The Concert

Garth Brooks was...just wow. I can't really put it into words. I've tried for the last couple days to describe the experience that was his concert and I am struggling to find the words.

It really is so much more than a concert. It's an absolute experience. There was a concert at 7:00 and one at 10:30. We had the 10:30 tickets. The 7:00 concert went long so we waited outside, in 34 degree weather, until about 10:45 when they finally let us in. We were cold, wind blown, and had numb feet but it was all worth it.

He took the stage at midnight and didn't stop playing until almost 3:00 am. He gave 3 encores. He played his old stuff, the stuff that made him the star that he is. He only did 3 of his new songs. When he did the new songs, he put the words up on the screen so we could all sing along.

Trisha came out. She did a couple of songs. One of their back-up singers, who has this beyond amazing voice, did a number. He stood in proud support, and back up vocals, of both of them. He kissed his wife and you could feel their love.

Garth laughed with the crowd. He encouraged us, well demanded really, that we sing along. He never tried to outdo the crowd. He became a part of the crowd. He knew we'd all stood outside in the cold waiting to see him and he delivered to us like it was it was his first concert of a tour and not his second of the night.

One of the coolest things about Garth is that when he opens his mouth to sing, he sounds EXACTLY like his albums. He actually sounds better live than he does recorded. We've seen a lot of performers and they're not all like that. If you closed your eyes, it'd be hard to tell which was live and which was recorded. Except that with the live version, you feel this energy that is so hard to describe.

Someone asked me what my favorite song was that he did. I can't pick. I really can't. Each song felt like "THE BEST". Every time he'd start a song, I'd say to Steve "omg...I love this song!" "The Thunder Rolls" gave me goosebumps, "The Dance" made me cry, "The River" took me back to my high school graduation. Hearing Garth sing "hello Samantha dear I hope you're feeling fine..." (Callin' Baton Rouge) was...beyond cool...

So...apparently, I could the concernt into some words. It truly was an amazing experience and I would love to see him again and again.

The Size of A Fist

Here is a sample of a pretty common conversation at our house...

Child: "I love you mom."
Me: "I love you too."
Child: "I love you more."
Me: "My fist is bigger, so my heart is bigger, so I love you MORE."

(Known fact: The human heart is roughly the size of a fist.)

Last night's conversation...

Genna: "I love you mom."
Me: "I love you too Genna."
Genna: "I love you more mom. AND my hand is bigger than yours (it is!) and so my fist is bigger and so I love you MORE." 
Me: "How can your hands have possibly gotten bigger than mine. I still love you more because I'm the mom."

This has been on my mind all day. My kids grew. Their legs grew, their feet grew, their arms grew, and yes, even their hands grew. Some of the kids have outgrown me. Some of the kids are close to outgrowing me. Some of the kids will outgrow me someday. Some of them won't. 

My love grew too. I didn't know I could love them more than the day I first met them. Much like I didn't know that meeting them would make my love for them grow more than it was when I carried them in my womb. It's a love that grows every day, even when I don't like what they are doing. 

Thank you "google" because I needed a way to combat this "heart is bigger" business and I didn't know exactly how to explain to them that I would always love them more. It's a love that I can't even really explain to myself. Well for now I'm safe because according to Google, "a child's heart is roughly the size of a fist. An adults heart is roughly the size of TWO fists!" 

So for now...

Mom: "I love YOU more because according to google, MY heart is twice the size of yours."