“Do you have any little
brothers”, Melinda asked. “YES! I have three”, I replied through sobs. Wait…let
me go back a little further…
You see in early February I found
that THE Lance Bass was going to be in Odessa/Midland hosting a concert. I was
over the moon, ecstatic, shaking, unbelievably excited!! I immediately began my
hunt for VIP. There was absolutely NO way that Lance was going to be in the
same city as me, and I not meet him!! Well, in March, mission accomplished.
They announced the Lance Bass VIP packages. My heart sunk. There were 4 options….
Dinner, for $1000, Social Media manager (for the concert) $550, Happy hour before
the concert $325, and finally the basic meet and greet for $125. I was
determined to get the dinner!! Have dinner with Lance Bass?!?! Are you kidding
me, it doesn’t get any better than that!!
Long
story cut a little short. Through the help of some amazing friends, and a BIG
vinyl decal sale, I was able to get the happy hour. It wasn’t the dinner, but
at least I would meet him!! So fast forward to May 18th, 2019. I am
typing this out so that I can always remember every little detail. To some it
might not be a big deal. They don’t like *//\\//sync, or they say he’s a “c-lister”
now. They say he’s gay so what does it matter. You’re right. It’s not your
dream… so what’s it matter to you? It’s been my dream for 21 years. And I was
determined to make it the best experience ever. Let me tell you… it absolutely was.
Without a doubt, 100% the best experience I could’ve ever imagined!
I
walked up to the Wagner-Noel and was standing there with two other women. Both
older than I am, also excited for the Lance Bass meet and greet. Slowly more people
started to show up until we had about 8-9 people waiting. Every person that
walked by my heart burst! Then she finally showed up!! Melinda came out and greeted
us. She checked off each of our names, and then gave us wristbands. Not just
any wristbands. They were the same wristbands from the 2001 Pop Odyssey tour.
The same tour that I was able to see twice the summer of 2001! I burst into tears,
shaking and just completely overwhelmed with emotion! The others kinda giggled
at me, but in a loving way. Told me to take a breath and helped me put the band
on. Then, THEN she gave me a second band! She told me that I would go last at
the Meet and Greet because I was going to continue with them to the happy hour
after. So, we all walk into the Wagner. We walk to the left and go into a
hallway that leads backstage. THANK YOU JESUS. There was a chair in that little
room!! I immediately took a seat and tried to gather myself. I wasn’t crying anymore,
but my heart was POUNDING. Then Melinda walks through the next set of doors and
says “Ok, everyone, come this way.” I turn the corner, walk past that door, at
the same time Lance comes out from the other doors and says “HHIIII!!” I LOST
IT. I mean, full blown panic. I squeaked out something that resembled, “oh hi”
and sat back down in the other room crying!! This brings me to the moment mentioned
in the beginning of the story. Melinda asks me… are you crying again?!?! I
nodded. That’s when Lance hugged me!!! I know he meant for it to calm me down,
but I swear I heard a vein burst in my head! Melinda then asked me about my brothers
and told me Lance was no different. He was just like an annoying little brother.
I laughed about that a little, thinking maybe to you! LOL! To me he’s a dream
come true! So we all go through the meet and greet. She asks if we have any
questions for Lance, a few people do. One asked “How’s married life?” He
mentioned they’ve been married about four and half years now, and together
eight and a half. I remembered some friends calling me on the day of his wedding
and offering me condolences. It was absolutely hilarious! I told Lance and the
group about that, he patted my shoulder ( he had never left my side after that initial
hug other than pictures with the others.) So, he patted my shoulder and said “It’s
ok! No girl could have me!”. For some reason, that moment kind of instantly released
the tension and breath I didn’t even notice I was holding! So, the meet and
greet continued a little longer. All together it lasted about 20-30 minutes. After
it was done, and everyone else walked out. Melinda told me to follow them.
Wait, what?? Ok!!! So, I followed her and Lance into the backstage, and then
into a hallway covered top to bottom in signatures! Then I realized this hallway
was where the dressing rooms were!! It didn’t hit me until I saw a sign by a
door that said “Ryan Caberra”… then “Aaron Carter”… then “Lance Bass”!!!!
What?!?!?! We’re going to his DRESSING ROOM?!?!! Are you freaking kidding me?!?!
So, we walk in and they ask me if I want anything to drink or eat. There’s tea,
water, Tito’s vodka, champagne, fruit, and a birthday cake!! It was so amazing
and so overwhelming. I’m just standing there in Lance’s dressing room, and that’s
when I snapped the candid picture many of you have seen by now. Then he walks
over to me, and hands me a slice of cake. I was literally sharing Lance’s birthday
cake! His manager told me to have a seat
and relax. So, I tried, and then I couldn’t hold my tea, and cake, and phone
and nerves all at the same time! So, she switched me chairs, and put me next to
the table. The three of us sat in there and ate cake and talked. Then they
offered me food from the catering. I got some fettucine alfredo!! Melinda mentioned
how essentially; I still was able to get the dinner with Lance!! She also
mentioned that Eventbrite, the company selling the tickets called her, on behalf
of me!! They were trying to get her to set up payment plan options for “Amanda”.
They told her they had gotten a call and they tried to walk her through it. But
she said it was just too difficult. So, she was glad I was still able to get
one of the packages! We talked about EVERYTHING. They asked about pumpjacks,
and the oilfield. We talked about the crime rate and teen pregnancy rate
locally. Lance mentioned he’d heard of a high school specifically for those
teen moms, and their kids. I told them about how I was a teen mom, in an abusive
relationship. That I was able to leave him, and make sure my daughter and I
were safe. We talked about Tony, and my work with suicide prevention. He told
me does a lot of work with the Trevor project. Which is a project that deals
with suicide directly in the LGBQT community. We talked about our dogs, and his
that are Aussie/Beagle mix. I showed him my Presley girl. We talked about
Venyasa, and how I lost her. Then we moved on to tattoos. He showed me the
tattoos on his legs. We laughed about how Texas has a type of sibling rivalry with
California. He told me that everyone in Cali loves Texas, but the Colorado
people hate us. Then we went back to the meet and greet area to meet with the
rest of the bands. When we got to the area and he said, “He guys, this is my friend
Amanda.” Ya’ll… my jaw DROPPED. I mean, Lance introduced me as HIS friend!! We
finish up with the meet and greet and go BACK TO THE DRESSING ROOM! What?!?! We
weren’t done?!? We get back there, and they asked about my family. Asked where
my husband was. Then one of them (don’t remember who) suggested we FaceTime
him!!!! So, we freaking FaceTimed with my husband and kids!!!! All 3 of them
got to “meet” Lance!!!! Then after we hung up, I remembered one other person
who would love to “meet” him!! So, then we FaceTimed my mom!!!! She was
flabbergasted! She stood on the other end of the camera speechless for a few
seconds!! Then she talked to Lance about the time we were in Dallas and tried
to sneak onto the hotel grounds to get a picture of the group! It was hilarious
to tell him that! He asked if we had found them that day and laughed when we admitted
defeat.
I’m
sure there are details I’m missing somewhere. It’s all still kind of an
amazing, magical blur of happiness. Essentially the main point is, I had over an
hour with Lance and his manager!! All by myself. The only one that paid for an
extra level of VIP. We had dinner, drinks, conversation, laughs, and so much
more. While a lot of money and planning went into the night… It was absolutely priceless.
Beyond anything I could ever dream or imagine. So thank you, thank you to everyone
who helped me get to that point. Helped me by donating, helped me by sharing,
helped me by encouraging. Those who helped me by picking an outfit, finding a
store for the outfit. Lending me a piece of the outfit. The one who helped me
with hair and makeup. Most of all… Thank you to my husband, Lance and Melinda.
My husband for allowing me to be the crazy fangirl that I have been for almost
21 years. To Lance and Melinda, for hosting such an incredible evening.
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