New Kids on the Block CHECK!

Mom and I, 1978.

During the late 1980s, I was a new teenager.  I am also the only girl in a Mexican household stuck between a brother sandwich.  All that means is hearing, "No, because you are a girl" a lot.  What it had to do with anything has been part of my argument whenever this topic arises between my mom and I.  Mom, can I join little league with my brothers?  Sleep overs?  Movies with my friends?  You name it, I wasn't allowed to do because I was a girl.  All that good shit you're supposed to do with your friends, denied.  The one that hurt most was being denied to go and see New Kids on the Block.  I was in love with Joey McIntyre and Donnie Wahlberg.  All I wanted to do was go to their concert and finally meet Joey.  But despite my tears, the begging, the lame attempts at bargaining, that damn phrase was uttered to me by my overly protective mother.  It's a sore spot for me, but I'm not mad at my mother.  I don't hate her for what she did.  I completely understand why she did me the way she did.  I'm her daughter, her only daughter.  I know the very thought of anything happening to her only daughter would hurt her.  However, it wasn't right.  I feel like I missed out on a great deal. But I never, ever forgot about New Kids on the Block.  I've had their Greatest Hits CD in heavy rotation for years.  (As I type this, Step By Step plays in the background.)  Music is magical.  It can transport you back in time and make you feel that way in said time.  Music is like a DeLorean, flux capacitor and all but without the requisite 88 MPH.  I listen to this CD and I'm back in middle school, 12 years old, watching the videos on MTV rather than doing Ms. Chatmon's math homework and wanting to hug Joey.  My mom's tough rules were a tough pill to swallow but I cannot go back in time and fix it.  I can only move forward and buy some MFing NKOTB tickets and make my inner 12-year-old happy.  Holla.

So, on June 25, 2011 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with my best friend since our middle school days, as well as some new friends, we went and cheered.  I cheered the realization of my dream as well as the fact that my mom couldn't say no.  No one could.  Instead, I got much encouragement and some high fives.  I even managed to get the BNC to drop me and my friends off like a boss.  And so, another box is checked in my Before I Turn 35 Bucket List.  I am happy.  Very, happy.

Behold, photographic evidence.  Be warned, it's image heavy.

My BFF (far left) and a new friend waiting for the show to begin.

 

Don't fall Joey!

Joey singing Please Don't Go Girl.  I screamed things at him.  Naughty things.

And then, Jordan walked towards our section! 

Closer...

And closer...

And closer...

CLOSE! ZOMG, he's right there!

What's with the horns?  Maybe it was when a snippet of AC/DC's Back in Black played.

The concert was amazing.  Honestly, I was expecting both NKOTB and BSB to sing to pre-recorded music, do a little dance and that would be it.  My bad.  They had a live band and some nice choreography.  These guys aren't new anymore, and they're either pushing 40 or surpassed it yet they can move.  I hurt for 2 days afterwards and all I did was stand up, scream and wave my arm back and forth because Donnie told me to.  It was one of the best concerts I had ever been to. 

And so, one of my many dreams was realized.  I went, I screamed, I bought some T-shirts and my heart burst.  It was awesome.  So, now on to more check boxes of my Before I Turn 35. 

The Summer of Margie resumes...