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Florence + The Machine

Wednesday, May 2, 2012


There are moments in your life that everything falls into place as if things were supposed to always be that way. This story I'm about to tell you, is one of those moments. If you listen to any type of mainstream music, you have heard of Florence + the Machine's Dog Days are Over. Last summer, my sister was off in Nashville and she happened to be able to hear her live when she opened for U2. When she called me during the concert (and afterwards when we talked, too) we made a promise to go see her live if she ever came to Dallas.

Fast forward many months and I received the notification through AMEX for a pre-sale. Instead of buying the 4 tickets immediately, I sat on it and set a reminder. Unfortunately, I set the reminder for a week after what I should have and when the reminder popped up, it was the live sale to the public. When I tried to log in, I was too late. They'd sold out in 20 minutes. INTENSE. followed by some choice profanities.

For the past several months, I've been stalking ebay and craigslist for tickets. They were all priced at $150 each. Pre-sale price was $50. You can imagine my sheer and utter heartbreak and disappointment. On a clear night when I was out running, I stopped, looked to the stars, and said outloud, "Universe, I'd like two tickets to see Florence, please, for the price of what I would have paid. Please, work some magic to make it happen." It wasn't a prayer because well, prayers should be reserved for saving people from terminal illness, healing emotional wounds, and things like that.

On Sunday, I checked Craigslist again and still, no one was selling their single ticket for less than a hundred dollars. I sighed and tried to focus on the positives in my life. The love of my life, the good friends I have who have supported me (especially here recently when I've been on the verge of a complete and total mental breakdown, did I just admit that? yeah, I did. they may or may not have known that. if you are reading this and are my friend, odds are at some point a single action you did to reach out to me pulled me out from a very, very dark place. thank you! sincerely, thank you for that.), my family, my precious girls, my job, you know...all of those things that create light in the world. Monday, I was positively giddy and excited to go home to have a family date. On the drive home, traffic was, well, traffic and yes, I checked my facebook. I know, I know. Normally, I just read through the updates, but one specific update caught my attention:
I immediately replied and texted. And folks, that's how magic happens! A friend sold us her two extra tickets at cost and made a dream come true for two sisters. How special is that? My happiness level went from a 10 to an 11 (Spinal Tap reference) in a matter of seconds. The connections we make in our lives are so very, very important. This is a prime example of that, of how we are connected, of how mistakes (they'd accidentally purchased two extras because of a computer hiccup, which totally benefited us) can be turned into dreams, of how all of that becomes kismet.

Not to say everything is all sunshine and roses...heck, leading up to it, there was a chance my sister wasn't going to be able to join me. Heck, after our dinner date on Monday, she sent me a text telling me she couldn't join me. I fired off a flurry of texts to those who I knew went 12-year-old-girl-giddy at the mention of anything Florence. You know what I mean, the arms flapping, running in place, squealing, head bob happy. Yeah, that kind. It was a short list, especially considering the time in the evening. Even fewer responded favorably, which worked out just as well because her plans changed and she was able to go with me after all. And this happened:

At the concert...I left my worries on that alcohol and sweat stained dance floor. I poured out all of the ache I'd been feeling for the past month. I felt strength pulling me to the light, reminding me that life is meant to be truly lived, not wallowing in sadness and despair. There is a time for those things, but in the here and now, I have been given a very unique opportunity to be age 4 and age 1...again. I hope I appreciate it a little more this time around.

gratitude...
I know Florence and the Machine wouldn't read my little blog, but if they could read my words, I'd tell them thank you. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the intoxicating words. Thank you for the kickass melodies and rhythms. Thank you lighting and sound folks. Thank you costumer (wow, what amazing details. She glided across that stage like Snape flew in Harry Potter.) Thank you for it all! Thank you for letting me sing as loud as I possibly could, dance away the grief, and not feel like a complete and total idiot. To everyone there (except the jerk who I nearly got into a fight with because he needlessly shoved my sister. yeah punk, I'm not afraid of you. I'm a mommy on edge and I would've messed up your perfect hair. You are now immortalized forever as the a-hole at the Flo+Ma concert. You're welcome.) for jumping along and singing, y'all were all new friends.  To Debra for the amazing opportunity. To Danika for introducing me to Debra. To my beloved for watching our daughters and being excited for me to go.

It was an amazing night!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure the a-hole you are referring to is the one I got into it with that the crowd nearly mobbed. I was the guy with the glasses and his girlfriend. I was just searching for reviews and stumbled on your blog and that comment about him and it amused me.

Lil D said...

So glad that I was able to introduce Debra to you! Thank you to Debra for going to college in Colorado with one of my childhood friends & being friends with her! And for her family for living in Dallas!

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