Charmaine, Sandy and I arrived at the motel in Goodlettsville at around 8:30Pm Wednesday night to find that they had put us in a room right next to Merry(from Canada). (I know your name's Glenda but your much more of a Merry to me *huggs*) During the trip, we discovered that 3 ladies with all of our 'stuff' on a 14hr. trip to Nashville in a Mustang Convertible was anything but comfortable. But what awaited us was worth it all. Denise(from Philly) had told me that her and Deb (redstrokes77-from Canada) would probably be at the gates when we got there, so off to the gates we go, as Merry was not in her room and we had no way of finding where she was. Wait...a room downstairs has some signs in the window..."PGer's reside here- Denise(Phillygirl) and Deb, etc....cool, we know where their room is! That was so clever of Denise to do that!
We get to the gates and there were several nutts there, including Denise, Deb, Dee Dee, Danae, Holly and Jenny (who Jason posted about having extra tickets) and some others!! (Hiiiii!!!) There's been no movement or signs of life in the property but we hang out anyway and chat it up. Much of going on Garthadventures is spent waiting around and waiting some more but it's all good because you get to know more about each other. And, at the gates each time a vehicle reaches the top of the hill, everyone just sort of holds their breath...hoping it's Garth. Well, after hanging out a few hours, we decide to go back to the rooms. By now, Merry's back in her room and comes over to ours and we get acquainted and discuss the plans for the next day. (Wooohooo, Merry looks like a "Chatty Cathy" doll.) Now, before you take offense to that hun, Chatty Cathy was my favorite doll when I was a little girl...so it's a compliment, okay(?) (To me, Barbie does so not represent what most of us look like.)We got up early in the morning and headed to the Country Music Hall of fame...the weather was so top down on the convertible gorgeous, unless you don't like looking wind-blown.
After that we decide to check out the Opry Plaza layout and subsequently scope out the exterior of the Opry for where Garth may be able to hold court with the fans. There's the front lot (of course) and one lot on the side but how do we get there? There's another lot on the other side for employees only but we explore that looking for one of his trucks...no sighting. Mind you, Jimmy had told me that they would all be down there rehearsing Thursday...he just didn't say where but we assumed he meant at the Opry. So, we asked some ladies in an office trailer if the artists would be rehearsing there today and just like good little 'stepford wives', they didn't know. We hung out a bit and then headed back to Goodlettsville to the gates. OMG...that guy looks just like Garth...it's not Garth, but OMG!! *drool* I call out, "whose he belong to???" LOL I never did get a response...so, he belongs to no one??? Hmmmm, this could get a little interesting. Arlene and Carmen had arrived, as did Marla, Cathy and SandyToo along with others. Cathy heard my question about Bob and laughed out loud, then said...Cheryl! I guess she doesn't know me, my bark's worse than my bite as I'm basically a shy person. (hehehe)Hey, here comes Shalom. "Cheryl, hi!" (hugs) Shalom asks what's going on and we say we're just hanging around to see if Garth is here. She tells us Garth is staying at Kelly's and something to the effect that she was trying to get him to come back and forth to see the fans. (Hmmm, what's up with that??):)
Oh well, we head to the Bob Evans restaurant for something to eat before going to the Bluebird Cafe. It was there that the 6 of us (Denise, Deb, Merry, Charmaine, Sandy and I)will probably be banded from as the sillies and laughter really began to set in. I tried to order Garth ala mode from the dessert menu but...alas, that was one dish they didn't offer. LOL After going out of our way enroute to the Bluebird Cafe, where our reservations awaited and after phoning ahead twice to say we got sidetracked but we'd still be there and...with the help of Nashville's finest, we arrived there about 35 minutes late. The singer/songwriters were terrific and please don't ask their names because I couldn't tell you if my life depended on it but the coolest thing was that it only holds 50 people if that(seemed like less to me) and they are only about 3' away from the front tables. We could only imagine what it must have been like seeing Garth sing there in that small setting. *sigh* They gave away CD's and T-shirts and some of us signed up for their mailing list...YAY!!!
After the Bluebird, it's back to the gates. By now, a good size crowd had drawn and there are cars on each side of the street. Now, if the neighbors were smart...they'd charge for use of the bathroom facilities and maybe even sell refreshments. Heck, I would...you could make a killing! We quickly learn that Stillwater has entered the propery. Ahhhh...so this is where they're rehearsing!! Hey there's Mary Ann from Oklahoma(lucky girl who sees Garth often out there)! Virginia's in the car!!! Virginia(Mary Ann and Cindy as well) and I met face to face at ST and although she's very ill she drove down from Canada by herself, mind you...gotta love that determination. Bob, the guy who looks remarkably like Garth is here. Dee Dee is here and many more is here that I can't remember but Bob's here. LOL
Now, where was I?? Oh, I know...Bob's here!!! After hanging around for a while, Mark Greenwood drives out of the gates and waves. Then, Steve McClure drives out. Then David Gant with Jimmy Mattingly in the passenger seat drives out and Jimmy sees me and says, Hiii!!! and sticks his hand out to shake mine. Jimmy and Dave stop a little down the road and James Garver drives out...he has to stop behind them. So, Dee Dee, Danae, Sandy and I walk up to James' really nice SUV and Mary Ann's talking to him. So Dee Dee asks for an autograph, as do I and Sandy and while he's signing he says, "I have to tell you guys something...we really miss you". We say, "WE miss you guys"! He then says, "we'll be back out there someday...of course we may be old and gray then". *chuckles* And I say, "we may be old and gray too but we'll be here waiting". Dee Dee asked James if Garth was inside or if he'll be around. James only answered the second part of the question by saying he didn't know. (Hmmmm.......)
Friday morning we go back to the gates...quite a few people are there but no sign of Garth. Hey, there's Jim and Cathy(they have our tickets to the shows)!! They'd made it in earlier that morning but could not check into the motel. Normally, there is quite of bit of traffic from the workers around the estate but there hasn't been until now. Even the walkway to the gates has not been swept...it's almost as if no one has been there in quite a while. We only stay there a little while and then head back to the Opry Plaza to check things out. Virginia tells us there that her and Mary Ann have just upgraded their seats. So, we take off for the ticket/souvenir shop. Mind you, I have no idea where our seats are but I ask what they had available for the 9:30P show that night as they only had crappy seats left for the 6:30P. The lady tells me they have 4 for Section 3, row H and I buy them quick!(could have swapped them if I had had the tickets in hand) I figured they'd probably be better than what we had and if not and if I couldn't sell them...oh well. We didn't have tickets to the 6:30P show but Terry (shmlss4gb) had 2 she was selling and Denise and I bought them from her....wooohoooo, we're going to the 6:30P show!!!
On the way back to the motel, I call Jim and he tells me that the tickets I just bought are for better seats than we had! We get to the motel and pick up the tickets from Jim and head to the gates because there have been people looking to buy tickets. Within 10 minutes at the gates, all of them were sold!
While we were at the Opry Plaza Friday walking around taking pictures and checking the place out, I believe it was Denise who suggested a group photo in front of one of the GOO signs. So, she asked an elderly lady if she would take the photo of us. We pose, and the lady says to us "think of something you'd rather be doing". Well, you can imagine what we were all thinking and I'm certain the photo will show it all too well. We race back to the motel and get changed for the 1st show! Once at the Opry and inside, we discover that our seats put us closer to Garth on stage than Denise had ever been...they are good seats and we are happy happy!! Deb's seat was one row down from us, which was cool because that way we could make eye contact. It didn't take us long to realize that you were allowed to go down to the stage in aisle at the front row or as close as possible to take photos...just as long as you did not block anyone's view...so that's what we did as alot of the artists came out to perform.
Prior to Garth coming out the front of the stage and the aisles began to fill up with fans wanting to be as close as possible to him and to get really good photos. We got aisle squats which for the most part are not to physically enduring since the aisles are carpeted. God was in heaven and everything was right with the world when Garth and Stillwater took that stage...it was as it was meant to be!!! He performed "Two of a Kind", "Long Neck Bottle" w/Steve and "Friends in Low Places"(God I hope I remember that correctly...I was just so blown away at being there!) and we knew that this awesome weekend was just getting started.
6:30P show ends and there's a half hour before the 9:30P show begins. Since most of the performers would appear again onthe 9:30P, we took our time going back in the Opry and that's when I heard Mel call out my name(Hi Mel!!)...it's so good meeting her and Krista and Trish! Before long, I joined Jim, Cathy and Teresa at our upgraded seats. Now, the routine becomes more apparent...you go down to the stage before the set of artists before those in Garth's group take the stage. That's exactly what we did! We were on the hardwood floor in front of the stage all scrunched together. Man, these photos are going to be awesome!!! At one point, I noticed my friends Sandy and Charmaine were to the right of the stage and Charmaine moves over next to me. Sandy stayed squatted to the right of the stage while holding on to it for balance and I thought I was seeing things at first when I saw her looking through binoculars! LOL You gotta know Sandy to appreciate that...as close as we were, she's using binoculars!!! Stillwater comes out to set up as they'd done previously. So Jimmy, is that a sock or what!!!??? Garth came out and as expected the place lit up because you can just see how much he's missing being out there...this to me, was not as apparent during the first show. You gotta believe baby, he seemed happier than he has in a very long time!!
After the 2nd show, the objective is to find where Garth will be coming out at. My group got separated and when some of us did reassemble we saw people walking around the building in area we hadn't explored before. I ran into Cindy from ST and we exchanged hugs and I gave her some of the photos I took at ST as a surprise. As we were crossing a bridge, Denise met us and said he was all the way around the building on the other side. So we hoofed it over there and my God...there's alot of people here(ST flashbacks for sure)!!! There he was, Mister Gorgeous, taking photos with people. Oh man, all I could think was that we'd never get near him. Sandy and Angela told me stand over by them because at one point he was gradually moving their way but then he stopped and as some people had photos with him, they did not leave his side. I didn't want a photo with him, I didn't need another autograph(I have enough of those). I just wanted to give him the book with my poem in it, Diane and Cheryl L.'s letters and a Thank You card from me with some photos I'd taken of him along with a photo I had enlarged of the billboard in Nashville...that's all I wanted to do. Tears are starting to well in my eyes because it seemed like it wasn't going to happen, nor would I get to say anything at all. I just kept saying, "I just want to give him the book with the letters inside".
Since I wasn't the only one who had gifts for Garth and he realized that he would not be able to get to everyone, he stood up on something that would enable him to tower over the crowd. He began reaching over people to get the gifts...lucky LeAnne...what a moment she had! I bet she can describe that beltbuckle in intricate detail!!! All of a sudden, Denise (I love you sweetie!) starts yelling out to Garth, "Garth Cheryl has a gift for you!" He looked at me and said, "what is it?" I said, "it's a book of poetry and there's a poem that I wrote about you that's published in this book". He asked if people would pass it to him. The tears really start to flow now and he says, "it's about me and they published it?" (chuckle) [thanks Deb for reminding me about that!] I then found my self asking him if he was okay. He said, "are YOU okay"(I was told this by friends afterward) and I just shook my head in the affirmative and mouthed the words "I love you". He then said, "I'm not trying to explain anything but I was misquoted in that Billboard article. Sandy and I have been separated for 2 years now and we are not getting divorce at this time. We are making certain we take care of the girls the best way possible and then we will look at taking care of the music. By then, I was sobbing too hard to have heard everything he said and Sandy has begun hugging me, then Denise and I turned around to not totally embarass myself and Jim was right behind me. He embraces me and I really take on one of those ugly Oprah cries and Jim tells me he got it all on film. I imagine it's just the back of me, thank God, but more importantly Garth facial expressions (hopefully).
I'm still not sure what really made me cry so hard, except to say that I believe it was a combination of knowing how much Garth misses being on that stage performing, how he's wrestled with being a good Father, trying to make the marriage work and knowing that his river continues to run so deep, how awesome it was being there to witness it and how he still totally amazes me with what he shares with the fans.
After I was able to compose myself and after it became apparent that Garth would not continue to work his way through the crowd, those of us at the far end began to move around to the rear of Garth (the view from there is always good too! ) I could barely see through my tear-stained glasses but it was obvious that security was helping Garth (with maybe a little extra boost, which became more apparent Saturday) make his way in the direction of the parking lot below where his truck was parked. Merry was standing to my right rear and she said, "Cheryl give this to Garth" as she was handing me an envelope. There was only one person between Garth and I as he was on the move, so I said, "Garth, this is from Merry" as I pointed behind me and "can I have a hug". Seeing that the person between him and I was a little shorter than me, he looked at me almost searchingly with those gorgeous piercing eyes as if to make certain he had my full attention (not that he never has my full attention when he's around LOL) and he said, "thank you for the book". Then he reached around the person, gave me a quick hug and I whispered in his ear, "thank you for everything", then I gave him a kiss. *sigh* (that cheek is still ever so soft)
Garth continued moving from person to person and at one point there was no one between him and Angela and she wasn't moving toward him as if she'd frozen, so I did the only thing I felt I had to...one which I'm not proud of but...I yelled out to Garth that Angela had come all the way from England to see him and I gave her a shove towards him and I prayed I snapped the photo quick enough. He's now starting to descend the hill leading down to the lot and the dobermans on duty are really beginning to bark now. Merry had a brief exchange with him and I encouraged Kim to get closer to Garth before he made it even farther to the parking lot. (what a sweetie she is and her husband Gary was so galant following us around with a video camera hoping for Kim's Garthmoment!) She did and she whispered to him if we could see him at the gates later. He told her that he didn't live there anymore and that it would be a waste of time. [I guess Garth doesn't realize fully that any minute spent at the gates is not wasted...whether he's there or not, it's one of most peaceful places on earth]
So, of course some of us went back to the gates to talk about the evening. We only stayed a little while as we planned on getting to the Opry Plaza early in the morning to get good seats on the bleachers for the Red Carpet Walk.
Not long after we arrived at the Plaza the next morning around 10:Am, the PG'ers/Nutts began marking our spots. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day and actually warm enough that some of us had worn shorts and brought jeans and jackets to change into after the Red Carpet ceremonies. We were so pysched about seeing Garth walk the red carpet and having such great seats next to where the papparazzi (sp) would later set up...perfect, Garth as well as the other celebrities would be stopping right there!! Needless to say, we had alot of time to kill so there were trips to the mall and various places around the plaza for food, cool drinks and shopping. A couple of the PG'ers had found a kiosk (sp) in the mall where the vendor was making license plate holders, dog tags and ID bracelets, etc. with whatever you wanted on them. One had gotten a license plate holder made with "Garth Brooks" at the top and "Thanks For The Dance" at the bottom plus dogtags with her screen name on them and the date to mark the occasion. Well...you guessed it, a few of us high-tailed it to the mall to get our license plate holders made. The guy made them in no time and you bet, his business was booming that day! During our first trip to the mall, I was in search of the Billboard Magazine with the article in it but a lady beat me to the last copy they had. Now we had heard that Garth told someone last night that he would be signing behind the Opry where he was last night at 2:00P. Don't you know they blocked off the entire length of the rear of the Opry!! Grrrrr..... Alrighty...gotta come up with a plan! Six of us decided to walk the long walk all the way over to the Opry Hotel where we'd be at the far corner of where Garth was last night but where he'd most likely enter the lot.
We reached the corner and hung out there for a while where even from that distance, we could see down the road to where Garth was last night and spotted some people sitting on the sidewalk. It wasn't too long before the dobermans moved them on. Okay, we're safe up here...whew!...oh shoot, here comes one of the dobermans. The guy told us we couldn't stand there. We explained to him that we were waiting to see Garth and he told us that we COULD NOT wait there and if WE wanted to see Garth, WE would have to see him at the Red Carpet Walk. (!) Well, dear sweet Kim's fangs came out and she chewed that doberman up one side and down the other and just when you thought she was through with him, she started up one side again. It was the way he said it more than anything that really ticked us off!!
We head back to the Plaza and take our positions on the bleachers. We got over it in no time and began to act really silly...kicking around what we were going to shout to Garth when he got close to us on the carpet. By now, the place is getting really crowded...oh wait, there's Bob! Mmmm....the closest thing to a Garth fix! Tammy came over to show us one of Bob's business cards and OH MY GOD!!! Picture this...the WYCBTMA video, Garth in black with black background. Now picture the card Bob in black with black background. (Actually, the card's on the index page of this site) My my my...the temperature shot up 20 degrees looking at the card!! The font style was gorgeous! LOL Naturally we all wanted one but he only had a small supply with him down there. Since he later told us he'd be getting more made, those of us who didn't get one down there put in our orders. Bob took a seat on the upper bench and it was just like being in the Standing Outside the Fire video of Garth sitting in the bleachers with the spectators. You could see people staring at him from all over the place. Of course people were also getting their photo taken with him during the entire weekend too.
We took photos of Bob in the bleachers and at one point, a group of us stood up and did the wave to him while chanting, "we're not worthy, we're not worthy". He got such a kick out of that he got down from the bleachers and came over and gave us a group hug...while saying you guysssss!! I swear he's even soft spoken like Garth and he said something that I don't remember but he looked into my eyes with those very similar piercing beautiful eyes and all I can say is, it's a good thing I was sitting down. After he went and sat back down, Jill who was seated right down in front of me on the first bench, started laughing so hard she fell back into my lap. She'd had a Bobmoment like LeAnne's when he reached over her to give us a group hug...another fine belt buckle! LOL
Needless to say, Garth didn't do the Red Carpet Walk and we were ticked to say the least, especially after 2 security people told us he would and he'd be the last, not to detract from the other celebrities. But we'd heard that he said he would stay out all night after the last show and until everyone was taken care of. Wooohooo!! The 6:30P show has begun and that's fine because Garth's not due on until the 8:30P - 9:00P segment and we've got plenty of time. Eventually we go in and take our seats. Jim, Cathy and Teresa and my seats are up in the balcony but we made our way down to the floor before the segment before Garth's and took position on the floor. Garth and Stillwater came out and performed eloquently, looking as fine as ever and once again everything was as it should be. After the show, we all exited the building and since we'd seen everyone scheduled for the 9:30P show before Garth's segment, we hung out for quite some time before we figured it was time to go back in and take our positions. Almost waited too late...as everyone wanted to be as close to that stage as possible but we made it to the front of the stage. It seemed more crowded down there now than ever before...as everyone who could get in there wanted to be able to be as close to Garth on the stage as possible, if only one more time.
My body was so sore and I started to flash really bad...there simply was no air to be found anywhere. So, I gave Cara my camera, told her to shoot the roll and I got up and walked out of the building...had to have air. There were about 6 artists to perform before Garth and I knew I would not survive, so I went to the car to get my jacket, then I decided to make my way to the rear of the building to see if the dobermans had moved the barricades and begun to let people back there. I encountered about 7 people at the corner of the building and started walking past them when I heard someone say, "Cheryl, they won't let you back there!" I turned to meet Jason...who showed me the surprise. We stood there chatting, while being bummed out at not being able to get back there.
Shortly after, I was met by Charmaine and Sandy who had also exited the building before Garth came out. It was easy to tell that they had been through the ringer...we really hadn't had much sleep. We ended up going back into the Opry to stand in the entrance way to the seats to watch Garth perform. We arrived just when he was doing FILP and the third verse when he tips the hat. My camera's with Cara and Charmaine, Sandy and I are too far away to get a really good shot. Garth left the stage after FILP and the Nutts tore up the Opry with chants of "We want Garth", "We want Garth"!!! I can only imagine what some of the older members of the Opry and the older crowd were thinking...my God, we've been catapulted right into a Garth concert. Some left while others were captivated. As you all know, Garth came back and sang The Dance and was totally overcome with emotion. With tears rolling down his eyes (from what I was told, being too far back to see) and alot of us likewise, he so honored the fans like only Garth can. I choose not to believe that the 75th Anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry brought Garth back to that the stage, rather I am living proof that that night, that extremely momentous night was a gift from God...a gift for us and indeed a gift for Garth. He WAS doing what he was put on this earth to do and for the first time in a very long time, he was not only fine...he was happy (THANK YOU GOD!!). His and our souls took flight together again and it was the best feeling in the world! God was in heaven and everything was right with the world, all over the world...if for just that moment in time.
[drying eyes]
Subsequently, the fans overtook the guards you might say...inspite of threats of calling the cops on us from them. Garth surfaced and given the circumstances, which some of us felt were due to the shots that the Opry people were calling, he did exactly what he should have done. Garth took care of the children, then he cut his visit short after some lady really started acting crazy. Garth and the security made their way to a jeep with 2 *ehemm* ladies right behind them. They got into the jeep and the 2 ladies came back to the crowd within a matter of seconds. (see "What was she thinking?" at the PG Forums!) then Garth got in his truck. A few of us made our way up to the other corner to get one last wave goodbye as he drove off into the night. Bob hugged us all goodbye after finding a couple more business cards and some of us went back to the gates to say goodbye.
My time spent in Nashville for the Opry bash with some really wonderful people were "Some of THE best days of my life" (I am so grateful Jim included me in the ticket purchase) and I could have missed the pain to get to this point in my life, but I wouldn't have missed the dance for anything in the world. If this has all been a dream, I hope I never wake up!
**[It's 12/14/02 and I am once again strolling down memory lane as I re-read this story I've written. The details of that weekend come flooding back to me as if time has stood still. A lot has transpired since then but the memories are ever so rich and engraved in the depths of my soul. I believe this is due in part to the fact that this was the very first time a lot of us from all over the globe met face to face. And in addition to seeing Garth smile again, it was made even more special in that it occured at the "Grand Ole Opry". It is indeed one of the finest institutions of America's history. I try to watch the Opry telecast every Saturday night and on each visit there, I savor every single moment.]**
Cheryl, can you believe I'm standing right next to Garth!!??
Yes I can Kim!!!
Nutts at the Gates(Deb, Denise, Sandy, Glenda & Charmaine)
Garth at the Opry photos
Opry 75th Birthday Bash photos
Opry Red Carpet Walk
