The time moved slow as we glanced around at the crowd and watched for any movement behind the curtain on the stage. She returned with a huge chocolate chip cookie. I allowed her to go back to the Voice chair to get her picture taken. Maria and I quickly realized that we would be standing in the same spot for the next 2 1/2 hours. People were starting to move over towards the area and we knew that if we left our position somebody would grab it. Maria and I darted directly in back of the seats. There was already a group of older women and men who had placed seats against the fence to create a front row. We saw the Voice chair as we walked in, and a small stage over to the right with a wood fence in front of it. So, Ri and I left the merchandise counter (the next day I realized we got one free item with the VIP package that we lost out on) and squeezed in the line to enter the lounge. I knew we had to be one of the first to enter the lounge or we would not get close to the stage. However, when we got to the bottom, people were going back up to the lounge. The guides were escorting fans down the escalator to get merchandise. When we arrived at the lounge, there were escalators to the left. After what seemed like forever, they began to escort us through the hallways to the lounge. Maria stood twirling her lanyard anxious to head back. We retrieved our VIP lanyards and travel mug, andstood in line waiting to be escorted back to the lounge. We had a slight scare with me not being able to find our tickets on my phone right away but I came through. We stood out in the chilly weather for about 25 minutes before they let us enter. The line was already 30 people deep when we got there. Sarah and Elena dropped us off at PPG Arena at 4 PM. We also found a good car trivia site and answered questions about countries, polar animals and presidents (she knows I love to get some education in on car trips). So, we talked about random, and fairly insubstantial things such as what we would do with Elena, what Mario and dad were probably doing on a Saturday afternoon, when our cousin would have her baby…. Any conversation like that would have made her recoil and clam up. I knew better than to expect her to give me insight into her friendships or boys or thoughts about her changing body. I repeated the mantra “just enjoy her presence.”. I kept reminding myself not to place any expectations on the mother/daughter time with Ri. We had to drive three hours to Pittsburgh, and another three hours back home to Columbus (I knew we wouldn’t get much alone time while in Pittsburgh because we were watching my sweet niece when we weren’t at the concert). I could hav really cared less about seeing Blake but was excited to spend some quality mother/daughter time. Maria counted down the days remaining before she got to see Blake in Pittsburgh. They both listened to country music as they drove Maria around town and that genre must have seeped deep down in her blood. It must be our two former babysitters from years ago. Jon and I are still at a loss as to how she enjoys country music so much. She wanted everyone to chip in so that we could buy the “VIP experience” with the singer she has adored for over a year. It is all she wanted – she made it very clear that she could care less if she got any other present from any other family member other than these tickets. We got VIP tickets to the Blake Shelton concert for Maria for Christmas.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |