The Most Amazing Evening EVER!

It’s almost 1am and I’ve been awake since 2:30 this morning but I’m keyed up and can’t sleep. So, I thought I would tell you about our evening. But first, I have to tell you about the note I put into Dana’s flowers. It was just a couple of lines telling her how Peter was a big fan and that we’d rearranged our vacation so we could be in Antwerp for the concert. I put Peter’s name and love from Arizona U.S.A. That was it. This is important for later.

When we got into the venue, I looked for someone to talk with about the flowers. I finally found someone who looked official and asked how we could get them to Dana. He didn’t have a clue, but he called someone on his 2-way and after about 5 minutes he told me to leave the flowers with him and the production manager would pick them up and give them to her. I left them and went back to our seats. I was skeptical that she was going to get them as he didn’t seem too sure about what to do but I figured I had done all I could.

Our seats were a little further back than we expected given that we were in the 18th row, but the rows were spread about 4 feet apart and there was a very wide aisle about 5 rows ahead of us. So actually, we were about 30 rows back from a typical U.S. concert hall. But they were still great seats, dead center of the arena.

We assumed that Il Divo was an opening act, and that Dana would come out after the intermission. Wrong. Il Divo were guest performers and came out near the end of the show for 4 songs. It was short but they were wonderful!

A woman sitting next to us said that they’re going to be in Amsterdam next Sunday evening (we get there on Saturday) so who knows, we may catch their full show then.

As we expected, virtually all of Dana’s conversation, and most songs, were in Dutch, but it really didn’t matter. Her voice is so amazing and the songs so beautiful, it made no difference that we didn’t understand the words.

About 15 minutes into the concert, the lights came up and she started calling out what we guessed were areas of the country and whoever was from that area would give a cheer. Finally in English she said, “and from everywhere else in the world.” There were only a handful of us, but we gave our best cheer.

And then the most amazing thing happened. She said something in Dutch followed by “Arizona”. I was startled but yelled out and waved my arms. Peter tried to wave his arms but since he can’t lift them above his waist, it didn’t work out too well. But she saw me and said, “was it you”. We yelled yes. And then she said, “I have a question. Did you come for Il Divo, or did you come for me?” This is when I thought to grab the camera and video the last couple of seconds. It’s very shaky as I was in a hurry, but I think you’ll be able to make it out.

So, not only did she get the flowers, but she also read the note, and mentioned it from the stage! It was the most incredible thing. I wish you could have seen Peter’s face; it was pure joy and I’m in tears remembering it. After that, the next 2 1/2 hours was magic. She has incredible energy and as Peter always says, she looks like she’s having so much fun.

Here are just a few of the many, many videos we took. Enjoy.

And, of course, One Moment in Time.

We’ve been on our epic adventure for over 3 months and have done and seen some incredible things, but we will remember tonight as a highlight. It was worth the 11 months of waiting, the cost of the tickets, a fat lip and a chipped tooth.

Ok, now it’s almost 2:00 and I really need to sleep. Not sure how that’s going to happen though. I’m still on cloud nine. Love to all.