'That is my writing on the napkin:' Maine woman says she might be Questlove's 'Ellie'
PORTLAND (WGME) — Questlove, the famous drummer from The Roots, posted a story this weekend about how a Maine woman's act of kindness helped fuel his love for music.
The drummer asked for the internet's help locating her now, almost 45 years later, to thank her.
Music can touch the soul in many ways.
For Ellen Bruzzese, known as Ellie, that included hitting the music lounge at the Portlander five nights a week during the 70s and 80s after finishing work at DiMillo’s.
"We enjoyed the bands, the outside and out of town bands, and that’s generally why we were there," Bruzzese said.
She says that she shared her love of music with anyone, and this past weekend, her daughter showed her a message that took her back to 1976.
"My daughter calls me a celebrity," Bruzzese said.
The world-famous drummer from The Roots, Questlove, shared a post on Facebook about a woman named Ellie who on a whim, bought him a record player and some records while he was watching his parents perform at the Portlander. He shared a picture of the cocktail napkin that Ellie wrote his dream list of records on.
This led WGME to ask Bruzzese if she was “Ellie.”
"We're looking at 44 years ago, and it's kind of hard to remember something like this, but I will tell you something, that is my writing on my napkin," Bruzzese said.
Even though she doesn't fully remember buying someone records, she says it sounded like something she would do, and says that she does remember a night where she ran into a kid.
"There was never any children there,” Bruzzese said. “It was surprising that there would be a little boy, and he just happened to be sitting at the table that we always sat at."
She says she is touched that a simple act of kindness, and a shared love of music, would carry over for decades.
"It's really inspiring to know that something of that nature, somebody would pick up, and take off with it," Bruzzese said.
She says she hopes to meet Questlove someday.