Past Innocence Revisited.....

Everyone in some point in their lives gets a flashback moment into their childhood where things were worry free and had not a care in the world. A time when you wish you could go back and start all over again knowing the things you know now. Whether it's a scent, an object, a taste, or a song, that piece of memory wakes you up inside triggering your past happiness. Not to exclude past bad memories for anyone who's experienced them; but I talk about the good ones because those are the ones everyone should hold on to for as long as they can. For my friend Andrea and I, that past memory was……..Hanson!

When Hanson first came out with their chart topping single "Mmmbop," Andrea and I were sucked into their music just like the rest of the little girls. All throughout eighth and ninth grade (1997 and 1998) it was all about Hanson. I was embarrassingly obsessed! I say that I was embarrassingly obsessed because…..…well…..…I was literally embarrassingly obsessed! Together, Andrea and I traded posters, listened to their music, and secretly admired this trio of blonde boys. It was the best time of our lives. Although we could never afford to buy tickets to a concert nor did we dare ask our broke mothers to do such a thing, we admired them from a distance. We were secretly in love and only told our closest friends. To relatives, it came easy to find out how much we loved the group due to the massive posters decorating our bedroom walls. But as we got older and their music slowly faded, we began losing our interests in them. For one, it wasn't easy entering high school admitting that you were obsessed with a band that mostly had a fan base of pre-teens while we were already teenagers. And two, we began moving on to other types of music. By the time we were sophomores in high school, it was Hanson no more and hello Backstreet Boys! However, the obsession with Backstreet was not as heavy as Hanson's and quickly faded. It was sad to admit, but our Hanson memories were behind us and we moved on.

Throughout the entire time I've known Andrea, no matter what we have been through, whatever fights we may have had, whatever great friendship moments we've experienced, between living together and living apart, our Hanson days always reminds us of two dorky friends who shared this great thing in common. I have always felt that this common interest in the band gave us a great start to our friendship. Since jr. high, Andrea has been a best friend who I can always count on to be there for me and I feel extremely lucky to have that because not many people can talk about one person like I talk about my Andrea. That is why I was so happy to surprise her with two tickets to Hanson's concert in San Diego.

I had purchased the tickets about two months early and the anticipation was unnerving. The moment I clicked on "purchase tickets" the sudden child-like excitement went through me just as if I was still in eighth grade! When the day finally came (11/16/2008), we were so excited that we listened to their CD, that I still had from 1997, all the way to San Diego. When they finally started playing on stage, I kept telling Andrea "They are right there! They are right in front of us!" I asked her "If this were ten years ago, would we have cried?" She said "Oh yea!" Throughout the concert we were dancing, screaming, and putting up our lighters – well…….I put up a fake lighter from my iphone. We were having so much fun that it was beyond expected. Andrea said "I feel like I lost ten years!" And I completely agreed with her! Even though we only knew three of the songs they played (because everything else they played was from after we had lost interest in them), we were filled with girlish excitement and the memory of our "Mmmbop" days.

After the concert was over, we waited outside the House of Blues building by the tour bus to see if they would come out and sign autographs. I took out my camera to get it ready to take pictures, but with the luck that I have…….IT DIED! And I did not have extra batteries. I couldn't believe that my pinchi camera died! Disclaimer: for those of you who don't know "pinchi" is a bad word in Spanish. I apologize if I offend you. Anyway, of all the times I've had it, it had to die at this very moment when I needed it the most. Luckily I had my iphone camera as a last resort. So, the first one to come out was the youngest one named Zac. While all the girls, and some boys, rushed to get in line to get his autograph and picture, I quickly cut in front of a lot of people and wasn't too far back from him. What? Hold your judgement! A girl's gotta get her picture! So once I got up to Zac, he was nice enough to sign his autograph on my ticket, take a couple pictures, and record a message on my iphone for my sister Vanessa who was a fan as well. As we waited for the other two Hanson brothers to come out, it was getting really late and we were feeling really tired. We were thinking about leaving, especially since it was 12am on a Sunday night and we had to work the next day.

Right when we were about to leave and give up on the other two, I heard one of the guys who was loading the cargo say "that's the last of it." I knew they were about to come out since they finished packing……..AND THEY DID! I quickly followed Isaac (the oldest one) to wherever he was going but he went straight to the bus as well as Taylor (the middle one). All the other girls started crowding around the bus and I was surrounded by the other fans. About a couple minutes later, they both come out and began signing autographs. I kept pushing and pushing my way in trying to grab Andrea so she can take my picture with him. This reminded me of the time when I was at a LeAnn Rimes concert and at the end of it, I pushed through all the little girls so I can cut in front of them and shake LeAnn's hand. It was worth a few dirty looks. Anyway, so after I got a picture with Isaac and his autograph, I proceeded to go around to the other end of the bus where Taylor was. However, I was stuck right next to Isaac and couldn't get around because of all the fans surrounding us. Honestly, I didn't mind being stuck there. I brag about the fact that I stood next to him shoulder to shoulder for like two minutes! By the time I got the where Taylor was, I had lost Andrea and I was yelling out for her. When she found me, I kept telling her to push her way in so I can get a picture with her and him.

After I took a picture of Andrea and Taylor, a sense of accomplishment came through me. I had been longing this kind of experience ten years ago and even though I'm not a devoted fan of theirs today, it sure felt like I was. But the overall best thing about that Sunday night……….is that I got to experience it with Andrea. It is truly a gift when you have a best friend to share the imporatant details of your life with. I have been blessed with many. You know who you are! Cherish those dearest and closest to you, for they fulfill parts of your life you didn't even know you had.


Up next? Who knows…..maybe Andrea and I will go to a Backstreet Boys concert when they go on tour! Thanks for reading!