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2000 brought a year of a lot of changes for me. As I expressed in the last page, it was a hard year for me. I went to see Jo Dee 3 times that year. (March, June, July) Most of those stories y'all have heard, but March and June were a part of my great picture scandal. So...I guess the storytelling and pictures can begin again here...so here goes...
July 29th, 2000- Jo Dee @ Ionia Free Fair
RATED PG-13 FOR LANGUAGE
Out of the 4 times I had seen Jo Dee by July 2000, this concert probably tops the list and overcomes all of those together. Everything fell into place, it seemedit was perfect, and an amazing experience, despite a few little things that happened. I had recently been very sick and in the hospital, and I didnt know if I would be able to go to the show. While I was in the hospital (St. Lawrence Hospital Pediatric Unit, Lansing Michigan: THANK YOU. Also thanks to a few very cool Jo Dee fans in the area who stopped by to see me!) I told my mom "I cant believe this is happening to me. Im supposed to see Jo Dee next week." And she goes "Youre sick and thats all you can think about, is Jo Dee?" and I go "No, but thats all I want to think about. Because I believe I can still go and thats all I have right now." That made my mom cry, LOL. But really, that was a horrible time. And I still cant believe I came out of it so well and had an experience that made me forget about being sick.
July 29th, the day of my 5th Jo Dee concert. I woke up, not feelinggreat; but it was OK. My mom took me to get flowers for Jo Dee; I got her half a dozen pink and white roses with half a dozen pink tipped white carnations and some babies breath around it and it was a real pretty bouquet. When I got home, I had to finish painting my sign, which on one side was a poster of Jo Dee, and the other I had written JO DEE: YOU ARE MY HERO! I LOVE YOU! and put glow in the dark stars all over it.
Then, after changing my clothes about a bazillion timesI finally settled on jean shorts, a Jo Dee t-shirt, (The fashionable white Tour 2000 one) really cute sandals, and hair clips for the back of my ponytail. I keep bugging my parents, like WE HAVE TO LEAVE! I am NOT going to miss the Meet & Greet! Can you tell I was nervous?
So we left my house at, oh, 3:30 and set off for my 5th Jo Dee concert at The Ionia Free Fair in Ionia, Michigan. (1 hour away from good old Grand Ledge.) We got there way early at like 4:30, and my dad was actually nice and played the "I'm Alright" CD on the way there and blasted it with the sunroof open on the way into the parking lot. And he asks the parking guy "Do you know where the Jo Dee Messina meeting thing is?" Once again, I wanted to kill him. The guy was like "Who?" and I go "DAD! I can FIND IT MYSELF!"
LOL so we park and stuff, and I was a sight, lemme tell you. Everyone was staring at me cuz I was hauling around this huge poster that was like half as big as me and I looked like a dork, I'm sure. So, I went and bought a new shirt, and I asked the guy "Do you know where the Meet & Greet is going to be?" and he goes "The line will start forming on the side here, but its awfully early." And I go "OK!" and my mom took me over and we went and got in line. I was first, yippie. But I saw a few other people wandering around that were Jo fans.
After we stood there for about a half hour-45 minutes, a girl got in line with her mom, grandma, and friend. She goes "Hey, you were at the concert in March!" and I go "Yeah!" and so we started talking about Jo Dee and our moms started talking, and we were both like super nervous and excited and kept fiddling with our fan club cards and stuff. So by then, the line was way long, but it was also for the entrance to the track seats. (Which, is floor.)
So this guy takes my Fan Club Card and holds it up and goes "JO DEE MESSINA FAN CLUB MEMBERS! SPLIT OFF BEHIND THESE GIRLS! HAVE YOUR TICKETS READY, TOO!" and so he put my card back around my neck and he ripped our tickets and Sarah and I grabbed arms and like, totally ran the fastest I think I'd ever ran in my life all the way across the entire track to the fence where this lady stopped us and goes "OK, you're first, you can stop now." I thought I was going to have a heart attack. LOL. So like, we're totally excited and standing there and keep peeking around the fence and we talked to the security lady and stuff.
About 15 minutes later, 2 DJs from B-93 sauntered over and Neil (My favorite DJ on that station) goes "Hey, you guys look like pretty big Jo Dee fans. Look at that poster, thats so cool." And Reese, the other DJ goes "Are those flowers for me?" and I go "No, they're for Jo Dee. DUHHHHH!" and they laughed and he goes "Well thats too bad, because if you would have told me they were for me, I would have given you her new CD." And I go "You dont have any. Show it to me if you do. And its not out until Tuesday and Ive already got it pre-ordered. So THERE." And Neil goes "Oh, she told you! You let a little Jo Dee Messina fan tell you off!" and they talked to us until this guy came and yelled for us all to get in a single file line, and they left. He checked our passes and then they moved us back behind the fence and Sarah and I were screaming, LOL.
So we stood there, and we heard this squealing and laughing from inside and I go "Oh my gosh, thats Jo Dee." And Melvin (The most evil roadie in the world, if you remember him.) comes running out with this football and comes up to me and goes "Hey midget. Bet youd like Jo Dee's football I just stole." And he like, held it out to me and I go to grab it and he goes "Gotcha! Bye midget." And patted my head and ran off. Well, that was the end of my hairdo, LOL.
So this staff guy from the fair moved us up onto the steps of the trailer. The hole puncher wouldnt work! LOL so they marked our cards off with an X first, but then Don came with a different hole puncher. Too bad, huh? LOL. So were standing there, and I was so nervous and I dont know why! So we go in and Sarah and I start going "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Breathe, breathe, ohmigod!" Little did we realize she could most certainly hear us, we're sure of it now. LOL and we get around the corner and she's standing RIGHT THERE. Right in the middle of the room. For some reason, we didnt expect her to be standing just...right there. LOL. It was almost like she wasnt real, as funny as that sounds. And she goes "Hi!" and Don set my purse and my poster on this couch thingy (Nice gesture, huh?!) and I go "These are for you." And hand her the flowers and she goes "Awww, thanks! These are so pretty!" and she gave me a hug and set them down on the table and then Sarah gave her a hug and started talking to her and Jo Dee goes "Did y'all watch my All Access special on CMT the other night ago?" and I go "YEAH!" and Sarah goes "Yeah, we both did, and we taped it." And Jo Dee goes "Oh, so in other words, you've probably seen it more than once by now," and she laughed. Then she yawned and goes "Sorry, I just woke up."
So she took my stuff and goes "I remember you, don't tell me, don't tell me." And she squints at me and goes "I should know this by now!" and she laughed and goes "What's your name?" and I said "Heather." She signed my "That's The Way" single cover. And Sarah goes "I'm Sarah." And Jo Dee smiled and said "With an H?" and Sarah goes "Yes," and she signed the backs of our shirts, even though we didnt ask, which was funny. And she asked Sarah "How old are you?" and she goes "14." And she looks over at me and goes "And youre 12?" and I go "No, Im 14, too!" and of course, that resulted in a "NO WAY! I was going to guess younger at first!" LOL. So, I was the only one with a camera, and I got a picture taken of Me & Sarah, and one of just me and Jo Dee, and when I was moving, I stepped on her foot. I wanted to die! She didnt have any shoes on, LOL. She said "Ouch," real firmly and then laughed.
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| Me, Jo Dee, Sarah |
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| Me & Jo Dee |
And so, I picked up my purse and my poster, and like, 4 or 5 stars fell off the poster when they rubbed up against the couch and she goes "Hey, youre loosing your stars!" and I groaned and go "Oh, my God." And she laughed and picked one up and goes "It's OK." And then Don picked up the rest of them and she goes "Where you sitting?" and Sarah goes "24th row." And I go "4th Row." And she said, "OK, Ill look for you. Bye!" and we were going out and there was like, no stairs!
Don goes "Watch your step." Nice way to put it, LOL. So we had to jump like 4 feet to the ground and she screams "BE CAREFUL! Dont break your leg or anything!" and she went over by there and like, made this little sucking noise like she was afraid we were going to kill ourselves or something and then like, let out a sigh of relief when she saw we got out OK. THEN Don went and put this plank down. REAL supportive, Don. LOL.
Once we got out, we tried peeking back in and we screamed "WERE OK!" and she looks out laughing and goes "OK, BYEEEEEE!" LOL and this guy made us leave. The crew was playing football and we wanted to watch! LMAO. So we went back around the fence, and I saw my mom standing where our seats were and she looks at me and shrugs and Sarah and I were screaming and jumping up and down and hugging and she goes "I'll be right back, Im going to go find my mom and my seat." And I ran over to my mom and she goes "How was it?" and I go "I'm shaking! I'm shaking! It was awesome!" and she goes "You didnt cry, did you?" and I go "No!" and she laughed. And so, I sat down in my seat and I was all excited and stuff and I hear someone yell "HEATHER!" and I turn around and I see Sarah like, way back there and she waves and I motioned for her to run up and she came tearing up the aisle and gave me a hug and goes "Heres my address, will you send me the double of the picture of you and me and Jo Dee and OHMIGOSH!" LOL and so, she went back to her seat.
My mom and I sat there for like another half hour, and it was 7:30 and we were like "OK, wheres Billy Ray?" (Billy Ray Cyrus was Jo Dees opening act.) And so, about 15 minutes later, he comes out. Now, by force, I have to have some appreciation for Billy Ray, because my mom is only one of his biggest fans in the world. I guess he put on a pretty good show, but it didnt do anything for me. LOL at least my mom was happy.
So, once he got offstage, there was a teeny little intermission. The ladies in front of us and a few seats down were big Billy Ray fans, and they said "Hey, you look like a huge Jo Dee fan. Were leaving, do you want our seats?" and I screamed and go "Uh, sure!" and I like, vaulted over those seats, LOL. So, even though it was only one row up and closer to the center, I was excited! LOL. And so, by then it was dark. And I hear "Ladies and gentlemen, MISS JO DEE MESSINA!" and I started screaming and jumping up and down, and waving my glow sticks...
There came Jo Dee, with these cool vinyl purple pants with flowers on them and a purple halter top and her hair "thrown up" into braids...as she put it...and down went her jaw. I know she'd seen my poster in M&G, but not the side with the poster of her on it. Her eyes totally bugged out and she started laughing and almost couldnt sing. So, she managed to get through the song and goes "Where's the girl with the poster?" and I held it up and she goes "Where'd you get that? My own mother doesnt even have one of those!" and I tried screaming it to her, but the fireworks were going off and she couldnt hear me...so she goes, "Those fireworks are supposed to be for AFTER the show. I'll ask you after the show." And she winked at me and I thought to myself, yeah right, shes joking.
And so, the show went on, and right after "That's The Way" she goes "So, who watched my All Access special on CMT the other night ago?" and like, I screamed and she sorta looked over and she said "What's the deal? Dont yall get CMT up here or something?" and I screamed again, really loud this time, and she shakes her head, pointing at me and laughs and goes "Well, poster girl over here obviously saw it!" and everyone laughed and for like, the hundredth time, I was incredibly embarrassed and wanted to go crawl under a rock, LOL. And then, just after "Bring On The Rain", it started sprinkling. Some people started to leave, but I was prepared, because it had been raining when my mom and I went to get flowers and on the way in the car. I put a blanket over my poster and this poncho thing on, and no sooner had I, it started raining harder. A TON of people left, and some went and stood way back in the grandstand. I looked around, and like, half of the people on the track had left. My mom kept poking me and saying "Lets go!" and I go "NO!"
So, Jo Dee's up there singing and stuff, and she ends "I'm Alright" and goes "Y'all are getting wet out there, aren't you? Is it raining?" and she started laughing and goes "Well, thanks for sticking it out." And it got real windy and all this rain blew into the stage and she got wet and goes "That was not supposed to happen." And then she sang "Stand Beside Me", and then "Bye Bye" and she went offstage and I was like "It's not over! She's gonna do an encore! I'll come back at the end, mom." So I grabbed my camera and poster and I took off and ran right up against the stage, right dead smack in the center. Once everyone saw what I was doing they ran up, too. So, she of course came back out. Now, this is where it gets ugly. Don't read if you don't want to know what happened and what words were exchanged. But luckily, I met some really nice people who helped me out. I was standing up there, and I put my poster up for a quick second, and this guy behind me goes "PUT YOUR FUCKING POSTER DOWN!" and I turn around and he goes "THATS RIGHT, YOU LITTLE BITCH!" He was totally and utterly drunk, he could barely stand up. OK, that was so not cool with me. I dont know if Jo Dee heard it or not, but a lot of people around us did, and I heard some people booing him. So, this very nice young couple (a little drunk, but nice) were standing next to me, and the lady was just outraged. She turned around and goes "YOU FRIGGING BASTARD, DONT TALK TO A KID LIKE THAT!" and he screams back "OH SHUT UP, SHE AINT YOUR KID!" and she goes "NO, BUT THIS LITTLE GIRL PAID HER GOOD MONEY TO BE HERE AND SHE HAS EVERY DAMN RIGHT TO HAVE A GOOD TIME. WHAT WOULD JO DEE THINK, YOU ASSHOLE?" and she grabs the corner of my poster and goes "COME ON, IGNORE THAT ASS! PUT IT UP THERE!" and she helped me hold it up and Jo Dee came over and pointed like, right at me.
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| Jo Dee Pointing At ME! |
So, then she sang "Because You Love Me", and I TOTALLY lost it. I was crying so, so, so hard. She had made this sentimental speech about how much the fans mean to her and everything and how blessed she was. Jo Dee was crying too...but before me, so it was all good. LOL. So, during "These Are The Days", the nice lady goes "Hey, why you cryin'? Stop crying! Be happy!" and she grabbed my poster again and we held it up. And then, a few seconds later, I felt someone yank on my hand from on the other side of the board in front of the stage, and I'm getting pulled by someone in a black JDM Crew shirt and I was scared out of my mind! Then, I get out of the crowd and by the edge of the stage and realize it's Don, and he goes "Come on, Jo Dee wants to see you." OK, I almost died. I go "ME?!" and goes "Yeah, come on," and took my arm again and was practically dragging me backstage and like, I tripped over this cord and fell, and he goes "Are you OK?" and I go "No." LOL. And Im like thinking "Ouch, ouch, ouch." And I started crying again.
So, we're standing there and he's like "Stop crying. Jo Dee doesnt like it when her fans cry." OK, I don't listen well. All you could hear was me hiccupping and sniffling and stuff, and you could hear her finishing up "These Are The Days", and he took me over and had me stand right where she was going to come offstage. It was cool because I could still hear her and got to watch the little bit of the show that was left from right there. Don came back over to me and handed me a towel and 2 bottles of water and goes "You give this to her when she gets offstage, OK? Shes getting ready to get off, stand right here." And then we're standing there and I see her come offstage and she ran down the stairs and sees me and goes "Hi." And I handed her the stuff, and she goes "You probably dont want a hug, I'm all sweaty and gross." But she hugged me anyways. LOL and then she says "Hey, why are you crying?" I didnt really say much, just told her that I had been in the hospital the past week and I didnt expect to get to meet her again after the show and a few other things and she said "Youre making me cry! Stop crying, OK?" And then I saw that she was crying, which made me feel even worse and only cry harder. Jo Dee looked at me, wiped her arms and face off, and twisted the top off a bottle of water. She splashed a little on her face and took a big sip and drank like half the bottle in like no time hardly.
So I'm just standing there crying like an idiot thinking "I finally get the chance to spend more than 2 minutes with Jo Dee and I'm acting like a dork" and she's meanwhile twisting the top off the other bottle of water and proceeds to dump practically the entire thing over my head. I sorta let out this little scream and Jo Dee's standing there laughing and says "Well, see, you stopped crying!" She was still laughing, and Don's laughing (Yes, indeed! Shocking!) and I start laughing and so, she takes my poster and shes like "OK, now where did you get this?" and I'm like "I got it when I pre-ordered BUrN at Record Town. They gave me a few of them, you can have it." And she's like "Nonononono, I dont want it, I can get one. So you've already got the CD basically?" and I said "Yeah, I get to go pick it up Tuesday." And she goes "Oh cool, rock on!" and she's like "You want me to sign this?" and I'm like "No, thats OK." And she's like "No, let me sign it, you keep it. Heather, right?" and I'm like "Yeah." And she goes "H-e-a-t-h---yr?" and I'm like "No, e-r." and she signed it.
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| The Infamous Poster! |
So, I go "Oh, I wrote stuff on the other side." And she turns it overand even though it's written in HUGE letters and stuff on a giant 3x2 ft. poster board, she has to hold it like an inch from her face to read it and goes "What does it say?" and she reads it like 50 times and stares at it and stuff and shes like "Awww, that's so sweet." And Don was kinnda acting like he wanted her to wrap it up, but she didn't really care, she's like "Do you want a picture?" and he goes "You were at the Meet & Greet, you got one already, right?" and I was like "Yeah." And she goes "It's OK, let's go get a picture." And she drags me over by the bus and Don's standing there screaming "The bus is locked!" and she turns around and shoots him this look (GO JO!) and he comes over and fiddles with the door forever and finally got a light or two turned on. Jo Dee and I stood over on the steps of the bus (I didn't have the nerve to take any pictures or anything) for a minute or so while Don went and put something on the bus and came right back. That was sorta cool. Then, he took my camera and made us move for the picture, and I have this wonderful dorky picture of me and Jo Dee right here...
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| Jo Dee, Me & The Poster! |
So, after that, I talked to Jo Dee for maybe 2 more minutesnot really anything significant, just telling her a few things. It was all sorta personal stuff. And she said some stuff to me and so she's like "Where's your mom?" and I was like "I don't know, she doesn't know I'm back here." And she screams and goes "Great, now your mom probably thinks I kidnapped her kid." And I laughed and go "No, I got kidnapped by Don." And she goes "There we go!" and laughs. And she started walking over by the fence and Don goes "Jo Dee, where are you going?" and she screams "Come with me to find her mom!" and he runs after us and it starts raining again and I look around the fence and I see my mom standing thereshe's the only person leftand I go "Oh, there's my mom!" and she goes "Thanks for coming." And she gave me a hug and smiled and starts walking away and goes "BYEEEEEEEE!" and waves and I look back and wave and :::Sniffle Sniffle::: Jo Dee smiles and walked back to the bus. So then Don walks me around the other side of the fence and he goes "You see your mom?" and I go "Yeah, there she is." And he took my arm and made sure I was all the way out and my mom goes "WHERE WERE YOU?!" and he goes "Sorry, we should have came and told you, I took her back to see Jo Dee." And she goes "OK, thanks." And he went backstage again and it was over!
My mom wasa little mad at me. She was actually more freaked out than anything, because one second she sees me up there and the next second I was gone. She figured I might have gotten to go back and meet Jo Dee again, but after I didnt come back once the concert had been over for 15 minutes, she had started to get worried. But she recovered, and likewe had a tough time getting out because they were starting to lock the gates up, LOL. Then we found my dad and my brother, and we left, and I did NOT shut up the entire way home. Jo Dee this, Jo Dee thatthey finally had to tell me to shut up. When I got home, I don't think I went to sleep until 5AM. Right when I got home I wrote down everything I could remember and everything that Jo Dee had said to me (That I could remember. It helped me write this.) and what had happened. Then, after I read over it about 100 times, I started crying. I think I cried for about 2 hoursno reason really, LOL. When I finally went to sleep thoughI went to sleep knowing that I had possibly just lived the best day of my life.
Now that youve read what was probably the most exciting thing on this website (Which tell you a lot about how exciting I am, huh? LOL) you can read more by going to Jo Dee Concerts 2001.
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