My Doris Day Story

She’d been my very best friend for years and years…..well over thirty, and I never knew she loved Doris Day.

I never knew she played Doris Day CD’s on her way to work some mornings.

But when she saw Cypress Inn one day while we were walking Carmel in California, well…..we were goin’ in, and THAT’S when I found out what a fan she was.

Cypress Inn is located on a corner in the heart of Carmel.

My husband Lobo and I had walked past it many times on our days spent wandering the quaint little village.

We knew it belonged to Doris Day and we knew how very much she loved “furries” and that they were not only welcomed but catered to, at her Inn.

But I never knew how much my girlfriend loved her.

Not until that day!

We walked around the lobby and admired the animal art work on the walls.

My girlfriend was in awe. She was in Doris Day’s hotel!

Then we walked into the restroom and that’s when it happend.

There was a lovely basket of folded linen hand towels on the counter.

She took one and began folding it to fit in her purse.

“What are you doin’?”

“I gotta have one.”

“NO! You can’t do that.”

“Why?”

Well, I didn’t quite know why, other than it was stealing but this was my serious partner in crime. We’d done all sorts of things together over the years…..mischievous things…..things we thought were sometimes pretty funny but probably not everyone else would have.

But, take a hand towel from Doris Day’s bathroom?

In Carmel?

I mean, Carmel’s pretty high up there as far as classy, hoitey-toitey goes.

“Well, what if we get caught?”

“How’s that gonna happen? There’s no one in here but us.”

Then I lied…..

“They have cameras everywhere in Carmel, they’ll see us.

We’ll get arrested.

I’ll be humiliated.

Don’t take it and I promise you I’ll get you one.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but I will.”

Reluctantly the little hand towel went back in the basket and we left.

The following week-end Lobo and I returned to Cypress Inn and I had a conversation with the young kid behind the desk.

I asked if I could purchase 2 of the hand towels in the Ladies Room.

He was polite and sweet but said he couldn’t do that as the towels didn’t belong to the hotel, they belonged to a linen company.

I requested the name of the linen company.

He didn’t know but said he’d find out.

He agreed to call me with the information.

He didn’t call.

The following week-end, we went back to the hotel.

The kid didn’t work there anymore!

I started over with a new CAN I BUY TWO DAMN TOWELS request.

It was a manager who told me he couldn’t sell me two but he at least knew the name of the laundry service.

The next week-end we went to the laundry service. It was in Pacific Grove, the little Hamlet of a town where we lived, one town over from Carmel.

It was a Saturday and they were closed.

Week-ends were all we had to hunt these towels down as we were both still working full-time.

So, one week-day we both left work early and headed to the laundry factory.

Finally, a human we could talk to but nope, only if we knew how to speak Spanish.

But we did communicate well enough to find that the boss wasn’t there but would be there the next morning.

Next morning, instead of going to work…..yep, we went to the laundry and guess what?

The manager was there!

But guess what again?

The laundry for Cypress Inn was done at the Salinas plant!!!!!

Salinas was Lobo’s Friday territory.

It took two Friday trips for him to finally speak with the plant manager.

On the evening of his second try, he burst through the door holding two Doris Day linen towels in his hands and a HUGE smile on his face.

Success!!!!!

Next, I composed a letter to Doris Day.

I told her about my girlfriend. I told her she listens to her CD’s on her way to work each morning and I told her how much she wanted a towel from that basket in the Ladies Room at her Inn and what we’d gone through to get a couple. I also told her that my girlfriend was at that time, fighting a devastating medical problem and how happy it would make her if she had Doris Day autographed towels. (this was true.)

Then I needed an address.

I knew she lived in Carmel Valley and I also knew it was gonna be tough to get an address but I had to try.

We’d come way too far to give up.

So…..back to the hotel on a Saturday morning.

The manager recognized the two crazies and remembered the Ladies Room towel story but still, he couldn’t give us her address.

However, he suggested we package the towels and bring them to him and he promised he’d make sure she got them.

Home we went.

I placed the letter, the two towels and a laundry Magic Marker for her to sign the towels with, in a small box.

I also included an addressed and stamped, folded mailing envelope for her to return the signed towels to me.

Then, back to the hotel.

Again, I asked the manager to promise he’d deliver the box to her.

He promised and within a week, my self-addressed big mailing envelope was delivered to me.

Inside were the two autographed towels, the marker pen, an autographed picture of her and a lovely, lovely hand-written letter, not typed or computer generated…..HAND-WRITTEN to my girlfriend inviting her to “stop by the Inn any time she was in town.”

I liked Doris Day.

I liked her movies.

But the day I received those signed towels, I more than liked her.

I became a fan.

I could barely wait for my girlfriend to receive that, much overdue promise I’d made to her and she was as happy as I’d hoped she’d be when her package arrived.

She had the towels and letter professionally framed and they were displayed on the wall of her office for the rest of her working career.

This past week when Doris Day left this planet, it reminded me of my girlfriend, the two towels and the experience of dealing with a BIG Hollywood movie star with an even BIGGER heart.

And, throughout her entire career, I’ll bet she autographed linen hand towels only once!