Cross THAT Off Of The List

I don't know how many people actually have written 'bucket lists,' but I am one who HASN'T done so.  Of course, as I get older, there are things I want to do before I die, but nothing so important that I need to actually MAKE it happen.  I have seen Eric Clapton in concert, so that is one thing that's off of MY imaginary list.  I still have 'see a Red Wings game in person,' and 'see my Baby Boy PLAY a game in person,' on my list, but other than that, not much else.  I think most of my list would consist of  'things everyone should experience once in their life'--such as 'see the Mall of America' and 'go to Las Vegas for a couple of days.'  THAT list would be much, much longer--but, STILL not anything earth shattering.  One thing that everyone should experience at least once in their life, happened to me on Friday--and it didn't only happen ONCE, but TWICE!  I met, talked to, and shook hands with TWO famous people!  What fun!  So now for the story.

 As I mentioned a few months ago, Air Supply was going to be in concert less than an hour away from where we live.  For the past few days, The Oldest has been so excited by this that I don't know if she slept at all.  On Thursday evening, she made it to our house for a little shopping and relaxing before we had to get ready and go to the concert on Friday.  I *almost* think she was too excited to miss her family and I had to calm her down a few times because she was a bit over the top in anticipation.  (I didn't want her to get her hopes up TOO high and then have them dashed and squashed!)  Completely in line with the way she lives her life, we managed to get to the concert and slide into our seats about thirty seconds after it started.  And she was overwhelmed!  Not only was this a concert featuring the FIRST band she ever LOVED--and still does, by the way--but it was the first concert she had ever been to!  Everything HAD to go perfectly for her not to have her heart crushed, to say the least.

The concert was great.  We sang along with ALL of the songs and The Oldest was GLOWING when Graham Russell stopped and waited for her to take his picture.  (This was during the portion of the show where they came down into the audience and shook hands with the fans.  Unfortunately, we were in the middle of the row and couldn't get to the guys.)  For an hour and a half, my daughter was as happy as she has ever been.

When all was said and done, we asked one of the ushers if there was any chance of a 'meet and greet' with the band.  She told us that they would be out in 20 minutes at the ticket office window and would sign autographs and talk with fans.  About this time, I though The Oldest was going to BURST with happiness.  As we stood in line, the anticipation for her just grew and grew.  FINALLY, it was OUR time to say 'hi' to the guys.  C went to Graham Russell, had him sign his name, and shook hands with him.  She told him "Air Supply was the FIRST band I EVER loved--and you were my favorite!."  While continuing to hold her hand, he put his other hand on top on hers, looked into her eyes, and asked, "Am I STILL your favorite?"  (QUITE a showman.  ;))  And she just melted.  I shook hands with him, chit-chatted for a few seconds, and moved on to shake hands with Russell Hitchcock.  He looked at the tattoo on the back of my hand, ran his finger over it, and looked at me questioningly.  I told him it was my 10-year anniversary tat of not smoking.  He then showed me HIS tat on the back of his hand and said, "This is for 5 years of...nothing."  And he laughed.  We then went on and compared and discussed our arm tattoos.  To say it was surreal to be talking tattoos with a famous person, is putting it mildly.  ;D  But they were absolutely great, friendly, funny, and all-around nice.  My daughter is STILL flying high from the experience.

While this was on the top-10 greatest days of all time list for my daughter--she HAS given birth 7 times, so I think THOSE days top this ;)--it also was one of MY favorite days ever.  To see someone you love SO happy just makes the world seem like a good place--even if only for a short time.



***Afterwards, The Oldest commented on my conversation with Russell Hitchcock.  She said, "What was THAT all about with the tattoos?  You two talked like a couple of old Navy buddies!"  :D**