She hugged me, but I wouldn’t let
her walk away without getting a
picture. I’d worked too hard to get
there.
The photo of me standing with Vieira
(international tourist photo bomber
and all) is now framed on the wall in
my room.
Stalking Vieira wasn’t my finest
moment, but it wasn’t my worst.
Then came my worst moment.
It was one of my many trips to New
York City with my grandma. We were
walking contentedly through the
avenues, until I remembered it was
the day of the Glee concert at Radio
City Music Hall. The wheels started
turning, and then… “Grandma! Let’s
go to Radio City and wait by the
stage doors until the Glee cast comes
out!”
She, like all doting grandmas, didn’t
have the heart to say no. We got
there and, sure enough, there was
already a huge crowd who had the
same idea we – I – had.
I don’t how long it had been. But, the
crowd and the exertion of being on
her feet became too much for my
grandma, so she told me she was
going to wait in the back. Awhile
after that, finally Amber Riley, who
plays Glee’s vocal diva Mercedes,
emerged…and went straight into a
car. My eager expectations dashed, I
looked back to check on my
grandma. She was leaning against a
wall - clearly exhausted.
As all best lessons do, mine gradually
started making itself known. Looking
at my worn out grandma, who would
much rather be curled up in bed with
a Reader’s Digest than enduring a
crowd full of overzealous Gleeks, it
dawned on me how trivial my pursuit
was. How can I make my grandma
stand on her feet for hours just so I
can score a signature?
I couldn’t.
I walked out of the crowd, let other
fans eagerly take my place, and
walked back to Grand Central with
my 70 plus-year-old grandma - who is
a bigger rock star anyway.
Now, I couldn’t even tell you where
half those graphs are for which I
spent so much time waiting and
pushing. Stuffed in some drawer, no
doubt. In the corner of my room back
home in upstate New York. Not sure.
The point is, it doesn’t matter.
A couple months ago I stumbled
across a Washington, DC movie
premiere. It was called White House
Down. I overheard that Channing
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