I know what you need...bring it on home to me

By the time we were done eating, Little Big Town’s set was just about to start. We walked back to the buses and saw Emily again and she asked, “Did you girls find it ok? Were you able to get something to eat?” We told her we had and thanked her again. We asked her and Heather Morgan, who was standing there too, if Sarah and Jedd were still on the bus, to see if they were still working/if we’d missed them since we could hear LBT doing their first song. Heather said she thought they were still on the bus and when she went to open the door to check for us, the door swung open and out came Sarah, apparently on her way to look for us haha

“Hey! You girls ready? Let’s go!” Sarah exclaimed and we eagerly followed her over to the door leading to the side of the stage. We walked inside and staked out a spot right near some sort of big road case where we laid our stuff. There were some other people standing side stage as well, along with some of the other artists who were watching and Sarah said hi to them while we immersed ourselves in Little Big Town.

After Sarah said hi and talked to some people she turned back towards us and we sang and rocked out to the rest of Fine Line. Then, all the sudden, Emily popped up next to Sarah, which was exciting. We all hugged her and said hi, and the 5 of us jammed to some Bones.

I think that Sarah and Emily were as entertained watching the three of us rock to LBT as we were entertained watching the two of them watch LBT haha It was so cool to watch Little Big Town from side stage because we could really see the crowd and their reaction to them and their music. This was especially true during Little Big Town’s new song “The Reason Why”. Emily and Sarah FLIPPED OUT over this song and they knew ALL the words. They were singing it to each other, and to us and it was so fun! The song is SO catchy and by the second chorus Mandie, Holly and I were singing right along too. It was adorable to see how excited they got over that song. Made me even more excited for AUGUST 24th to buy the new CD!!!!!!

Sarah, Emilly, Holly, Mandie and I swayed and sang along to A Little More You, and Sarah and Emily were so cute singing it to each other and us. At one point Emily and Sarah threw their arms around each other and said, “I love you friend”. It was seriously adorable and I had to take a picture of them, so I did. The moment was just so cute that I couldn’t pass it up, so I asked if I could get a picture with the two of them together and they were like, “Heck yes!” I got in between Emily and Sarah for the picture and we all leaned our heads together and hugged while Holly took it.

Then, we went back to absolutely jamming to Good as Gone.

When Phillip’s voice rang out through the ampitheater for the beginning of Bring It On Home, Mandie, Holly, Sarah, Emily and I all looked at each other at the same time and cheered so loud. I turned to Sarah and went to high five her over our excitement and love of the song.

Then something happened that I never would have expected, but I know I’ll never forget. Sarah gave me a high five, and squeezed my hand. But as we brought our hands down, she didn’t let go and continued to hold my hand. I looked at her, surprised, and she squeezed my hand again and smiled at me. We swayed back and forth to the song, singing along and still holding hands. As I stood there, listening to Little Big Town’s heart filled harmonies, and each lyric of the song, this wave of disbelief and love and joy just hit me. There I was, standing there, listening to my favorite band, holding the hand of a girl who is honestly one of my heroes, during a song that is pieced together by love and hope. As Sarah kept holding my hand well into the bridge of the song, I felt that with each line of the song that was passing as our hands swung together, Sarah was silently singing the song back to me through her gesture and through that moment. It was as if she was saying, ‘It’s going to be ok’. When our hands finally did let go, all I could do was smile.

In the middle of Boondocks, we followed Jedd and Sarah around to the other side of the stage so they could get ready to set up for the mini set on the main stage before Jamey Johnson, and before they would perform again. The funny thing was, as we walked out and around, I’m not sure we stopped singing Boondocks haha By the time we were settled on the other side they were at the “You get a line, I get a pole…” parts, and Sarah and Jedd were singing along to the 2 parts with us too! So fun. After Little Big Town was done, they walked off the stage on the side we were now on, and went right by where we were standing. They saw us as they walked off and gave us all high fives, which was awesome.

We watched Sarah and Jedd rock the main stage with Cory, and although we couldn’t see their faces while they performed because we were standing behind them, it was really cool to be able to support them from back there, especially being able to see them when they walked off at the end of their mini set and being able to tell them how great they were. After that, we went back to the buses for a little while so Sarah and Jedd could rehearse Copperhead Road some more last minute before going on with Jamey. Then, when it was time, we followed them back to side stage to wait for their turn to sing with him. We could tell they were really excited, yet nervous about their performance, and we were glad to be able to be standing there cheering them on once again.

Again, we couldn’t see their faces, but we could tell that they were giving it everything they had, like they always do, when they sang with Jamey. The crowd seemed pretty responsive, and when the song was over, Sarah threw her arms around Jedd and they gave each other a huge hug, which was really touching to see. As soon as they made their way back to us, we gave them big hugs as well and told them how amazing they were.

The day was finally coming to an end, and Mandie, Holly and I knew it as we looked at each other, following Sarah and Jedd out the door back toward the buses and ultimately, the gate to leave. We stopped though in the open lot a few feet from the gate for one more picture taking/conversation/hugging session before we left. Holly asked Sarah and Jedd to record a video saying hi to her little neighbor, which they were more than happy to do, and which Kendall absolutely loved. After that, we got one last picture with Sarah and Jedd before saying our real goodbyes.

I said bye to Jedd first, while Holly and Mandie said goodbye to Sarah. He asked, “Did you have fun today? Thank you so much for all your help, we really appreciated it!” All I could do was laugh a little bit because saying I simply ‘had fun’ would have been the understatement of the century. I hugged him tight as I responded, “Yes, I had an incredible day. And it was seriously no problem. Thank YOU for everything that you did for us.” Then we switched, and Holly and Mandie said goodbye to Jedd, while I said goodbye to Sarah.

I turned to face Sarah and the first thing we did was hug. As we were pulling away, she put her hands on my shoulders and looked me right in the eye. She had this determination in her eyes, like she was going to make sure I listened to whatever it was she was about to say. “Michelle, it will get better. You’ll find friends because you’re too awesome not to.”

As the words came out of her mouth, I suddenly felt my heart beating faster out of nervousness because I couldn’t believe that she wanted to have this conversation; that she wanted to reassure me and make it a point to tell me what she was saying. I was trying in vain to remember what I’d said about that in the letter I wrote her, to attempt to elaborate on how things have been for the last 8-10 years. I stuttered, “Things were so bad in high school that when college came, I told myself that it would get better. But it didn’t, 4 years later it was just more of the same and I don’t understand if it’s me or what.” Not my most eloquent moment, but I didn’t want to ramble away my chance to hear what Sarah had to say.

Sarah continued, “If you think people are your best friends and they treat you like crap and it turns out they’re not? F*** ‘em. I’m sorry for being blunt, but I mean it. You don’t need them. Just let go of your ego and let them go.”

And in that moment, I understood exactly what she was saying. I had just graduated college a few weeks prior, and all the people I’d spent 4 years thinking were my good/close friends, I didn’t spend time with any of them; didn’t say any tearful goodbyes or ‘I’ll miss you’s’, let alone any goodbyes at all. I’d been feeling like I was never a part of their lives at all. I was wondering what was wrong with me, what had I done so wrong this whole time. That’s the ego Sarah was talking about. Not ‘look at me, I’m the best, aren’t I so great’, but the ‘what did I do? why aren’t I enough?’ Old habits die hard, but I’ve been trying to remember that advice more and more as the weeks pass by.

Anyway, after she said that to me and I was kind of in a state of shock because it was all hitting me, all I could do was hug her again. She held me tight and I whispered, “I hope some day I have a friend like you.”

Her response? “You do. You have me. You’ll always have me.”

If I wasn’t in shock before, I definitely was then. I hugged her tighter, bit my lip to suck in the tears threatening my eyes and said, “I love you Sarah” and she said, “I love you too Michelle.”

Finally we broke apart, gave one last round of hugs and said goodbye to Sarah and Jedd. Mandie, Holly and I walked together to the gate to go back out on the concourse. As I caught Mandie and Holly's faces in the floodlights, the tears in my eyes trickled out as we all let out an incredulous breath.