It started out when my mom went to pick up my youngest sister from girl scouts. Me and Tweetheart were getting ready to leave while my dad was getting ready to leave, and my brother, Kiddo, was watching Star Trek. We’re all ready by 5:45, but my mom ain't home yet. So we waited ten minutes and decided we were gonna leave whether or not mom was home yet. So we left Kiddo home alone.
We got into the car and drove 20 minutes, and I’m shaking the whole time. Dad said that there was a small chance we wouldn't be able to meet Crystal, but hey, going to a free concert was enough for both Tweetheart and me.
So we pull into the parking lot, get a good space and get out. Then I looked to my left and I saw this blond lady unloading her car. Then it dawned on my. IT WAS CRYSTAL!!!!! She was unloading her car not 30 feet away from us! Greg Denham’s daughter and a few of her friends were with her, helping her unload her car. Then Crystal gave her one of her Fearless CDs and promised to autograph it later!
Tweetheart and me got really excited and wanted to see if we could say hi, but dad met up with an old friend and they talked a while. So Tweetheart and me are watching Crystal, wondering when we could see her.
But Crystal seemed to be in a hurry (I think they were running late), and once we went to say hi she entered the office. So then dad met with another friend, and a minute later we went into the office. Crystal was in a small room off to the side, and someone was getting her a water bottle. I was going to drop in and say hi, the Greg Denham comes out, says hi, complements Tweetheart and me on how we’ve grown (we get that a lot) and tells dad that he has seats reserved for us.
Just when I thought we could see Crystal, Greg has some lady come to show us to our seats. So I’m bummed cuz we can't meet Crystal, then I noticed who was also with our escort. It was BRIAN RAY, Crystal's husband! So he's following us to the new sanctuary of this church, and I wanna say hi, but he's really quiet, and drinking a coffee, so I decided to wait till we stopped. So we enter the new building and wait in the foyer a minute or two, and I’m standing next to Brian, trying to say hi, but I’m too darn shy and couldn't go through with it! GRRR!
So after that, the escort came back and she showed us to our seats. Brian stayed behind. Since dad got personally invited to this event, he was considered a guest, and got special reserved seats in the 2nd row!!! We took our seats and I pulled out my camera. I wanted to be ready when Crystal came in.
Now, we were waiting for the service to start. It was supposed to start at 7, but it started at like 7:15. And at that time, the side door opens and Crystal and a few more people walk by. I was waving at Crystal and trying to say hi, but she didn't notice me and walked on by! And she was only 5 feet in front of me! Another major disappointment. But she took a seat in the front pew of the row next to us, right where we could see her!
The first thing I noticed was that she had a Kleenex box. Now, since I suffer from major hay fever, I knew how she felt. She had a real bad cold, the poor thing! So she's coughing and her nose is all red, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Especially since she had to sing with a cold!
The service started, and after a few minutes Greg comes up and gives a few announcements and then calls Crystal up. She left her Kleenex box (and seemed a little nervous about it), grabbed a water bottle and went onstage. She hugged Greg and took a microphone. Music started playing, and she announced that the song she was about to sing was from her new album, Fearless. But her voice sounded real grainy, and I hoped she'd sing well.
So she started to sing, and she sounded fine for the most part. She started with "Only Fools" from Fearless. Since I had heard that song on the radio enough to memorize the chorus, I sang along quietly. During the second chorus, I was singing, and then Crystal looked my way, noticed me singing and smiled right at me! TOO COOL!
She did another song from Fearless after that one, and finished off with "Lord I Believe in You" from Gold, her last album. That was when her voice was starting to go. It kept cracking, and she was having a little trouble keeping up with the beat, but did a pretty fair job. I got 7 pictures of her.
After singing that, she got down and Greg Laurie, the special speaker for the night, got up and spoke. There was a water bottle up there, and he began teasing Crystal by saying, “Has this one been opened yet? If it’s Crystal’s, I don’t want to drink from it!” Crystal and Brian were laughing, and so was pretty much everyone in the sanctuary (including me).
Greg L. began his message, but I kept glancing over a Crystal. She seemed pretty miserable with her cold and all, but relieved that she had done a good job. I wanted to take a picture of her sitting, but my flash kept going off and she'd notice. So I didn't get any more pictures.
When Greg L.'s message was wrapping up, dad leaned over to Tweetheart and me and told us that when this was over, we could go over and get Crystal's autograph. So I pulled out my booklet to Gold, and a small package of Kleenex to give to her. Heck, it's the least I could do!
So I’m waiting nervously for the service to end so I can talk with Crystal. So now the service is ending, and I’m getting ready to say hi to Crystal, and then she gets up and LEAVES!!!! I got pretty bummed out, but Tweetheart and I thought we could catch her when we went back to the car.
So we head back after the service, then dad meets up with a whole bunch of friends and starts talking. Tweetheart and me are waiting patiently to go back to the car to see if Crystal had left yet, but dad was taking too long!
We made it to the car at least 15 minutes after dad said we'd leave. By then Crystal's car was gone. So we didn't get to meet her as we planned, but I did get some good pictures, and got her to smile at me. That was cool enough.
So, we didn’t get to meet Crystal like we had planned, but she comes here often. Maybe the next time she visits I’ll meet her!
