what are the odds? i have crossed paths with meatloaf (the singer, not the food), not once, but twice in my life. this is a brush with fame i never anticipated. and while i can appreciate his theatrical performance style, his passion, and unique voice, i was never musically smitten enough to ever really aspire to come in face-to-face contact with him. or bikini-to-speedo contact with him, for that matter, but fate tiptoed in and had other plans.

our first meeting happened back in the day when i was a cocktail waitress/student. meatloaf stopped by to immortalize his visit to our place by putting his hands into a wet cement block on our sidewalk.

not meatloaf putting his hands in wet cement

what i remember most about this night, was not the hand printing, but the imprint left on me when he grabbed a half-eaten sandwich off of a customer’s plate, took a huge bite out of it, and put it back. that, and i remember he was sweating. a lot.

not meatloaf sweating or the sandwich he took a huge bite of

our second meeting happened when i was in florida and walking down the beach. i was sipping on a tall, cool cocktail, enjoying the slow-setting sun, reflecting on another relaxing vacation day, when who should come walking down the beach, but my old friend meatloaf. and this time he was wearing a speedo, and it was not his best look. and he had a colorful, fruity drink in his hand, and he was still sweating, and his skin was really red, but he was smiling, and he kept on smiling as we passed each other. and we were both happy.

not meatloaf in a speedo on the beach

and i took a big sip of my cocktail with double limes, and thought to myself, how lucky. some things were meant to be, you just have to take what the universe offers up and toast to it. so, here’s to you, meatloaf on the beach.

meatloaf

There’s no explanation for success. Success just comes out of life. – Meat Loaf

———-

image credits: fabulousfoods.com,tumblr.com, primantibrothers.com, latimes.com,theguardian.com