Loss of a Legend
It was March 7, 2050, my
sixty-fifth birthday. I was sitting in the living room, watching my two beloved
granddaughters, Kristin and Kallie. Kristin was
fifteen, and Kallie was seven. Kristin was watching
MTV, while Kallie played with a new doll she had
gotten. I was reading a book.
My husband,
Mike, and my two children, Kristin's father, Josh, and Kallie's
mother, Brianne, were out in the kitchen with their spouses getting dinner
ready.
"Kallie! Come set the table, sweetheart!" called
Brianne.
"Coming!"
Kallie called, hurrying into the kitchen.
I watched her
scurry off and went back to my book. I looked up as I heard an MTV News brief
come onto the TV. I glanced at my watch. It was 5:50. Of course, I
thought, smiling. Ten to the hour, every hour. I had watched MTV all
through my teenage years, and the news hadn't changed a bit. Only the reporters
had.
I watched as a
young, dark-haired man appeared on the screen. "Hello, I'm Eric Combs with
an MTV News brief. I'm sorry to announce that Brian Littrell, former member of
the legendary group of the 1990's, the Backstreet Boys, passed away last night
at the age of seventy-five. Doctors now believe he suffered a fatal heart
attack that killed him instantly in his sleep."
The man went
on about Brian's life and career, but I didn't hear the words. I was completely
numb with shock and sorrow. Tears filled my eyes, as I thought back to fifty
years ago, that very same day.
***
"Stick
together now," my mom called to my best friend and I, as we walked through
the giant arena. I was practically shaking, I was so excited. It was my
fifteenth birthday, and I had just been given the best birthday present a girl
could ask for - tickets to a Backstreet Boys concert. My mom had gotten tickets
for herself, my best friend, Jenny, my sister, Breanna,
and me for the Backstreet Boys concert that night in St. Louis, a few hours
away from my hometown.
The drive
hadn't seemed long at all, for I was too excited to be bored. But now, the
waiting was almost over. We were there.
After we had
bought programs for twenty dollars each, we went to find our seats. They were
not on the floor of the stadium, but they were in the lower level, which were
still pretty good. Within a half an hour, the stadium was packed. It was a sold
out show.
After sitting
through the two opening acts, the Jungle Brothers and Willa Ford, my palms were
sweating, and I could not sit still. In only minutes, I would see my heroes.
I had loved
the Backstreet Boys for two years, ever since I saw them for the first time on
Nickelodeon's All That. I had fallen for Brian right then, and ever since, he
had been my favorite.
It took awhile
before the Boys actually started their performance, but it was well worth the
wait. As the stadium darkened, I could hear the excited cries of girls all
around me. Then, as the theme from Star Wars began to play, the five of
them rose up on lime green, glow in the dark, surfboards. They hovered over the
crowd and slowly floated down the stage. As they landed and got unhooked from
their harnesses, the music for "Larger Than Life" began. I screamed
wildly and sang every word, not once taking my eyes off of Brian as he
performed.
The rest of
the concert had me just as much in awe. During "Quit Playing Games", they
flew up on harnesses and swung over the crowd, doing flips. During "The
Perfect Fan", they each pulled a pair of mothers and daughters up on
stage. The mothers sat down while the five guys walked around the stage,
holding hands with the daughters. It was so sweet and beautiful that I almost
began to cry.
They ended
with "I Want It That Way", my favorite song. As they took their final
bows, I took my final pictures, using up the rest of the film in my camera.
***
Now, as I
watched the TV screen, I saw them bowing once again, a shot taken from their
video, "The One." They looked just as I remembered them from so long
ago.
"Grandma?
What's wrong?" Kristin asked, seeing the tears rolling down my cheeks. I
looked down at her sadly.
"I know
you don't really know who the Backstreet Boys are, but when I was your age,
they were my heroes, especially Brian," I said, motioning to his picture
on the screen.
"I'm
sorry," she said, offering me a sad smile.
I nodded.
"In fact, fifty years ago, this very day, I saw them in concert," I
said.
Her eyes
widened. "Really?" she exclaimed.
"I sure
did," I said, remembering it fondly. "Would you like to see some
pictures?" She nodded. I stood up slowly and led her into my bedroom. I
rummaged through my closet until I found my old, dusty photo album. I took it
out and carried it back to the living room. Then we sat down on the couch next
to each other and looked through all my old concert pictures, while I told her
about the Backstreet Boys, one of the most popular groups around back then.
"I'm
sorry about Brian, Grandma," Kristin said again, once we had finished
looking at the pictures.
"Well,
dear, so am I. But I'm happy that he lived such a long, wonderful life. Just
the fact that he lived this long is a miracle," I said, and I told her the
story of the miracle that Brian went through when he was five.
When I had
finished, it was time for dinner.
"Dinner
time!" called my husband, Mike, from the kitchen. Kristin and I got up and
walked into the dining room, where the table had been set and was piled with
food. I didn't eat much, for I was still rather upset.
That night,
after everyone had gone home, I walked into my closet to grab my nightgown.
Mike was in the bathroom brushing his teeth before bed. I lay my nightgown
aside and pushed apart all my clothes that were hanging up in the closet. There
on the wall, usually hidden behind the clothes, was my Brian poster, the same
one I had had for about fifty one years. It was quite faded and battered by
now, but it was still Brian, wearing a blue sweater, his hands clasped, looking
down at me. I smiled up at the poster, rose on my tip toes and kissed his
cheek.
"Goodnight,
Brian," I whispered. "I guess I'll see you when I get to
Heaven." With that, I changed into my nightgown, climbed into bed, and
turned off the lights. A legend had been lost, but I knew I would find him once
I got to Heaven myself.
The End
Loss of a Legend Ó 2000 by Julie
