Lost and Gone: Memories of Mr. Belding

I texted Kent Osborne immediately when I read that Mr. Belding from SAVED BY THE BELL died. Kent used to know everything about SAVED BY THE BELL! He probably still does. Once Kent and I were at a karaoke bar called Dimples, which, I have since heard, or so I believe, was torn down. But that's not the point! Though it's close. As I recall, Kent and I butchered Paul McCartney's "Jet." But that's not the point either! So I remember Kent saying, "I heard Mr. Belding comes here a lot." And then he was ecstatic when Mr. Belding showed up! And the night ended with Joey Lauren Adams and Mr. Belding and me singing Dolly Parton's "Jolene" together, speaking of the recently departed. There used to be video evidence! But like so many things, it is lost and gone. Now, Mr. Belding would never have remembered this (or did he?) but Kent and I had already met him once, in the late 1990s, at which time he recorded the outgoing message for Kent's answering machine. He was just sweet and adorable! Mr. Belding, I mean. Based on our two brief encounters. And I'll tell you something about life. Joey and I went to Dimples again a year or two later, just before it was (I believe) torn down, and we sang Lloyd Price's version of "Stagger Lee," or tried, but they stopped the music and sprayed us with foam cannons to get us to shut up. It just goes to show you, nothing gold can stay. That's the point!