If you could have lunch or dinner with anyone in the world, who would you pick?

There are so many Fun Is Good lessons in this article! Remember to show people your good stuff … show them your kindness, your passion, your fun and your goodness! Fun and respect makes your job easier. It may take some time, but eventually, if we're creative and make a few adjustments, we can bring fun, joy, respect and appreciation to those around us. Show gratitude by telling the people around you (even your co-workers) what they mean to you. Indeed … Fun IS Good! Thanks Bob for the great article and thanks to Amy Kuelz for the fun photo of her Aunt and Mike!

If you could have lunch or dinner with anyone in the world, who would you pick?

By BOB SANSEVERE | TwinCities Pioneer Press

July 12, 2019

A politician, perhaps: President Trump, former President Obama, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, AOC. A legendary singer? How about Paul McCartney? A Hollywood icon like, say, Clint Eastwood? One of the GOATs — Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady?

Phyllis Williams knows who she’d choose. And it’s not a politician, world leader, legendary singer, Hollywood icon or GOAT. It’s Mike Veeck.

Yep, Veeck as in check, please. Veeck, as in owner of the St. Paul Saints.

Phyllis, a 91-year-old former flight attendant, would pass on everyone else just to have Veeck pass the salt.

“One night I was in bed and listening to the news; Mike was being interviewed,” Phyllis said. “I was just taken with his tremendous sense of humor, and he was so humble. I thought, ‘What a wonderful person.’ I said, ‘Of all the people I could have dinner with, it’d be someone like him.’ ”

Phyllis, who also goes by Filly, shared that reaction with her niece, Amy Kuelz, who wrote an email to the Saints that said her aunt “has a crush on Mike Veeck and I’m wondering if you could help. She said the other day, ‘If I could have lunch with one person it would be Mike … he is just hilarious.’ ”

That email led to Saints tickets, which led to Phyllis and Veeck almost dining together a few weeks ago at the Saints’ ballpark. There was a huge storm and long rain delay, and Veeck didn’t make it for the meal. They did break bread that day — figuratively anyway — and had a nice chat.

“There were 10 of us together and then he joined us,” Phyllis said. “It was just delightful. It was so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed being with him.”

Veeck enjoyed himself, too.

“To think of all the people she could choose,” Veeck said. “As it turned out, I was thrilled to meet her. I think what she said was she just thinks I’m joyous. I met her and thought, ‘Well, this is a fellow traveler, an optimist and a joyous soul.

“There were moments of poignancy when we talked. We talked about the heartbreak sometimes, we talked about kids. It was just a lovely experience.”

Veeck has a son and a daughter. Phyllis has two daughters and two sons, both of whom went to the Naval Academy and became pilots after her husband died of a heart attack shoveling snow one New Year’s Day decades ago. He was only 50.

“I’m sure he would be very proud of the boys and girls,” Phyllis said.

Phyllis keeps busy these days. A stewardess from 1951 through 1956 — yes, that’s what they were called back then — she also has been a realtor and hostess, a job she currently holds a couple of days a week at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.

“Gotta keep busy and enjoy life,” said Phyllis, who lives in Chanhassen. “I think that’s the secret to a long life. You’ve got to enjoy it.”

Like when you meet the one person on your list to dine with.

“I ended being very flattered I made her list,” Veeck said. “I’m not sure how I made the list. I’ve never made anybody’s list I didn’t have to pay to get on.”

Both would like to set up a dinner, maybe just the two of them.

“I’d want to see what her schedule is like,” Veeck said.

It’s fairly open, other than Wednesdays and Saturdays, when she’s working the matinees for “Mama Mia.”

Phyllis isn’t sure what meal she’d order, but she’s fairly certain what she’d be drinking.

“Usually I have a Moscow mule,” she said.

Whether there’s a meal involved or not, Phyllis also said she’d like to take in another Saints game, though she admits, “I don’t follow all the baseball teams religiously.”

“I like to participate,” she said. “I always did ski and was very active. I skied in the winter and sailed in the summer.”

And now, in the autumn years of her life, she gets to meet people she really wants to meet.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/07/12/bob-sansevere-nieces-letter-landed-her-a-dream-date-with-mike-veeck/

Phyllis Williams, right, a 91-year-old former flight attendant, meets with St. Paul Saints owner Mike Veeck at CHS Field in St. Paul in June 2019. Williams, of Chanhassen, has been a realtor and hostess, a job she currently holds a couple of days a week at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.

Photo by: Amy Kuelz