Love of Another Kind

Well, dear readers, I am in full prepare-for-concert mode and am walking down memory lane as I gear up for the 2 Friends Amy Grant/Michael W. Smith concert on Thursday.  This is going to be completely self-indulgent.  I apologize in advance.

Yesterday, my friend Kim sent me this link to a concert from 1985.  I’ll pause while you take a look. It is SO worth it:

It's great, right?!  For those of you who didn’t watch it (what is wrong with you?!), at least go to :21 so you can get a look at her pants.  When I saw them, I thought, “I have seen those pants before!” I dug through my Amy Grant scrapbook and found this: 

My friend Andy took this picture when we saw her in Chattanooga in 1984. It was a great concert, and she stayed afterwards to talk to the fans. She was wearing purple Jellies - remember those crazy rubber shoes? I went right home and asked my Mom to buy me a pair. I have trouble remembering my twin sister's birthday but I remember what shoes Amy Grant wore in 1984. 

As I was looking through my scrapbook, I found this ticket:

1981.  It was a month before I turned 11.  Sometimes I dream she has a contest where the person who’s been a fan the longest wins a prize; surely I’d be in the running.  (I also dream ticket prices go back to $7, but I think I have a better chance with the fan dream.)

Then I saw this:

My first Amy Grant autograph!  Jimmy Hollingsworth, an upperclassman at my high school, was working backstage at her Six Flags show and he got it for me.  So not only did I have an Amy Grant autograph, Jimmy Hollingsworth talked to me.  Not a bad day for 14 year old Christy.

I flipped through the Straight Ahead section to Unguarded and found this:

I was on the yearbook staff my sophomore year of high school; Brian was a senior and the editor.  I was the youngest staff member and endured a good deal of  teasing because of it, but also for my AG obsession.  Brian teased me, too, but unlike some, he was never cruel - he was like the big brother I never had. So when I brought him a shirt after the Unguarded show at the Omni and he actually put it on, I was thrilled.  Not a bad day for 15 year old Christy.

High school is tough; it’s tougher when you have a compulsion to tell everyone around you everything you know about Amy Grant.  That I still have friends from high school who talk to me is amazing.  That my family still talks to me is amazing...

Then next time Michael goes on and on about cars, I will be much more patient.

Tomorrow: the set list!