A Childhood Dream Come True

Travis will probably make fun of me for this post, but I can't help myself. This has nothing to do with Grace and Ella, but it brought me back to my own childhood. Last weekend, Genny, my sweet girlfriends Amanda and Michelle, and I went to the New Kids on the Block concert. Yes, we did. We bought tickets months ago, about 10 minutes after they went on sale, so we were very excited about the big night finally arriving. After a yummy dinner at The Porch, we headed over to the AAC. There were tons of girls dressed up in NKOTB t-shirts, huge buttons (remember those?) and 80's clothing. The place was packed with a huge majority of 25-35-year-old females who couldn't wait to hear/see their favorite childhood group reunited. As they got ready to make their entrance, the screams were deafening, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Once they stepped out on stage, the entire place went crazy, and I turned into a different person. Really, I did. I became one of "those" girls who can't breath and starts crying and can barely stand up. One of those girls who screams at the top of her lungs for almost the entire concert. I can only explain it like this--when Travis and I went to NYC for the first time and saw our first Broadway show (The Lion King), I was so overwhelmed because it's something I had wanted to do for such a long time. And, it was awesome. So, I cried. Same thing with the New Kids. My favorite album, "Hangin' Tough" was released in 1988--20 years ago! I was only 9 at the time, but after all these years, I still remembered every song. So did everyone else, and the deafening screams only got louder as the night progressed. It was so loud that we couldn't hear when it was over, and my ears were ringing for two hours. Plus, they're even cuter now than they were then. Especially Joey, who was always my favorite. Although I've been to better concerts as far as musical talent (namely, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles), it was definitely the most fun I've ever had at a concert. Those boys can still sing, and they can still dance. They put on an amazing show. And, they made me feel like a kid again (although I'll refrain from putting their posters back up on my walls). To top it off, I screamed so loud that I lost my voice. Seriously, it took several days for me to lose the raspy voice. What a great night!