Meeting Duran Duran next week the goal of beloved South Lake Tahoe teacher

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Sure, everyone has their celebrity crushes when growing up, but meeting Duran Duran is so much more than that for South Tahoe High teacher Bridey Thelen Heidel.

Many have followed her journey to meet Duran Duran and lead singer Simon Le Bon. In August of 2015, we carried her story to gain the notice of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres so she could go to her show and meet Le Bon and the band.

"This desire to meet Simon isn’t a schoolgirl crush where I’ll squeal and freak out," said Heidel. "It is a massive thank you for saving me. Actually saving my spirit, and even a time or two, my life. It’s a bit cliche, I know, but I think we all have that music that transports us—to good memories and to bad ones. I am sure they’ve heard this kind of thank you hundreds of times, but maybe it still matters to them to hear it again."

Le Bon and Duran Duran (D2) are coming to Lake Tahoe on September 13 and performing in the Outdoor Arena at Harveys Tahoe. Heidel and her friends will be there but it is now their goal to get the popular English Department chair, and her friend Andy Hlebakos, to meet the man she credits with saving her years ago.

After the series of stories, tweets, and special Facebook pages in 2015, Heidel was contacted by the DeGeneres team and invited to see the show. While she didn't get to meet Le Bon and D2 she was close. She danced in the aisle with Ellen but did not meet the object of her affection.

"I came within three feet on Ellen! Soul crushing!" exclaimed Heidel.

Close came once again at a Duran Duran concert in Oakland a couple of summers ago when she was there with long-time friend Andy Hlebakos. They were standing in front of the concert and MTV celebrity Martha Quinn caught them with the signs "YES" and a heart hug? (shown above). That is the same "YES" sign she takes to all of the Duran Duran shows she attends (and there are many).

Simon Le Bon held up that "YES" sign on stage in Oakland and told how he always wakes up thinking, "Yes, Please." Le Bon now calls her out as his "yes girl" when he spots her.

The campaign to get her to meet Le Bon has started again with his pending Tahoe arrival. The tweeting, facebook page and storytelling all with the goal of getting the two together, even if just for a moment.

While under her mother's care, Heidel grew up in a "very, very violent home."

She said cops were a constant at the door and they moved about every six months. She attended 26 schools before coming to South Tahoe High where she graduated in 1989. Heidel put herself through college and returned to teach at her alma mater.

"The anchor that kept me steady were my Duran Duran records—really the only things that made every move with me," said Heidel. "They were the first things I grabbed as we moved—sometimes with very little notice—like a day or even just an hour."

"Duran’s music was the soundtrack of my young life, and I cranked up the volume so Simon’s voice would drown out the screaming from the other side of my bedroom door," Heidel said. "I wrote to him in my diary, telling him of my goals and dreams and what I would do with my life when I was able to create my own life and own home. I think it worked because I’ve done some good work with kids and created a beautiful, loving, and peaceful home."

Her daughter Hannah just happens to share her October 27 birthday with Le Bon. Heidel says it is just coincidence as the birth date was not planned, but another connection with Le Bon none the less.

Not only has she created that loving home, but also a loving classroom and ALLY Club at South Tahoe High.

Several years into her teaching career, a very popular honor roll student handed her his suicide note and ran out of the classroom. He had not yet identified as gay and was feeling pressure and being bullied by those who thought he should 'come out of the closet.' Heidel called the student's dad who responded with love and support, and once she knew he was safe she sat down with that letter. She thought if this student who is popular and has great support, how do those without the same survive in high school?

She knew something had to be done before someone else had lost their will to live and started researching gay-straight alliances in schools. In 2006, along with two students, the South Tahoe High School ALLY Club was formed. Their first meeting had over 100 students, staff and community members and it is still going strong 13 years later.

She now helps others to create a safer and more accepting environment for LGBTQ+ students in the classroom. Her story has been covered in national articles and a book. Those she has helped along the way, those who admire what she has done, along with a treasured network of friends are helping to get her to meet Simon Le Bon and Duran Duran. Not only will Heidel be able to say "thank you," but everyone she has inspired along the way will also be able to say "thank you" back to Heidel.

“It would be amazing to put this specific dream to rest!" she said in our 2015 interview.

Hope you are listening, Simon! Your "YES" girl wants to meet you backstage at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena. A moment of time to bring a lifetime of memories full circle.