsletter to Mary - it held the full account of my meeting her and Davy as well as the picture I had taken with Davy that to this day, I dedicate to Mary. For a long time I had that picture on my webpage with the caption; "Dedicated to Mary Powell; friend and fellow Monkee lover. See you in heaven." But I just recently took it down and am going to place it somewhere else. I make a note to mention this story to as many people as I can because I want them to know there are good people in this world who don't expect anything in return for good deeds besides a warm smile. I have such vivid pictures in my mind of Mary and that night that I will never forget until the day I die. I will always remember her as the last time I saw her, mouthing, "You're welcome," to me as I stood right next to Davy. Now, whenever someone contacts me who is a fan of Davy or the Monkees and they keep telling me they'll "NEVER" meet the guys, I tell them to have faith and not to give up. This goes beyond just meeting the Monkees, these are words to live by in every aspect of life. Don't give up your dreams.
She was such a huge inspiration to me and my life, beyond the Monkees. I believe in angels and I feel everyone has an angel in their life at one point. Mary was my angel and I think that even the most faithless people have to believe in some religious factors within this story because she basically died right after I met her. She lived just long enough to fulfill a dream I had. If you don't see some strangeness in this, I don't know what else to say about it. My one regret is I didn't get a photograph of her or spend a lot of time with her in her room but I realize by not spending so much time with her, I got to meet Joe, whom I married on August 8, 1998. So, something incredibly wonderful came out of this and I wish I could share this happiness with Mary.
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