Friday, September 02, 2005

Jacob's 2004 Adventure: Epilogue

Two days after we returned was September 4th, my 22nd birthday. I celebrated by going out to eat with Mom, then I had a few friends over. Drinks, a DVD, nothing spectacular, but it was nice.
It was a bit odd going from being backstage with my favorite band and constant action to having such a quiet, low-key birthday party.

In the weeks following our return, I told my story to anyone and everyone who would listen. As I’d tell it, I’d show a slideshow of pictures and even had music to go with them. It was a whole presentation and I still haven’t tired of showing it. Every time someone wants to see it I get to relive the whole experience again.

I sent an e-mail to my new friend at Warner Canada to thank him, tell how the night went, and thank him some more. While I was typing, curiosity got the best of me and I asked him if he was the one responsible for getting me backstage. In his reply he told me, and I quote...

I am only the messenger my friend. It was me that delivered the message and the strength of your letter that made it all work. The Corrs were quite taken by your dictation. The band had me scout out the disabled sections of the ACC. I let them know where they were as I had to leave for my sales convention. They said that Jarrod, their security guy, would look for you.

There I was sitting in my bed, just waking up while checking e-mail on my laptop, and I was completely taken aback. Something that I had written moved The Corrs enough to want to meet me. I reread it a few times before I called my parents into my room to tell them. Even in writing this, I can’t begin to tell how much that means to me.

A couple weeks after the whole thing was over, I got a package in the mail. Imagine the ego trip I went on from seeing it was sent from Warner Canada. My friend sent me an autographed 8"x10" picture of The Corrs he found laying around at work! Plus it's an older one, so it has Caroline's autograph on it too!
The next day, I got another package from Warner Canada. This time it was two signed CDs! One was their debut CD with all four of their signatures and the other was Borrowed Heaven signed by Andrea, Sharon, and Jim and personalized for me!
I can't begin to tell my friend how grateful I am to him.

Thinking back on the whole experience I can see how different it was from my everyday life and how incredible it made me feel. The traveling, the music, the buzz, even telling my tale after it was over. Everything about it made me feel alive. I don’t recall ever feeling that great before. That was a once in a lifetime kind of trip that I'll remember and be thankful for always.

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