Wrap your arms around her body : Day Seventeen

Day 17 – Your favorite memory

Like almost anyone, narrowing down a memory out of my lifetime of memories to call it my "favorite" would be nearly impossible. If I had one favorite memory, why would I bother to write about anything else? Why would I go through my days trying to live up to some impossible moment that I know will never be topped? I have favorite memories from specific events or times in my life.

I know a lot of you assumed my favorite memory would be from the day Aiden was born. Though I love my son, cherish every minute we get to spend together, and would NEVER, NEVER take any of it back, the day he was born was a very intensely lonely and eye opening day for me, not a favorite. I feel like a terrible mother for saying that, too. It was sink or swim on that day, and though I chose to keep swimming, for a long time I felt as though I was drowning.

So instead of something dark and tragic, I have decided this time to focus on an intensely happy, life altering even in my life. Silly to most of you, understood by a few, it was the first time I met and spoke with Taylor Hanson. The moment itself is so small and insignificant that it's not the entire point.

My mother and I had driven to Denver for a Hanson concert (I believe this was number 8), and we met up with my longtime internet friend, fellow Hanson fan, Clare. We had met in person once before, four or so years previous, another concert (that one being number 3.)

Hanson had started doing something new with their tours; in addition to just the concert, on the afternoon before the show they had started taking one mile walks for charity, with their fans. They called this Taking the Walk. For every mile walked (each person counting separately) the band would donate a dollar to a charity of the walker's choosing. Also, the walkers would be able to interact with members from the band.

Any fan of any band would have been thrilled to jump at the chance to meet the band members in such an informal setting. Clare and I, of course, decided that we had to participate.

Unknown to us, Hanson had changed the location of The Walk only an hour or so before it was set to start, and unfortunately we were all the way on the opposite end of Denver around the time they were to start. My mother, driving like a bat out of hell to get her babies to where they wanted to be most, raced across the city. She let us off in the middle of the street, and went to find a place to park, and then catch up with us by walking in the opposite direction.

Clare and I took off. At this point in time, I was around 40 pounds heavier, and also smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. We ran, me trying to hold my pants up, my shoe flying. We hurdled a wall. My lungs gave up after about a quarter of a mile, and I started wheezing. I urged Clare on. She hung back from the pack of people we saw gathered and starting on the walk.

Finally, we made it to the group, and it was a bit larger than we had anticipated. Finding Isaac, Taylor and Zac seemed impossible. Right about the time my mother caught up with us, we realized that Zac was walking with a couple of girls directly behind us.

About half way through, we stopped to listen to Taylor ramble on through a bullhorn about how awesome he is, and we, of course, nodded in approval. This gave my lungs and my leg ample time to recoup and by the time we took off again, Clare pulling on my arm, we ended up in stride with beautiful Taylor.

I forgot to mention, these walks were urged to be done barefoot. The band and most of the fan were not wearing their shoes, rather carrying them. It was October. They were walking on pine cones. No thank you.

As Clare chatted with Taylor, she turned to him and said, "This is my friend, Sadie!" like they were old friends, "She's from Nebraska." He turned around to shake my hand, eyeballing the IOWA hoodie I was wearing. "I'm Taylor." He said as I gripped his enormous hand.

They talked, and we talked, and walked, and my mother caught most of it on videotape, save the part where she was walking backwards and ran into a street sign.

The best part. The absolute best part. We're walking along a sidewalk that is surrounded by evergreen trees which have started to lose their needles. The people walking barefoot are trying not to get stabbed by them. All of a sudden, Taylor stops, blocks Clare with his body, and says, "Watch out, there's a bee!" at which Clare jumps back and exclaims, "I'm allergic!" and Taylor kills the bee, on the layer of pine needles, with his bare foot. Best. Moment. Ever.

Things wrapped up pretty quickly after that. We ended up in front of someone's house, they sang a couple of songs acapela, and Clare managed to get a photo with Taylor where they're actually looking at the same camera.

Because of all the physical exertion, I spent the majority of the evening with a terrible headache, and I could barely walk the next morning. The concert was wonderful, like most Hanson concerts are.

Oh, and my mother managed to capture the moment with the bee on camera, so I'll be able to remember it in perfect detail forever.

Clare's life was saved, by Taylor Hanson's bare feet. <3