Make A Wish

For 8 long years of my life I contemplated the idea of receiving a wish from the Make A Wish of America Foundation. I just couldn't decide on one single wish. In the beginning, I wanted a horse. Secondly, I wanted a Hawaiian vacation. Finally towards the beginning of the year 2010, I finally settled on two wish ideas. My wish ideas were between a Hawaiian vacation or a meet and greet with the Disney channel stars, the Jonas Brothers, whom at the time were at the top peak of their career. I have seen them perform live in concert about five times. The thought of either meeting them or vacationing to Hawaii was mind blowing to me. How does someone pick just one thing when knowing it could be anything you want? Anyway, soon after submitting those two wish ideas I changed my mind once again. January 19th, 2007 I began following a young kid on youtube. His name was Justin Bieber. He had about 3 or 4 videos uploaded of himself singing in a competition in Stratford, Ontario Canada. He was just 12 years old at the time and I was only 13. For the next few years, I was subscribed to his channel. This way I was able to check out every new video he posted as soon as he posted it. I noticed he began to sing such a wide variety of genres. I immediately fell in love and became a life long fan. Soon enough he released his first single which was titled "One Time". Soon after the release of this song, the music video for it had been released. It went viral almost immediately receiving millions of views. In September of 2009, I began to follow him on Twitter. I had all of his tweets sent as texts to my cell. Anyway, I received a text saying he was going to be performing that day at a local mall. Once I arrived there, I felt like an idiot because I realized I had been saying his name wrong. What a fan I felt like. Just kidding! I was standing all the way at the back of the crowd that gathered around the stage. All of that didn't matter because I was about to see him perform. This show had been towards the beginning of his career. I was surprised when after only 3 songs he was done performing and exited the stage. I guess thats what you get when you're watching someone new to the game. Still, I didn't care. I was just so happy to be there. I have since become a huge Bieber fan. With each song, performance, interview, and video, I fell even sicker with the Bieber fever. Well now, it's the beginning of 2010.I am a senior in high school. I've finally decided on my last and final wish idea. When the Make A Wish Foundation called me and asked what my wish was going to be, I told them. I told them that I wanted to take Justin Bieber to prom. Soon enough word spread around school like wild fire. I walked down the hallways and would occasionally hear other students, some that I've never even met, saying things like "Did you hear that Justin Bieber might be attending our prom?". Some students even walked up to me and asked if I was the girl that was going to be taking Justin Bieber to prom. Soon enough it felt like everyone and their mother knew about it. The story was the hot topic of many conversations. Eventually, I began to get nervous. I wasn't nervous about everyone talking or anything like that. What was I going to wear? How was I going to do my hair and makeup? Will we be taking a limo? For the next few weeks of my life it seemed like these were the only thoughts that consumed my mind. I couldn't think of anything else, even school. I'm pretty sure one or two of my grades even dropped a bit from being so distracted. Anyway, the next few weeks were agonizing. I couldn't stand waiting for the foundation to call and tell me if my wish had been approved or not. A few weeks after the submission of my wish, I received a phone call. However, it wasn't good news. They told me that they had spoken to Justin's crew and unfortunately he had an event the same day of prom and could not make it. I was crushed and felt heart broken. I had gotten my hopes up. I cried for days in secrecy. I didn't want anyone to know I was as upset as I was. I sat around for days thinking, "I finally picked a wish, and it was a wish that couldn't happen. What am I possibly going to do now?". I felt so disappointed. For the next few days I thought about what my new wish would be. I may not have been able to attend my senior prom with Justin but I knew for sure that I had to meet him no matter what. At this point, I didn't care about when or where it would happen. I called the coordinator from the foundation and told her my new wish idea. When I spoke to her, I explained that my wish was still to meet him. She told me that she would once again contact his team and then call me the moment she heard back from them. For the next few weeks, I did nothing but wait and sit by the phone just hoping she would call with good news. Soon enough she did. She called and told me that she had spoken to Justin himself and he had been very apologetic for not being able to attend prom and that he still wanted to meet with me and make it a very special experience. The most exciting factor about this whole situation for me was that I was Justin Bieber's first ever Make A Wish kid. To this day, it makes me laugh whenever I think about the moment I told the coordinator I wanted to meet him. It only made me laugh because when I first told her I wanted to meet Justin, she had not a clue who he was. Not many people knew of him. So, I had to explain who he was. I told her that he was most famous for his videos on youtube and he had just released his first music video. Anyway, she had given me two dates to choose from. My choices were between June 23rd in Hartford, Connecticut and June 26th in Cincinnati, Ohio. I chose Cincinnati. That was it. The date was finally set. June 26th, marked the day that I was going to meet my idol. For the next few days I could not stop day dreaming about the upcoming event. Our local news station even interviewed me and did a story about it which they aired on our local tv channel. They asked me questions like "What part are you most excited for?" and "What do you think you will say to him when you meet him?". All of this, of course made me more excited than I already was. Each day seemed to drag on longer and longer. I started a countdown from the day I first found out when I was going to meet him. It was exactly 186 days away from that moment. After a long 186 days, it was finally that day. The Make A Wish Foundation had a whole plan set in motion. I had an appointment at a place called Pump Salon to get my hair and makeup done. Just before that we went out shopping for just the right outfit. I bought a strapless, floral printed dress that was cut just above the knees. The second I tried it on, I fell in love with it. After we purchased the dress and left my hair and makeup appointment we drove back to the hotel in our rental car which by the way was my dream car, a brand new 2011 red Ford Mustang. Once we got back to the hotel, which overlooked the main square in Cincinnati, we began to get ready. All that was left for me was to get dressed. Once we were finally ready to go, we were instructed to meet a Make A Wish coordinator in the hotel lobby. When we got downstairs we saw a woman holding a sign with my name on it. Then we were taken to the venue via limousine. When we got to the arena, we had to pick up our tickets and wrist bands from will call. Our volunteer explained to the salesman that we were there from Make A Wish. Our backstage wristbands were the exact same as regular ones. We were told to wait outside of the entrance to the arena until Justin's tour manager came outside to get us. We waited outside for about 30 minutes until his tour manager opened the door and called us over. Before hand, while we were waiting outside we had quite a few people come over to us and tell us that those who had green bands like ours for meet and greet had already gone in for the group meet and greets. I'm not going to lie, it was really fun having to explain that we were waiting because we were getting a private meet and greet. People became jealous which in a way made me even more excited than I already was. Anyway we then followed the tour guide into the arena and he led us downstairs and backstage to the hallway where Justin's dressing room was located. I saw his wardrobe case while walking down the hallway so I stopped to take a picture of it. Finally we got to his dressing room and were asked to wait outside until he arrived. I waited anxiously, my stomach turning. I heard a slight ruckus coming from down the hall. I looked to my left and saw two very tall and built men walking towards us. I looked between them and saw him. I saw Justin. I could not believe it and I could barely contain the excitement. My idol was walking right towards me. As I watched him take each step closer, the excitement grew. My dream was coming true. I wanted to cry from being so excited but then I recalled an interview I had seen where Justin said he doesn't like to see fans cry because he wants them to be happy. So I held in my tears and flashed a big cheesy smile. Then, just before he turned to enter his dressing room he looked over to me. He took me by the hand and said "Hey, It's very nice to meet you. I'm Justin." Inside I was thinking, "Yes, I already know (:" but I could barely speak. The only words I could mutter out at the moment were "Hi, I'm Kayla." All I was thinking right then and there was "Wow, Justin Bieber just held my hand." He then invited us into his dressing room. Once we got inside, he pulled out two chairs, one for me and one for himself to sit next to me. Then I was thinking "Justin Bieber just pulled out a chair for me!". I still couldn't believe all of it was real. I was just in such a daze. I mean, there I was sitting in a room talking to one of my idols. After about ten minutes of talking and what not, I guess he noticed that I had my phone in my hand. He asked if I would like to take some pictures on my phone and of course I said yes almost as soon as he finished asking the question. We took one picture on my phone and then we all took a few pictures on my camera. A few minutes later I looked over to the couch across the room and screeched. There, on the couch sitting was Sean Kingston! The only time I had ever seen Sean perform was when he was an opener for Chris Brown and Bow Wow in December of 2007. Justin called Sean over and asked if he'd take some pictures with us. The first thing that I blurted out of my mouth to Sean was "Oh my god, I saw you open for Chris Brown once in 2007." I felt like such a fool. I mean, come on, really? Of all the things I could say to him, that's what comes out of my mouth? I was embarrassed but I think he could tell and we all kind of just laughed it off. After taking some pictures, Justin signed a few magazines that I had brought with me. After about a total of 30 minutes, yes a whole 30 minutes, when we were just about to leave the room to go see the concert, Justin grabbed my hand and said "Wait one second, I have a gift for you." In my mind I played over the possibilities of what it could be. However, none of the things I was thinking even compared to what the actual gift was. He brought out this really long box and I immediately knew what it was. He gave me a brand new Epiphone guitar which was an exact replica of the one he used during his My World tour. He autographed it with my name, his signature, and three words which I now live by every day of my life. The words said "Never Say Never". After taking some more pictures with him and the guitar, it was time to say our goodbyes. He hugged me and shook my hand once more. Justin told me that it was a great honor meeting me. Since the concert was going to begin soon, we handed over my new guitar to our Make A Wish coordinator and she then took it back to our hotel for me. Our seats for the show weren't on the floor but they were in the first section and we were still really close. Sitting right down below us were Justin's mom Pattie, his manager Scooter, and his vocal coach Jan. I couldn't believe that they were sitting right in front of us. Anyway I noticed that we had 2 extra tickets. I thought I should do something with those tickets instead of just wasting them. I sent my brother Ryan off to find 2 people who didn't have such good seats and asked him to give them our extra tickets. A while later, he came back with two girls who were about my age, maybe a little younger. They could not have been more thankful. They were so grateful. It really made me feel good to see that I made someone's day. Before Justin came out on stage, Sean Kingston performed a few songs. I absolutely love seeing him live because it's so different than hearing him on a cd or an i-pod. His songs are always up beat and easy to dance to. I was up and out of my seat dancing from the second he began to the second he stepped foot off stage. A few minutes later, the lights went out and a countdown timer began on the main screen above the stage. Everyone was screaming as the time decreased. The screen went off, and we heard the beginning of "Bigger" start to play. The smoke machines were turned on and rising from under the stage was a large metal cage in the shape of a circle. As that rose, Justin Bieber was officially on the stage. I don't think I ever screamed so loud in my life as I did the moment he began to perform. My favorite Justin Bieber songs are First Dance and Never Say Never. The show was absolutely incredible. During the performance of "One less lonely girl" they brought out a chair and placed it in the middle of the stage. During the middle of the song, a young girl from the audience was brought out onto the stage and was asked to sit on the chair. Justin came down the stairs next to the stage and he had a bouquet of roses in his arms. He brought them down to the girl as he continued singing the song. I won't lie, I was sort of jealous. Who wouldn't be? I'm pretty sure every girl in that arena would have killed to be her. Apparently, at every show, during one less lonely girl, they pick a fan from the audience to be the One Less Lonely girl and then Justin sings to her. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know they did that until then otherwise I would have certainly asked if I could be the One Less Lonely girl when we were all in his dressing room. Oh well right? I guess it's too late. The show came to a close and I was sad that it was over and I felt like I could stay there forever, not just because of Justin Bieber but because I love the feeling I get when I'm at a live concert. It brings me total happiness and I am truly content. The night was finally over and we were now lead back outside to our limo to take us back to our hotel. The entire ride to the hotel, the flight home, and even for the next few weeks all I could do was smile. I couldn't be more thankful to anyone that had anything to do with making my wish come true. For that one moment in time, I wasn't thinking about being sick. I felt like a normal and healthy 17 year old girl. I felt like I didn't have a care in the world. I wasn't thinking about my condition and I wasn't thinking about doctors, or anything like that. I was just happy. I was happier than I had ever been. When he wrote the words "Never say Never" on my guitar, they immediately sunk into my mind. I have seen the quote a few times before, but seeing him write it on the guitar, while I was there and my dream was coming true despite being ill, really made the quote mean so much more to me. I have even gone as far as tattooing the quote permanently onto my body. On the bottom half of my right leg, the quote is tattooed with music notes surrounding it. I live by the saying each and every day of my life. Never Say Never. Dreams do come true. When you feel like giving up, just remember to Never Say Never. Things will get better and no matter how many times you get knocked down, just keep on getting back up. I would just like to say thank you to Justin especially. Also, I would like to thank my family and friends, the Make a Wish foundation, and anyone who had anything to do with making my dream come true. It truly changed my life and helped me to become happy again. Just remember, Never Say Never.

Impressum

Texte: Kayla Kelly
Lektorat: KaylaKelly.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.01.2012

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