I want in on the cheese!!!!! Here we go:
I've always been invisible. If you weren't a doctor's kid, a lawyer's kid, or an athlete, you meant nothing in the Okoboji School District. I've always been super shy and honestly didn't mind the invisibility since that meant not having to socialize much or go up in front of the entire school to receive awards. No matter how much you deserved them. I learned to just accept the fact that no matter how hard I worked, it would never be seen and that just meant that being humble wasn't too hard.
My cousin dragged me to my first Sick Puppies show. I didn't really want to go because I didn't like crowds and honestly, in June of 2010, I hadn't heard much from them. I hadn't even seen a picture of them! I had no idea there was a girl in the band or that she and Shim were from Australia or anything. But as soon as they hit the stage, I was in love. I'll pretend I wasn't a fangirl................
Q102, the radio station that sponsored the show in Spencer, kept advertising their meet and greet after, so I was determined to meet them. I kept trying to tell myself not to be disappointed if they were snobbish. They're rockstars, after all! I fully expected to just go through the line and get my stuff signed without a single glance. Not the case.
As soon as I got up to the table, Shim looked up and smiled and asked how it went. I said it was my first concert and could have fallen over from shock at the fact that he actually cared to ask if I'd go to more now. He signed my shirt, gave me a pat on the back and told me he'd better see me again at more shows. And I received much the same treatment from Mark and Emma. I was amazed! What happened to rockstars being all stuck up and too good for their fans?!
At my second show, Shim gave me a hug and asked for my name because my friend and I were right up front at the little acoustic gig at an arcade in Des Moines (DAVID!!!!!), and I guess we never missed a word when singing along. Hehe. By my third show, he guess and said "Cara?" I said, "No, Cora...with an O." By the fourth, he looked up and said, "Hey Cora with an O!"
I almost died. Someone had actually remembered me?! My freaking IDOL and the person I look up to SO MUCH remembered my name and the little joke I'd put with it?! That did NOT happen to me....ever....could it?!
After I had become an ambassador, things just got even better. I met and became a part of a wonderful family here, I have friends from all over the world, adoptive parents in at least six states, 'brothers and sisters' from everywhere, and my heroes remember my name and are happy to see me.
I no longer feel invisible, thanks to them. And they brought me here. To my second family. One that I can count on for damn near anything.
Not entirely sure where I would be without Sick Puppies. I was in a pretty dark spot in my life when I found them and they've helped me through every one of them since. (Including those of you reading all this - that's just implied since you're with the band too)
Cheesy enough?