cgratzlovestd’s posterous

August 29^th; One of the best nights EVER!! So, the day leading up to my fourth Revive concert went really slowly. But finally the time came for us to head up to Mooresville. Once we got there I saw the Tic-Tac and had to laugh, every time I see it I have to laugh.. every time, never fails. We went inside and the first person I saw was Rich! He was walking up the stairs from the basement where their dressing room was to go into the concert area for something. Then Ty came up the stairs and went in the same area Rich had. Then when Ty was getting ready to go back downstairs he spotted me and started waving and talking to me. So, I went up to him and we talked for awhile until his phone started ringing. After we talked I bought some merchandise and we went to find a good seat. At first every seat in the first row was filled and then someone moved. WOOHOO!! Then Rich came in and started talking to someone and he spotted me while they were talking and started waving at me. About a minute later he came over to talk to me. He saw that I made a sign and asked if he could see it or if it was a surprise. So, I let him see it and, sadly, he said that Promise of Tomorrow wasn’t on the set list, but he’d talk to the band about it. And we talked for a little while longer then he had to go get ready. I’m not for sure if he talked to the guys about Promise, but they didn’t play it. OH WELL! After what seemed like forever the guys came out and put on a rock show. All of the guys kinda flirted (by flirting I mean.. looking at me and smiling, etc.) with me. Ty always does and Rich and Dave did a lot, too! During “Don’t Look Anywhere Else” they did this part where they wanted us to shake the person beside us’ hands and I didn’t know anyone surrounding me. And Rich was right in front of me and he kept telling me to shake this dude’s hand. For the record, I didn’t do it, but he kept trying and trying to get me to do it. They played a few songs I hadn’t heard before. Hard to believe, huh? But Rich said that they wrote one of the songs back in Australia about a girl named Melissa that he’d met there. The story was very touching. Melissa felt so alone and was pretty determined that there was no God. Her parents had split up, she lived in rough conditions, her sister had run away from home because she couldn’t take it any longer, Melissa practically had no friends, the only thing she had left was her boyfriend which she had just found out he was cheating on her at this thing. She had never felt so alone and she was determined that there was no God because if there is… then where is he? Was she forgotten? And Rich said it was just a really hard time. He didn’t know what to say to her. I think he might’ve told her that it’s actually proof that there is a God. He said that he couldn’t stop thinking about Melissa. He talked to his family about her and prayed for her. He prayed to God and asked if some people in the world actually are forgotten. Then, one morning he came across a Bible verse which explained it pretty well. So, the first verse of the song was about the passage in the Bible and the second is about Melissa. It was a very touching song. I had tears streaming down my cheeks. The song was very amazing. I wish I would’ve recorded it. Then the other song that I hadn’t heard was great! I was wondering if it was, like, a fresh song that they’d just written in Nashville. Almost like a shiny new toy, I was in awe! I think it might’ve been called; “All I Want Is You”. Or that’s what it seemed to be called. I recorded bits and pieces of that song. And, again, I wish I would’ve gotten it all! Revive put on a rocking show. It was probably one of the most memorable Revive concerts! Probably number two on the list for sure! The “after-the-concert” part was my favorite. I wouldn’t quite call it a meet and greet because I’ve already met them and I didn’t have to fight the people who are meeting them for the first time. I stayed waaaaaaay over that! So, we sat in the hallway while the newbie’s were soaking in their short time with the guys. The first person I approached was Rich. We had an amazing conversation! He asked how the “meeting that boy at the monkey bars” (a totally different story) is going. I couldn’t stop laughing and he looked as serious as could be. He was like, “Well?” He was dead serious!  He seemed to have thought that my Sunday school teacher, Kurt, and his wife were my “folks”. So, I told him who they were and he wanted to go talk to them.  So, we went to join them. And I got my picture with Rich. I was about to FREAK OUT when I looked around after talking to Rich and didn’t see Ty, Dave, or Mike! Just about everyone had cleared out except for maybe about 15 people aside from my clan. Luckily… we looked in the concert area and Dave and Mike were there, but no Ty! At this point I was about to cry because I knew that it would be my last time seeing Ty. But we were just walking around until I just happened to look at the door and Ty walks in. I felt sooooooo much better when I saw him. And he started coming up to me and talking as he approached until someone had come up to him. So, I told him that I’d catch him when he was less cluttered by people. I decided to go to Dave first because he had less people with him and as I approached him the person who was there left! WOOHOO!!! Dave remembered me VERY well… as did everyone else. Dave asked me how I’ve been doing and I say how I am and I ask him how he’s been and he says he’s been awesome. We talked about the new record and he said that it’s going to be awesome. Something he said that made me smile was when we were talking about Ty. Well, when Rich and I were talking he said, “You know that tonight’s one of Ty’s last concerts?!” And then when Dave and I were talking he said, “Yeah, tonight was one of Ty’s last night’s with us!” I told Dave that I was really going to miss him and he said, “Yeah, we’re looking for a new guitarist. Of course no one could ever replace Ty.” And he said some more on the topic of Ty. But I told him how happy I was for Ty and he said, “Yeah, whatever makes Ty happy makes me happy!” And I said, “Yep! As long as Ty’s happy..” And we talked some more and he promised me that they would be back to see me. And then I went to go see Ty. I was quite nervous! Because I knew that tonight would be my last night seeing him. And I HAD to make it a memorable time. So, I talked to him for a long time. I made sure that he knew that I was very happy for him. And we talked about his plans. And he said that he needs to spend time with his wife and that I won’t completely understand until I‘m married and I totally agree with him. So, we talked about all the good times we’ve had together and I made sure he knew that I was happy for him and that I would really miss him! So, we talked for a long time and it felt good to talk to him. I did shed a tear or two. But I don’t think he saw them.. or did he? Oh boy! I had the note I wrote him in my pocket, but I forgot about it. I told him that I would miss him terribly and he said, “I’m sure we’ll keep in touch on the Revivers! But I will miss you, too! You’ve been so good to me. You’ve made the Revive journey the best thing that may ever happen to me, but God is in control and this is His calling for me!” And we talked for much longer. And then I got my picture with Ty. Our picture didn’t turn out very well because he insisted we stand in the red light and I’m sure you all know that red lights at concerts look cool in person, but make a picture look terrible! Well, as you can imagine, we were pretty much glooooooowing! After Ty and I got done talking and taking pictures I went to find Dave again because I had forgotten to get my picture with him. So, when we were getting our picture taken Dave decides to say, “This *points to me* dude, or I guess lady, is our #1 fan!” This made me smile! I felt very special! I think I’m going to teach him the word “dudette”. He sure did use the word “dude” a lot. I can’t count how many times he called me dude. He signed my poster with, “You rock dude!” HAHA!! So, I got the picture and we talked for a bit after and I went to go wait on Mike because he was packing up his drums and I hadn’t talked to him once. So, I stood at the stage waiting for him to look up and see me. Then- all of the guys gathered together for group photos and Mike saw me and gave me a smile and a peace sign! J I stood there watching people get their pictures taken and then I see all of them look at me it seemed as if they were talking in a low voice, and Dave yells out distracting me from noticing they were talking while looking at me, “CHELSIE!! Come up here and get a picture with us!!”  I went up there and got in place between Rich and Dave. Rich kept whispering to me, “Did you give Ty one last hug?” and Dave seemed to be talking to Ty in a whisper while Rich was talking to me. And I said, “I gave him a few hugs before!” And Rich says, “Well, I think that you should give him one last hug! It’d make him feel good!” And after we were done posing for the cameras, Ty started to approach me and he pretended like he was going to shake my hand and I put my hand the way you would if you were going to shake hands with someone and my hand automatically went up like we were shaking hands, but he put an object in my hand and it fell to the floor. I looked down and guess what it was! A GUITAR PICK!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes! Everyone laughed… I’m sure it was because of the expression on my face and how red it was. Ty looked at me, laughed, and smiled really big. I just HAD to give him a hug and this time I didn’t feel like I needed to ask him for a hug! He actually opened his arms up to me first! It made me feel really special. So, I’m thinking they had this planned out. WAIT- I seem to recall a time when Ty went over to his guitar case when Dave called me up to the stage for the picture.  Ahhhhh… he must’ve gotten the pick at that time! HAHAHAHAHA!!! That just occurred to me as I’m writing this. Too, tooooooooo funny! But that was the most amazing moment ever. I couldn’t stop telling him thanks! But anywho, when we hugged all of the guys went, “Awwwwwwww,” which made me blush even more. I got the same look from every on-looker watching us, a look of disbelief. I could tell what every single person was thinking, “NO WAY!! How, wait, wha… what just happened?! I’m missing something HUGE here!” Yeah, I couldn’t believe it myself. The people who were with me were pretty surprised themselves! But, anyways, if I were to type out the whole night it’d take forever, BUT the nights not over yet! I still have to get to Mike! So, I got off the stage and could feel a lot of eyes on me, some from the stage and the rest from the audience who had just witnessed one of the best moments of my life. I did not look up. So, once the guys were done taking group pictures with whoever wanted it, they all started packing again. Still haven’t talked to Mike… and I really didn’t want to interrupt him in his packing state. But Emily dragged me along to go up there. I kept trying to pull back. I thought it would’ve been taken as rude for doing this and that’s the LAST thing I wanted to come off as. So, we stood there and I guess Emily’s game plan was to just stand there until he looked up at us. I kind of stood in the background and talked to Rich while she was talking to Mike. I wanted at least a moment with Rich alone. So, I started the conversation by commenting on his obviously boring, packing job by saying, “That looks like loads of fun, Rich!” He was winding a cord up and he looked up at me and said, “Oh, you know it! It’s the best part about being in a band! HAHA!!” And we talked for a little bit after that until Mike came up to me. The FIRST thing he said to me.. “That looks like something Mac Powell would wear! Is that why you got it?!” I started laughing and said, “No, plaid’s coming back!” And he said, “All because of Mac!” And I said, “Yeah, I like to think that Mac brought plaid back!” Which I really am convinced that Mac brought it back. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see someone wearing plaid and Mac’s face pops into my head and I have to laugh. It’s like there are millions of Mac’s everywhere! But Mike and I talked for awhile and when he got to signing my stuff.. he took the poster and said, “How many of these do you HAVE?!” I told him, “Two of the white ones and two of the blue ones!” …and very proud of it! And Mike replies, “You see, I don’t even have four posters of my favorite band!” Mike, you should see my walls. They are like a sea of pictures from concerts I’ve been to and signed posters of Third Day and Revive. Mike turns to the guy who’s helping him pack his drums and says, “This is the real fan!” Which I take that as what Dave had said earlier about me being their #1 fan. I like that idea! You have no clue. So, we talked for awhile and once we were done talking I let him get back to his business and I kind of just stood around and talked to the guys as they started making conversation while they were packing up their gear. And it was almost time to leave. There were sobs building in my chest because I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that this night was going to be my last night with Ty. A few sobs actually escaped from my expanding chest full of sobs, sobs that I was trying not to let escape. I gave Ty one last, big hug and hoped that he couldn’t feel the major climb that my poor little hearts beats had taken. A few tears had escaped from the pool forming from my tear ducts and I wiped them as soon as I realized they had escaped. I tried not to let him see it, but I can’t guarantee he hadn’t. So, we talked for a little bit until we started walking towards the door. And Dave says, “Anyone who wants to help us load up.. go to the stage!” I hesitated, but my clan dragged me along. I yelled out a goodbye to Dave and he said goodbye and said that he truly did promise they’d be back to see me. I risked one last glance towards Ty and regretted it instantly. The pools that had been forming now became streams. I feel as if I have actually gotten so close to the guys that we were siblings. It feels like my brother is leaving and the worse thing about that is that I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again.  In that last moment, it felt as if there was no one in there but me and him. I stopped dead in my tracks and just let a few sobs escape. I wouldn’t be able to hold them back much longer.  I seriously felt like I was saying goodbye forever to my closest brother! I felt horrible. And I really wanted to help, but I knew that we had a two hour drive back home. We were going to get back at midnight as it was. So, I told the guys bye one last time and couldn’t break my eyes from Ty. And right before I went out the door I hollered to Dave that I would be looking forward to seeing them again very soon and said bye. I looked to Ty one last time and he saw me and waved goodbye with some emotion. Every time he told me goodbye I’d flinch. I was very sensitive to that word that night. But once I got out of the building the sobs started coming out more than I would’ve liked, but leaving them, leaving Ty, really broke me. It left a hole in my chest. It’s like when Edward leaves Bella in the book New Moon. But I’m quite sure that my hole is not that big, but it’s still a hole. No words can explain the emotion I felt. When we went outside I looked at the Tic-Tac and tried to compose myself, that didn’t work too entirely well. So, we got in the car and I sobbed quietly to myself. A few sobs might’ve slipped out every now and then. I tried to save the worst ones for when I was alone, no one to be worried about me. But we went to Steak’n Shake to eat. EVERY SONG they played on the radio during our time there reminded me of Ty or the guys. That sure didn’t help much. But the ride home was a little better. I flipped through the pictures I had taken and edited some and deleted some of the ones that looked horrible. When I got to the picture of my and Ty, the stream of tears came back. I tried to wipe them from my cheeks as soon as they started coming, but I knew a few had escaped. So, I figured since the tears were already coming down, I decided to do a playback of the night. It had to have been one of the best nights in the history of man-kind. You just would’ve had to have been there. It was quite amazing and I will never forget it. Thanks, guys, you rock! Ty- I will miss you tons and I wish you and Steph a long and happy life. Maybe if I ever visit Aussie, you can give me a tour of your hometown. Can’t wait to hear from you! P.S. I’m still waiting for you to add me on Facebook.. that goes for each and every one of you guys! Except for Mike, he’s awesome and already added me! ;) Well, I can’t wait to see you guys again. Thanks, again, for making this night one of the best of my life!

Sorry for all the dramatic parts in it, but I have some editing to do to this. I've just promised the guys and a few other people this blog for the past few weeks. Sorry for the delay! Once I get it all edited, I will put up on the Revivers and send it to the guys. :)

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