Some a Chapter, Some a Page
April 27, 2018
On the first day of third grade, Melissa approached me and
asked me to play.
My family had moved to a new part of town, new house, new
school. Believe it or not, I was a pretty shy kid, but once I knew someone and
gained comfort, I would come out of my shell and talk…A LOT (not too different
from now). Initially, very shy. We played at recess and ate lunch together,
and a friendship began.
For the next three years we were practically
inseparable. We rode bikes (without
helmets *gasp*) all around our small town. We slept over at each other’s
houses. We played with dolls and played outside. We started “clubs” that
usually only lasted a day or so. This
was back in the day with only one house phone, no video games. We had to use our imagination. We began puberty together (isn’t that a great
time in life?!) We challenged each
other, competitively, to exceed in school. Participated in Honors classes
together. Both were offered to skip a
grade. Spooked each other playing the Ouija board. Irritated our older siblings
with our mere presence. Had slumber
parties. Figured out how to use a brush
and curling iron. She gave me my first Cabbage Patch Doll for Christmas (which
was a HUGE deal!). Our other friends, twins
Cassandra and Catrina, were essential parts of our friendship circle, but
Melissa and I were truly best friends.
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| Couple of really dorky pics of us as kids |
At the end of fifth grade, the four of us all went our
separate ways due to our family circumstances.
Melissa moved to Arizona to live with her father. The twins moved to
Mansfield. My family and I moved to
Crowley. Bigger house, better
schools. All different directions, all new
adventures, but the bonds were formed.
The summer after Melissa moved, at age 12, I flew on an
airplane for the first time to visit her in AZ for two weeks. We paraded all over Tempe as we had done our
little township outside of Fort Worth. Over the remaining course of our school
years, we’d visit when she came back to TX to see her mother. We wrote letters, and occasionally, we spoke
on the phone. You see, the efforts to
stay in touch were much more difficult as there weren’t cell phones, social
media, or email, and calls were long-distance.
During college, we visited at least once, I believe for my
first wedding. We had a great reunion,
all four of us, in 2000 shortly after I married Jerry. It never ceases to amaze me how that
childhood bond and friendship leads us to always picking right back up where we
left off, as if we never missed a beat.
Social media has since helped keep the bond alive and the connection
strong. We can now more easily stay in
touch and follow each other’s lives.
So, you had to know I’d throw Bon Jovi in here. Side note, whenever Bon Jovi announces a
tour, of course I plan for all the TX shows, but I also like to pick at least
one other city to visit and see the show. This year, Bon Jovi played two shows
in North Carolina, where my friend Melissa had recently moved. It was the perfect storm. Long story short, I reached out to her, we
planned a girls’ weekend to visit and see Bon Jovi. She hasn’t seen a concert
since college, and we hadn’t seen each other in a while, so she was very
excited about all of it!
I snagged us some fan club presale tickets in row 6,
thinking this would be pretty amazing for her.
Since I’m weird and obsessively curious, after I purchased those
tickets, I just glanced to see if any better tickets were available. I thought my vision had failed me when two
front row seats for face value popped up.
Needless to say, I whipped those into my cart so fast! I rolled the dice and bought them! My only Front Row seat on this tour! (The other set sold, so I wasn’t out that $).
The minute I secured the best tickets and my flight,
Melissa’s super cool husband reserved us a hotel room in Charlotte near the
venue so we could spend time together in her home with her family, but we could
also spend time alone in Charlotte.
I arrived in NC around lunch on Friday. Instantly, we reconnected. It was like we’d just seen each other last
week. We picked right back up where we
left off. SO much to talk about, SO much
to share. Rarely was there a dull or
silent moment. The semi-amazing part is
that despite spending so much of our lives in different states, having different
life experiences, different parents, different schools, etc., we turned out to
be so similar.
We are both nurses with the same graduate degree. Spelling and grammar Nazis. We talked about
husbands, kids, works, parents, siblings, old boyfriends, friends, parenting,
life, religion. You name it, we probably
talked about it. Almost everything was
the same and we had the same or similar philosophies. I guess we were onto something at age 8.
Once we arrived in Charlotte for the concert, we checked
into the hotel where we ran into the opening band on the elevator. (They waved at us from the stage!) We
explored the Uptown area a bit before we returned to get ready for the show. I
fixed my typical “rock star” hair and put on my new bright sequin shirt. (I got
quite a few comments on that shirt!) Melissa cleaned up like a super model, so
beautiful.
She couldn’t believe
our seats! When the lights went down,
the excitement soared! She rocked out
and jammed like a real well-trained groupie.
Never having seen Bon Jovi live before, she didn’t know what a treat she
was in for! I think she was dazzled not
only by the quality of a Bon Jovi show but also amazed at the front row
experience. It’s something that is
hardly matched, and I may have created a monster! Facial expressions. Eye Contact. Communication with the artists. Watching the
on-stage communication between the musicians and the nuances of each person.
The sweat…..those things you cannot see from far away.
Towards the end of the show, JBJ jumped off the stage,
during Bad Medicine, and went to his left to shake hands with fans. This isn’t a typical move from him. Besides, singing immersed in the crowd to
sing two ballads mid-show, he doesn’t often leave the stage, although he will
lean to touch hands. We did not know if
he would come our way or not. When he
started walking our way, she had her camera ready. I had my hands ready to shake his. Instead, he locked eyes with me, and holding
his mic in one hand, leaned in and gave me a hug and KISS! ( Look at 1:40 on. It really happened!)Afterwards, he continued down the way to shake more hands. We almost died! After 30+ years of fandom, a dream come true!
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| THAT KISS, YO!!! |
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| DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?!!!! |
Afterwards, we visited a local hotel bar just to wind down
and recap and we encountered some band members there. When Keyboardist David Bryan saw me, I said
hello, and he commented on my shirt “being awesome” and said he saw it from his
side of the stage (Opposite us!). I think it’s my new lucky
shirt.
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| Me with David Bryan and Phil X in Charlotte, NC |
We settled into our room after a long eventful night. The next day (ok really, it was the same day
since we retired in the wee hours of the morning), we explored more of
Charlotte on a comedy bus tour, then returned to her home. We spent the
remainder of my time in NC enjoying her family.
Her husband is so kind, clever, and funny. Her adorable boys are smart, charming, and
well-behaved. They were all truly a
treasure to be around. I didn’t want our
time to end, but I couldn’t wait to share my adventures with my own husband and
sons. My entire weekend was amazing.
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| Comedy Bus Tour around Charlotte |
I’m writing as I fly home.
I can’t wait to see her again!
North Carolina is beautiful this time of year, and it’s a great place
with plenty of things to do within driving distance. I know that now not only do I have a great
girls’ weekend destination, but I have a guaranteed Bon Jovi buddy and tour
stop in the future!
I have now been to over 30 concerts before this trip, and
Charlotte is my new Number ONE! Great
seats. Great set list. JBJ sang “Living with the Ghost” (Living With the Ghost). 35 years
of friendship and 30 years of fandom collided perfectly. Got the set list, and
our photo was on twitter at the end of the show (the girl said she chose us
because of my shirt!). JBJ had great
energy. Experienced it all with my first
BFF…and oh yeah, THAT KISS!
In my life, I’ve always had good luck with “Melissas” She was the first. Some people enter your lives and they are
there for a page, a chapter, or the whole story. Missing only the first few chapters, she’s a
whole book person.
Once upon a time on the first day in third grade….. the rest is history!
