A brush with fame, once-removed

For some reason, the talk turned to wrestling. "I have nephews who are wrestlers," she said. "Oh really," I responded, thinking she would relate a story or two about a few amateur bouts around town. "You might have heard of one of them, Bret Hart." Bret "The Hitman" Hart! I almost shrieked. "Bret, The Hitman, Hart is your nephew!?!?!" I am a huge fan, huge!

I was dumbfounded. Here we are sitting with new friends in a little Italian restaurant in Calgary when this very refined, petite woman announces casually that her oldest sister was Bret's mother. And the late Owen's and 12 other children in that huge Hart wrestling family, headed by the late patriarch, Stu. I could not believe it. The closest I had previously come to fame was as the maid of honour at the marriage of Matthew Perry's parents (she was my best friend in high school)...that and meeting the Queen. But I digress; those are other blogs for other days.

We were dining with well-known Calgarians, to whom we had been introduced by a mutual friend (thank you, Angele). The husband is so renowned as to have been roasted by anyone-who's-anyone in this city. He is connected politically to everyone-who's-everyone and can pick up the phone and get Harper on the line whenever he takes a notion. Often, in couples like that, people tend to ignore the wife and focus on the celebrity. But my training as a journalist has given me another angle. I interview people. Can't help it. Whenever I meet someone new, I simply interview them. Nothing makes a person happier than being interviewed.

So, there I sat chatting with the wife and finding out all kinds of facinating stuff. Like the fact that she is from Long Island; the accent remains thick. "Near Stephen King's Ammityville?" I asked. "Not far," she replied. I also found out that her father had been a long-distance Olympic runner -- hence the athletic genes in the Hart boys.

As we were leaving the restaurant I said to the owner, "Do you realize that this lady is Bret Hart's aunt!" "Oh yes, of course. In fact, Mr. Hart and his family were here for lunch today." Man. Dumbfounded again.

So, now my hope is to one day meet The Hitman. Google him and you will be amazed by his accomplishments. What a thrill that would be.