The Adventures of Taylor Swift

Our adventure to Taylor Swift began a little after 3:00. Madison and Ella had been planning on meeting for dinner prior to the show FOR EVER so we buckled up and decided to go to Ted’s. I awoke this particular morning dry heaving and nauseated beyond belief. It had been by far the worst day on chemo yet. My head was cloudy, I felt terrible and all I could think was I’m not sure how I’m going to get through this, but I’m going to try. I want to see those girls eyes light up when Taylor Swift comes on stage!! It was motivation.

We ended up parking at the ferris wheel and Skip wheeled me in my new mommy stroller (which might be the coolest, most comfortable thing ever) over to the dome. We snapped a few cute pictures and then in we went. We were pretty high up but we had such an awesome view of everything. Everyone was excited in anticipation!! I laid my head on Skip when I could and reserved as much energy as humanly possible for the show. I didn’t realize how hard of a struggle it would be just to sit there. It was.

The openers came on, and yes, I said openers plural. She had two. Well, by the time the second one finished it had been over an hour and a half and every time they changed his guitar, Alana was like, “another one!!??” She was fading, and to be honest, I was too. Enough already, we are here to see Taylor!! Finally after almost two hours, Taylor Swift knocks it open and with one of Alana’s favorite songs, Welcome to NY! I look over in great anticipation and… she’s glazed over!?!? No!!!! I got a few smiles out of her, and a couple of lyrics, but overall, she was done. I was heartbroken! The one who was by far MOST excited, had nothing left. No second wind. Just put in some ear plugs in and she slept on Skip literally the entire show.

Madison was adorable. I could tell she was so into the music. She appreciates it more than going wild and dancing, she just loves it. She absorbs it, knows every word to every song, singing at the top of her lungs. She had a permanent smile and her eyes full of happy. She would elbow me and we would sing lyrics together and I just treasured the moments of being able to be at my daughter’s first concert.

So, I may not have gotten the reactions that I was expecting, but I guess in a way, I’m the nutty one who would be jumping up and down screaming like a little kid and they didn’t have that to feed off of. Which part of me is sad about, but then the majority of me knows the effort it took just to be there. The energy it took just to physically sit in those seats for that long. And that I know was a blessing. To just be there when everything in me said I shouldn’t be. I got to be with my girls at Taylor Swift and though we weren’t jumping and dancing (okay we were at the last song, there was no containing ourselves to Shake it Off) it was an adventure I’ll treasure, and hope they’ll treasure forever.

Skip on the other hand, probably views this night as the hardest night of his life. He pushed me across town, Alana slept on him the entire show, and then when we left we got lost and I’m pretty sure he pushed me and Alana up and down ramps and all around the dome maybe two or three times before figuring out where to get out. It was close to midnight and traffic was ugly and all I know is that I took meds and crawled onto the bench seat in the back of the car, and crashed. He got us home and everyone in bed and then turned around this morning to go meet with some guys at the church about financial planning.  I’m not sure he understands quite how grateful I am, but he is my rock star. We don’t need any concerts or famous people, really, I just need Skip’s autograph, because he is seriously amazing and love him more than he will ever know.

I know a ton of people prayed for us to make it last night. Thank you.