Several years ago, I went to the Martha’s Vineyard airport to meet my friend, the late former governor of Texas, Ann Richards. When I drove up with my godson Spencer, age seven, we saw Senator Hillary Clinton standing alone on the sidewalk in front. We went to say hello. She was there alone, no aides or Secret Service. She was off to Florida to meet other senators about important legislation.

Young Spencer showed her his new mood ring. She asked what the color meant to convey. He said, “That I am happy.” He asked her to try it on. When she did, the color changed. “So what am I?” asked the Senator.

Spencer looked and replied, “It says you are determined!”

***

Here’s another I’ve never written, which also took place a few years back. I gave a cocktail party in New York City at the old Le Cirque restaurant on 50th Street to welcome Ann Richards to town. I spied President Clinton standing tall and looking great above the crowd, so I went to greet him. After a few minutes of chit-chat he said, “Liz, I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Not long ago you wrote in your column that I don’t like older women!” I gulped and confessed. “Yes, Mr. President, I did print that but I didn’t say it; a New York hostess who shall be nameless said it.” Bill Clinton didn’t pay any mind to my answer. He said, indignantly, “Well, it’s not true, Liz.” He began to tap his arm. “Why, I could just give you a long list of older women that I’ve…” He stopped. We looked at each other and both broke into laughter.

I finally recovered myself, saying, “Well, Mr. President, if you like older women so much, why don’t you come downstairs after this and have dinner with Governor Ann and me — definitely two older women!” He did.

****

A recent "Hillary Clinton for President" ad ran on the Internet, showing the late governor Richards and saying if Ann were alive, she’d be for Hillary. The Governor’s two sons objected, saying they never tried to second-guess their mother and didn’t know whom she’d have endorsed.

This reminded me that at the time of Ann’s untimely death in 2006, there was a race going on for a new governor of Texas. The wild and wooly Kinky Friedman, writer, rebel and country-western singer was in the race running as an Independent. I opined in print that I thought Ann would have endorsed Kinky. This caused her children to make the politically correct statement that they felt she’d have backed the Democratic nominee and not Kinky.

It was both funny and tragic a short time later to be told by an Ann Richards insider that the ailing Ann’s all but last words were “Vote Kinky!”

“Typical” was all I could think.