Cher

OK, so it was both Sonny and Cher. It was my freshman year at college at North Park in Chicago. We used to hang out in the hippy haunts of Old Town. Sometimes we bought boxes of sugar cubes at the grocery store and handed the cubes out to suburban gawkers on the street. "Free sugar cubes," we'd say, shocking people who associated it with LSD. Most people, though, took the sugar and laughed.

Sonny and Cher had their first Chicago concert that night and had come after the concert to walk around in Old Town. They were unmistakable, with furry legged pants and all the get-up of a freak show. Still, we ran up to them and fawned over them, which pleased them. I ripped a poster from the wall and asked them both to sign it, which they did in big letters. They wore gold rings bearing the name of each other. Sonny had a "Cher" ring" and Cher had a "Sonny" ring.

I lost the torn poster with their autographs. I looked recently again through the stuff in boxes in the basement. Can't find it.