On Friday March 27th, 1998 I had the pleasure of meeting my all-time fave musician: Richie Sambora...he's been my fave member of the band almost from the very beginning...OK I was hooked on Jon first but then Richie sorta pushed him in the background...He,he!

Anyhow...Me and a friend went into Oslo with only ONE goal in mind: Finding Richie!! He was in Norway doing promotion for his Undiscovered Soul CD...We had booked a hotel room at the Oslo Plaza, thinking that Richie was staying there..but upon strolling around the city centre...we ended up in front of Grand Hotel... which is one of the finest hotels in Oslo..and a very "cosy" one too! 2 girls were standing outside and one of them had a very "revealing jacket" on...revealing because it gave her away as a BJ fan! It was the Backstage With Jon Bon Jovi satin jacket.. They told us that Richie stayed at this hotel...and we had only missed him going back from some rehearsals to a TV show he was doing later that night...Just my luck...missed my hero by minutes! But this time lady luck had decided to show me some mercy! They told us he was definitely coming back out later to got to a radio interview and also for the TV show...we talked for a while and struck up a friendship...one of the girls wasn't a BJ fan but still very amused by us and very sweet! They were going to do some shopping and we agreed to meet up a couple of hours later on...outside the hotel..In the meantime my friend and I headed into the hotel to check for roomrates..only to find that a double room was only slightly more expensive than the one we'd booked at the Plaza...we called the other hotel to cancel our reservation and checked in at the Grand Hotel!

After unpacking we went back to the lobby to see if we could at least get a GLIMPSE of the guy...my friend smokes so she sat in the smoking area, she told me to keep an eye out for Richie and I did...I DID see him running down part of the stairs..as he was looking for someone or something...I called my friend but Richie went back upstairs...so we had to do some more waiting...The time for meeting the 2 other girls came up...I went outside and there I saw Richie's driver and van...I got my friend and we waited outside to meet Richie....wouldn't stop him inside the hotel lobby..

After about one hours wait our patience paid off!! Out he came...and I was brave enough to approach him!! "Hi Richie" I said and had my hand reached out to greet him..he took it and said "Hi hon" or something back.. I asked if I could have my picture taken with him and he said "sorry I don't have time.." but quickly changed that into "OK come on ladies" He held his arms up wide open and waved us to him like "come gimme a hug!" My friend and I quickly went to him and had one pic taken!! One of the girls we met took the pic with her camera...I got mine up and asked if she could take one with mine so...Richie really was running late but didn't rush off with a "nope! gotta go!" Not him! A guy behind him said quick, gotta go!" but Richie said "sure!" I was standing there and I stuttered to him " Thanks for stopping..sorry for holding you up here!" Usually my spoken English is fluent but at this moment I spoke as badly as my mother speak English! I couldn't say anything that made any good sense at all....Jeez, I was in a complete state of shock!! Richie replied "No problem darling!" or something in that line...He was really friendly and obviously happy to see us outside the hotel

When Richie left my tears started to come...but I did held them back by sheer willpower! Jeez I'm 31 years...can't go acting like I'm 13 then and start whimpering just because I met this guy! He,he! I was shaking all over but managed to calm down...we all went together to get something to eat...then we headed to the TV studio that the TV show Richie was going to perform in was being shot...It's a live show...and it does have studio audience but they don't show the audience..

Well we got into the studio...and after a while into the show...He was there!! Of course lots of smiles and waves from us!! He noticed us and certainly gave us his share of attention...He seemed to love ours...He,he! When he was being introduced we made it clear to each and everyone in the studio who we was there to see...We yelled so loud that the guy responsible for the audience had to try to calm us down...

After his fist performance..he sang In It For Love acoustic...he passed right in front of us on his way out of the TV studio...of course he couldn't help himself joking with us as he passed us by! LOL He did a funny walk and made funny faces to us...cracked us up BIG TIME!!

Then further into the show it was his turn to come on again...he came out a few minutes before he was gonna be on..and certainly noticed us once again! Fooling around, correcting his clothes in a jokingly matter..one of the girl we met in Oslo.... the BJ fan one...she whispered to me..."if he checks his zipper, I'll crack up" I had serious troubles keeping my calm...I had to go to the bathroom so badly and I was about to burst out in a really LOUD laughter but managed to hold it in..He,he!

Well he played Hard Times Comes Easy with the show's "houseband" and he was obviously impressed because he went around shaking hands with everyone afterwards!! and we gave him a standing ovation!! Boy he did love that!

This was definitely a dream come true to me...even though I couldn't get an autograph I was still happy to only have met the guy!