Can it be for real???

Yes, that is Derek, Andrea and Brian with ME, handing a picture of my two Army sons to LEE GREENWOOD~ He was about to sign it for us... October 1st, 2009 was the day we got to attend his concert in Branson MO.
We were in Branson over Labor Day after camping in pouring rain, We spent one night in a motel and went to a show, rode Segway's and go carts. That was a super time away for us this summer. But we dreamed of more.... The signs were all over and the ads on TV told us of the up coming things in Branson. We have loved Lee Greenwood since the summer of 2002, we played his CD all the way to Washington DC from MN. So when we saw the signs telling of his concert coming to Branson, we got excited even more. But the cost of going back to Branson, motel, food and tickets was more than our budget would allow this summer. (We don't use Credit Cards) So after our Labor day trip, I wished to take Derek to see him before he leaves for Afghanistan in Jan. with the Kansas National Guard. I thought that would be a good family trip. I'm an assertive person and so with out telling anyone, I emailed to the person Paul who handles the Fan related requests. I'm so amazingly proud of our two sons and their service with the ARMY so it was easy for me to share their story and ask for tickets for our family. I've never done this before and so I didn't tell anyone. Didn't want to get their hopes up. I was amazed that I got an email from Lee telling me that he would be glad to give us 5 tickets and would be signing autographs after the show, he would look forward to meeting us then. (actually I retreaved the email from the JUNK mail so I could have very easily missed it)

First up were the Bellmany brothers and they played for an hour, singing a wonderful collection of their 35 years of music. The second hour was all Lee Greenwood and wow, did it go by fast. We were so amazed that he played the Saxaphone and it was just great to see and hear him. Of Course the last song was what we had wait for, "God Bless the USA" and it was just what we thought.. totally amazing! Derek ran up to the stage just as the curtain was going down, and shook Lee's hand. We thought that he would come out and sign autographs and so we went out to the lobby were some black tables were set up and we figured he would come. But there was just one woman selling shirts. We chatted to her a bit and ask if he was coming out. She told us that if we wanted to catch him we could go to the back of the theatre where his white car is parked. We could get him to sign somethings there. I was left standing waiting there to pay for my shirt while 3 other people jumped in front of me. I was thinking that all the rest of my family would see him and get autographs and I would miss it all... Finally I got the shirt and hurried out the front and around the back with just about 2 minutes to chat with them when Derek yelled, "MR Greenwood!" and walked up to him. Derek said something about not ambushing him and laughing he walked over to us. I was so nervous and so excited to see him, I thanked him for the wonderful tickets and we all told him how much we loved the show. We almost forgot about the autograph, when I started tell him that Casey had called from Iraq, while we were in the concert. He was surprised by that and said he wished him a safe trip back home. We told him that he was leaving Nov 2, and that we couldn't wait to have him back. He told us how much he appreciated both the boys serving the country and that he was in the Navy once. Told us about his trips to Balad and to Afg. with the USO to sing and entertain the troops. They take loads of t-shirts and CD's to give to the troops and how much he loved doing those trips. I had handed him the picture of Derek and Casey in thier uniforms and ask for him to sign it on the back. He did and we chatted. It's all sort of blurry. But I was so thrilled to have that chance to thank him face to face and to let him know how much we apprecited the chance to come hear him sing. Don clicked a couple of photos but we totally forgot about having a group photo with him. Another couple walked up and got a photo signed and I remember Lee saying, "they have a son in Iraq right now" They made small talk with us, while Lee signed our Army bear that Jenny gave us. Derek got his hat signed and Lee told us that he wasn't feeling well, something he had eaten. So we let him go. WE walked off in total shock,, can it be for real??? Did we just shake hands, listen too, and chat with LEE GREENWOOD~~~ YES WE DID!~