Just when you think it doesn't get any better.......
This story is told in "two parts", with each part being a separate Garth meeting. The first being a meeting at the GOOD MORNING AMERICA studio in New York on 10/22/99 and the other meeting at the VH1 CONCERT of the CENTURY in Washington, DC on 10/23/99.
Approximately 2 weeks ago, Teresa and I learned that tickets to Good Morning America could be requested through their website and you could also request them over the phone. We both called and sent in our request but did not receive a response(thinking the audience capacity must already be full).....until I received a phone call at work on 10/18/99. The lady from Good Morning America introduced herself and as I held my breath for the bad news, she asked how many tickets I needed(whew!!...breathing a sigh of relief, I said 4). She then told me that they would not be sending out tickets and all I would need to do is arrive at the studio at 6:30A with my party and give my name as reservation holder. After I hung up the phone....I yelled out, YES, I'M SO HAPPY!...and one of my co-workers asked what was going on and I told her. She said, awwh man...you're so lucky...I'd like to go sometime. Now, I instantly begin to call Sandy, Teresa and subsequently Barbara. I am so excited 'cause meeting Garth again is now a given, but Barbara says I can't go I have to work. I tell her she'd better call off from work as she may not have the opportunity again. A short time later I receive a call from Barbara's husband who is "encouraging" her to go and eventually she agreed to call off from work.
Tuesday arrives and it's off to get some gifts for Garth after work. I get M & M's of course, Godiva biscuits, a stuffed M & M doll, and an enlarged photo I took of Garth in Philly but it just doesn't seem like enough...so as I walk around the mall trying to decide what else to get, I come across little bear charms with birthstones and I know Taylor and August's birthdates but I can't think of Allie's (damn!). I ended up getting her a gold neck charm that had "Little Angel" on it and a gold neck charm with an "S" for Sandy. So I continue walking and come across an angel ornament with Colleen's birthstone....perfect!!! I've got a gift bag full of gifts for Garth. So, I rush home and call Teresa...we now have to decide what time we're leaving my place Friday morning. We decide 3:30A but later change it to 3:00A remembering that we can't always predict traffic of public transit.
Friday morning arrives and I awake at 1:30A after 4 hours of sleep the night before. Then, it's 3:00A and Barbara arrives(not believing we'll actually meet Garth), I tell her it "will" happen (I'm very optimistic this time). Then, Sandy arrives at 3:10A and I'm now wondering where Teresa is as she's usually on time if not early. I call Teresa and get her answering machine on the first ring. O.k., so she's on her way. 3:20A arrives and no Teresa...I call her again and she answers, as soon as she realizes it's me she says Oh No....I slept through the alarm!!!!...Oh my God, I can't believe it...why did this happen!! She then says it's too late to wait for her and to go on without her. I hang up and Barbara, Sandy and I hit the road.
We arrive in Jersey City at 5:30A, park the car and catch the bus into NY. In addition to the gifts for Garth, I took along a sign I made that says "Garth ~ please come see us!" and an 8 x 10 photo he signed for me 9/28/99 after the Rosie O'Donnell show. That photo was so he would remember me (like he could really forget me....yeah, right!) I also had an enlarged photo of the "Sevens" CD cover I wanted him to sign for my friend Toni in Iowa. We catch a cab and get to the studio at 5:55A. As we step out of the cab, I notice a group of people milling about and just as I'm about to ask a guy if this was the ticket line, Barbara says (very calmly I might add), there he is and I look up and there's Garth signing something for someone. Sandy lets out a loud yelp!! This is afterall, her first time seeing him face to face and she's been known to do that sort of thing. I walk over to Garth who has a sweat shirt and sweat pants on(that don't match :-) and hear him say he has to go inside. I then ask him if we can see him inside, as we have gifts for him. And he smiles and says, "sure you can"!!! Oooooh baby, I'm pysched now!!! He goes inside and we turn around to see Harriet, Wendy, Toni, JoAnn and Garth's limo driver, so we ask if he will be waiting in that spot for Garth after the show. He said he would as long as no cop asks him to move.
We then go around the corner and get in line. At one point, Garth arrives in the studio to rehearse and we watch from the windows while conversing with various people. Sandy, God bless her, makes a point of telling people I had met Garth on 9/28 and that I had the photo with me that he signed. So naturally they wanted to see it and 2 ladies (one named Colleen) said if he comes over to you, "would you introduce us". I said I'd be happy to. Now, the audience coorinator comes out along with another studio worker and advises everyone that when they're name is called, they will be given tickets for their party. It appeared the names were listed in order that the requests were received. He asks if anyone has cameras and sees a show of hands, he says good..but do not take photos while taping is going on. He also asks if anyone has signs...I say I do and he asks to see it, he says fine! So my name was called with ticket numbers 12, 13 & 14(I told them my 4th person was not with us). Alright!!...we're thinking not bad at all!!
At approximately, 7:20A we're taken inside and Barbara, Sandy and I are in front of the ropes at one corner with Colleen and her friend(can't remember her name for the life of me) are right behind us. Throughout this time, the weather is being taped right in front of us with Tony the weather guy and the news is being taped with Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer upstairs. So there we'll stand until 8:30A. They fill up the audience area and it's getting hot, in fact the worker who called out the names outside...told everyone that if anyone felt like they would pass out to let her know as it had happened before.
One of the directors comes over to the audience and asks if anyone has any funny/cute Garth stories to tell and Harriet begins to talk to him. He then goes to the 3 ladies with the red shirts that say, "Hey Garth, we've had snow in July in Washington State". Then another director comes over and advises the other workers and camera people where Diane and Charlie will be positioned. Then a camera man comes over and kneels down right in front of Barbara, Sandy and I, sees the sign and photo, says "very nice" and starts shooting. Way cooooooool of him to say "very nice"!!!!!
Just prior to 8:30A, Garth appears in the studio, wearing a black stetson, jeans and plaid shirt (same one as on Conan)...but you know that after having seen the show :-) and everyone is ecstatic. He starts conversing with the band (and at one point I'm holding up my sign in front of my belly and he gives me a wink...oooooh baby, chills all over)and a short time later Diane and Charlie appear and come over to greet the audience. Intros for the camera are made, then Diane and Garth are positioned on the stools for the interview. If you didn't see the show, Garth announces he will definitely be taking next year off to spend with his girls.(he will not tour again until at least 2001)Garth then sings Right Now and those of us who know the words (which weren't that many are rocking and singing along). Diane, by the way, is really grooving...girlfriend's got rythym!!!
After Right Now, Charlie, Diane and Garth come over to the audience and taping begins again. After the camera stops rolling, Garth quickly signs an autograph for a little girl and returns to the stage. He then performs Main Street and we're groovin' (sorry if I've just dated myself) again.
Once taping is over...studio people converge on Garth to get autographs. At one point, as if to excuse himself, he trots around a person and comes straight to me!! OH MY GOD!!!! He's coming straight to me....I can't believe it!! When Garth reaches me, without either of us saying a word, he takes my face in his left hand and kisses me tenderly on my right cheek. He then said, "it's good to see you again, you doin' o.k.?" I said, "I'm fine...how about you"? He said, "I'm doin' o.k." I then begin to tell Garth what some of the things are in my bag and feeling overwhelmed with the stuff in my hands (photo, sign, camera), I take out the plastic baseball the show gave the audience during break and hand the photo back to Sandy, telling Garth that was the photo he signed on 9/28 in case he didn't remember me. I get to the part where I tell him the thing I like best in the bag was the angel ornament for his tree is in honor of his mother...it has her birthstone on it. My voice now begins to crack and tears began to well in my and Garth's eyes...so I cut it off so to avoid him feeling embarassed.
I then ask for a another photo with him and tell him the last one turned out crappy, thanks to him, he giggles says yes and Barbara hands her camera to a female studio worker who takes the photo (Barbara was too close to me for the photo to be more than just a head shot)and I thank him and tell him I love him and he says "I love you too". (Oh man...now I know I've really died!!!!!!)I then introduce Garth to Barbara who says, "God, you're beautiful" as she's gazing into the baby blues *you go girl!!* He signs a CD cover for her and one for her husband and takes a photo with her. Then, I introduce Garth to Sandy and get this.....Sandy whose normally a huggy feely type person....shakes his hand!!! (Talk about nervous) Garth signs a CD cover for her and one for her daughter, Linda and I take their photo. I then introduce him to Colleen and her friend and he signs stuff for them(they are so ecstatic and so grateful I had done that). By the way, these ladies just became fans last year well after the Philly concerts.
All the while this is going on he stays right in front of US, I ask him if he'll be at Fan Fair next year and he said "no":-(. Sandy told him her and I were at his gates on and off for 6 days in August and he said "I'm sorry I missed you". She also said she brought back a little twig from his estate and he chuckles and says, "so that's where that went". LOL (to know Sandy is to love her!) I asked Garth if he saw the wooden bear I gave to Kelly to give to him on 9/28. He said, "yes it had a welcome sign attached to it, right?" Now mind you, I never described the bear!I said, "yes" then he said "it's at home right now". (Oh Man...he actually has it at home!!!)At this point, he's still signing stuff and I said "oh, Garth, about the DC concert at the White House, will we able to see it at all" and he said "no, unfortunately it will be inside tents and whispered if he had known it would be that way, he may not have agreed to do it". Now some people may think that to be a bit facetious but if you know Garth, you know how much the fans mean to him. Anyway, I tell him he may see a group of us down there and he says, "cool". Hot damn...not only did he confirm where the concert would be but he now knows some of his fans will be there (meaning we'd be prepared) Garth signed a few more things, then he said "I'm sorry folks but I've got to go" and leaves.
I tell Barbara and Sandy that we have to get outside and around the corner to where the limo is so we can watch him leave. When we get there there are cops and barricades forming an aisle to the limo. Garth comes out and begins signing and taking photos while all the while working his way toward the limo. I spot Kelly and ask him if the bag I gave Garth came out of the building and he said, "oh yeah, it's in the limo". "Thanks Kelly!!" People who just happened by were amazed that Garth was signing and taking photos and for as long as he was. I would simply say, "that's Garth, he does it all the time". He then gets in the limo and we wave goodbye. We then head to get something to eat, then it's off to the Port Authority to catch the bus back to Jersey City.
The car knows it's way back home and was put on automatic pilot as the 3 of us relived the experience of the day and I now know what it's like to feel like Queen For a Day and it gets easier easier to talk to Garth and not just get lost in those beautiful blues, but the magic continues......THANK YOU GOD AND THANK YOU GARTH for a beautiful day and for not allowing me to look like a total dork in this photo with Garth!!!
Photos Copyright Barbara Clark & Cheryl White
