The very first CD I ever owned, way back when I was 13, was Greenday's "Dookie." They were the first band I liked, and not because my sister liked them or my parents did but because I did.
I used to listen to "Basketcase" and "She" on repeat.
They played in concert that same year, and I wanted to go so badly. I thought my friends might surprise me with tickets or maybe the tickets would just magically appear in my room.
I was an optimistic 13 year old, wasn't I?
They didn't appear, of course, but since then, I made it a goal to see them in concert. One day, somehow.
We bought tickets for their concert last year in San Antonio but it was the day after Kyle ended up in the ER for a rather traumatic (for me) chocking incident. No matter how badly I wanted to see that concert, I wasn't leaving my boy for anything. We ate the cost and I sort of thought that was the last chance I'd have.
They came back through Texas -- Dallas -- last night, though, and Mike bought us tickets months ago.
It was a Thursday night, I had to take a half-day from work, we had to ask Mike's parents to babysit late into the night on a work night, we had to drive an hour into the heart of Dallas for the concert, the tickets weren't cheap, the beer wasn't cheap, and I can think of a dozen other things that money would have been more responsibly spent on.
When we go to our seats, they were just taking the stage. Seriously, we couldn't have timed our arrival any better. And as they walked on stage, I teared up, and all those reasons for not going melted away. I turned to Mike and said, "I'm finally here."
They were unbelievable in concert. They were on fire, engaged with the audience, energetic. They were just incredible. They were also grateful, thankful for their fans. They brought dozens of those fans up on stage, they gave guitars and drumsticks out like candy, they brought kids on stage and let them sing. At one point Billie Joe said, "It's our honor and our privilege to perform for you." I believed that he believed that.
I feel a little silly typing all this out. I'm nearly 30! It was a Greenday concert! But how often do you get to sit at a concert as an adult and listen to the same song you listened to on the floor of your middle school bedroom?
It was a full-circle moment, and I'm just so happy we made it happen.
As Mike and I got out of the car, I turned to him and said, "There's a sippy cup in the car and I have a block in my purse. How rock n roll are we?"