Rascal Flatts

You may recall me mentioning our favorite music group, Rascal Flatts in an earlier post. Well Gator and I had 5th row seats in Columbia Friday night (2-9-07)for their concert.......which was out of this world as usual! We are fan club and Flatt Dog Pound members with VIP ticket access and Meet & Greet opportunities. I was fast enough online to get my name on the list to go backstage Friday night, but Gator was not.......oh well!

Flatt Dog Pound members were asked to wear red t-shirts to the concert in Columbia decorated with Rascal Flatts.com and Flatt Dog Pound stuff. Of course we wore our red t-shirts! I had put a photo of RF with Kyle at a concert in Columbia October 2003 when he was 10 months old on the front of our shirts. {I had made him a onesie with "I was listening to Rascal Flatts before I was born" on the front and "Flatt Dog Pound" on the back. Gator had surprised me with fan club memberships for both of us and the meet and greet passes. You are allowed one M&G a year and one photograph and autograph per member at the M&G (which has now changed - no personalized autographs - just pre-printed ones). We chose to have one photo with all three of us and one with just Kyle. They signed Gator's cowboy hat and Kyle's onesie.}

Anyway, while I was backstage awaiting my turn for a M&G and photo-op, my shirt caught Gary's eye..........the lead singer for RF. He stopped the M&G and walked across the room to take a closer look......at the photograph of Kyle with them on my shirt. As he walked back, he joked to others in line to "take a look at that hair", meaning his 4 1/2 years ago. Of course the woman in front of me 'bout passed out because he walked over to look at my shirt. When it was my turn, Joe Don walked over to look at my shirt and asked "if that was our baby"? Well, of course Kyle was......just joking! I went on to explain that Kyle was 10 months old at the time of the photo and they recognized that it was the CMT tour. I told them that Kyle was now 4 and was being tested for autism. Gary took the recent photo of Kyle as I told them how much their music meant to us and that it was the only thing that would always calm Kyle down! (He knows them.........I even recorded them on the Grammys Sunday night and he knew them even though they were singing Eagles tunes!) They were stunned and caught their breath as I told them the story and they thanked me for telling them as they hugged me (okay.....eat your heart out). Anyway, as we were getting ready for the photo to be taken, Joe Don took the picture of Kyle from Gary and asked "if it was for him and could he keep it?"..........now do you think I am going to say no to a RF?!?!?!?!.........well, of course not. Now, I am also a realist and they may have just forgotten what I told them and Kyle's picture could have been thrown away, BUT nothing will take away the look I say in their eyes of amazement and wonder when I told them what they meant to Kyle!

So, when asked what are some of Kyle's favorite things........horses, airplanes, Disney movies and Rascal Flatts.........believe me he will one day M&G them too and hopefully tell them for himself what they mean to him. For now, "My Wish" for Kyle is that he grows happy, healthy, wise and someday will be able to tell everyone what his wishes and dreams are.