The Forgotten Carols

Well, my long-awaited wish came true. I have wanted to go to the Forgotten Carols since 1994! Yes, 1994. When Trudy and I were roomates back in the old days, she went to the Carols and raved how good they were.....I have wanted to go ever since. Every year, we always said we would go, but things never panned out. This year was the year! My mom said, "get the tickets, and I will go with you." Well, it ended up Chris, my mom, my cousin, and myself were going to the concert. I was so excited to go!

A few weeks ago, I read in a Deseret Book ad that the DVD of the Forgotten Carols is available, the caption said, "the last time Michael McLean and his family on stage." What? Could I be so lucky to possibly see the last year of Michael McLean on stage? Whew, that was close. Well, we asked people at the concert, and they said, "yes, more than likely this is the last year Michael is doing the Forgotten Carols." Well, next year when he is still doing it, I will not be surprised, but I am grateful that I got to see it with Michael performing.

Michael Mclean has a special place in my heart because all of you know that Riley is adopted, and Michael wrote the song, "From God's Arms, to my Arms, to Yours." It has such a great message, and if you have not heard it, listen to it! Chris even bought me the new 25th Anniversary Collection of Michael McLean...I listen to it all the time! Plus, Chris is a great pianist and vocalist, and he is always singing Michael McLean's work...we love "Be that Friend," and "Together Forever," mostly because during our return to activity to the church those songs had special meaning to Chris and I (Chris was constantly being asked to perform these songs in different wards and activites). So, needless to say, I couldn't wait to see Mr. McLean in concert! I know...I am a stalker, but I feel the spirit everytime I hear his songs! How can you not like that?

December 3rd finally came...and I could not wait till Chris and I got to go on our date. The best date ever! I had scouts before we left, and scouts took forever! We ran Riley over to my dad's to babysit...thanks dad. We picked up my mom, got to the McKay Events center around 5:30 and got awesome parking right up front! Where was everyone, wasn't everyone as excited as I was? The concert started in 20 minutes! Oh....look at that, I was so excited that I misread the tickets. The concert starts at 7:30...oops. Well, we got good parking, and we got to eat awesome UVU cafeteria food (okay not so awesome)! Oh well, minor setback! My mom teased me that at least I was on time for once. Thanks mom.

We had great seats, only 3 rows up, which is good because I am BLIND (not litterally)! I am currently in the process of getting new glasses....I wonder if Chris will look better or worse. Anyway, we got to our seats; for some of you that know me well, Chris is really trying to be more romantic (my request), and he showed up with Hot Honey-Cinammon Almonds and a beautiful copy of the Forgotten Carols for Michael to sign after the concert. Some nice women also sold Chris a nice Forgotten Carols scarf that his wife would "love." She saw Chris coming from a mile away! Ha. I didn't care, he was trying to make this moment so special for me, and I will always remember that. I love my Chris.

The show was great, a little long at first, but the the second half was amazing! The spirit in the audience was so humble and geniune, I cannot describe it with simple words. When the show was over, Michael started to sing, "Together Forever;" I started to cry. Some of you have experienced this yourself, but for those of you that have not, Michael asked the audience to sing along with him, it was so special, a humble audience singing "we will be together forever someday, we will be together forever someday." He then asked us to think of someone that has either passed on, or someone that means a lot to us that is far away, and expressed that by singing those words, that those loved ones would feel our love, wherever they were. I thought of my sister, and the struggles she is going through and how much I wish she could know how much I love her and I want her to feel the spirit I felt at that moment. Chris had his brother and sister in his mind, as well, seeing they have passed beyond the veil. We all cried, silent tears, and the spirit was so STRONG that there were no dry eyes in the audience. Then, very humbly, Michael asked us to not clap for him at the end of this show, but for all of us to hum, "Silent Night;" what an amazing experience to be in that room at that moment. The quiet spirit spoke to each of us, and I could not deny that the spirit we felt was that of a loving Heavenly Father, and a Brother who gave His Life that I might be with my family forever.

I am so grateful for this wonderul date that my Chris (and my mom) took me on...who knew that dating your husband and mom at the same time, would be my most favorite date ever! Weird.

After the concert, we hopped in the autograph line (our section was right where the cast sat to sign so we were one of the first in line!)  My emotions were already so high, but I could not wait to meet Michael and his lovely wife. We talked to the cast and gave our congratulations to them, but then I started to talk to Lynne (I believe that is her name) and told her that I loved her vocals on the "hidden" track on "Michael sings McLean" she opened her mouth and said..."my only fan! Nobody even knows me!" Ha. I love her song that she sings, "Hold On." Then Lynne asks do you want a picture with us? What? What? Ah...sure! I was happy to just go to the concert, not a picture! I know you all are thinking I am insane, but oh well. I walked behind the table, and asked the scary looking security guard, "are you going to take me down? They said I could come back." I was safe. Michael grabbed my hand and said, "did you like the show?" I could not speak. I could not think. I had been preparing the whole concert what I was going to say.....now, I forget! All I could say was, "we adopted a little girl, I wanted to thank you for your song."  He sqeezed my hand and said, "give your little one a sqeeze from me." Of course, I started crying. Where was all this water for tears coming from, wasn't it running out yet?

Well, I bet some of you are thinking, is this the same unemotional, quiet person I know? Yes, but I loved it. Thank you Chris (and mom) for taking me to this wonderful evening out. This beats Twilight by far.