Light of My Life

I already exposed myself with the last blog post, so we’re going all out for this last one. This is a photo of me with Jenna Lee on November 30, 2019. It was taken moments after Jenna nearly got into a fight with a 50 year old woman over the scrap of paper in my hand. That interaction was just one of the few ways Jenna fulfilled her best friend title that day.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I had tickets to see my favorite artist, Louis Tomlinson, in Nashville. I had an extra ticket because going to concerts with a friend is always better, and Jenna offered to come along as my "emotional support friend". She was so sweet about the whole experience, willing to do whatever in order to make it the best experience for me.

In this case, "whatever" meant standing in line with me, out in the rain, from 7:30am until doors opened at 4:30pm. We had general admission tickets and I was adamant about getting there as early as we could to get as close as possible. The whole day Jenna was such a trooper, going along with whatever I needed, whether it was holding our place in line when I left to go to the bathroom, or letting me use her as a pogo stick as I jumped all over her in my frenzied excitement during the concert.

So, back to the scrap of paper. That is the setlist that is taped to the ground onstage so that the artist and musicians can remember what song comes next. It may seem insignificant, but it meant so much to me that I was able to get such a tangible memento from the night and that Jenna was so determined to make it absolutely the best for me. One of the crew members was clearing the stage after Louis' set, and we frantically waved and called, asking for the setlist. When it was passed toward the crowd, about 5 of us frantically reached for it, and this pristine, sacred sheet of paper got crumpled up in a ball pretty quickly. I gave up pretty quickly, too afraid to rip it, but Jenna had much more determination than I did. 

Jenna and the 50-some year old woman next to her got into a stalemate pretty quickly. From an outsider's perspective, it just looked like they were standing next to each other, with their hands down at their sides. But they were both stubbornly holding onto this piece of paper. After about 30 seconds of Jenna holding her arm at an awkward angle, refusing to let it go, I told her that it was okay, just let it go. She turned to me and looked me dead in the eyes and said, "I'm not letting go. If she pulls, it rips, so if she wants some of it, she's gonna have to rip it." I laughed, and turned back to the girl next to me I was talking to. Another minute or so later, Jenna lets out a gasp and pulls away, brandishing that beautiful piece of paper.

She proudly hands it to me, then leans in and tells me, "she pinched me!" Sure enough, there was a scratch and cut skin on her hand. In that moment, affection swelled up inside of me. I was physically exhausted from standing in line all day and completely emotionally drained after the rush and let-down of seeing my favorite human in person, but in that moment, all of the sacrifices Jenna had made throughout the day for the sake of my happiness came back to me. Overwhelmed by gratitude, all I could do was laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation and give her a big hug.

That was the tenth concert I've been to, but dare I say it was my favorite. Waiting in line all day meant plenty of time to talk to and bond with the people waiting around us. We were all there for the same reason - because we had an intense love for this artist and their music, and it was an amazing feeling to be surrounded by so many people with a common goal and passion. But Jenna was there all day, a dedicated friend who was willing to endure the 6 hour car drive to Nashville and the 9 hour wait in line. At the end of the night, we were both so sore and exhausted that we could hardly make the 2 block walk back to the hotel. Yet somehow we made it, and it was all thanks to Jenna who guided a sobbing me safely back to the hotel, into the lobby to buy me a soda, and into our hotel room. 

The scrap of paper made it safely back to the hotel room, into my bag, past my parents scrutiny ("Can I throw away this scrap of paper?" "No no no no!! It's mine!"), and back to my house. It is currently pinned to the center of my bulletin board in my room. It will probably remain there until I get a picture frame to put it in. And, no, I am absolutely not joking.