Just a note to accompany the pictures of Piero and the dog. I saw the dog in a shop and thought it perfect for Piero’s birthday. He sings “Happy Birthday” and then gives directions for blowing out the candle on the cupcake he is holding. It doesn’t go out at first, and he says, “try again.” I didn’t know how Piero would react to that, in fact to the whole thing. But I was pleasantly surprised. As I was coming up for the Meet and Greet I kind of snuck up behind Gian and held the dog up to Piero’s ear. When he heard it singing “happy birthday” he looked awestruck and reached out and took it.
You can see that Ignazio is awestruck, too. I love the look on Igny’s face.
Then Piero followed the instructions to blow out the candle, and as the picture shows, he puckered up and was giving it a good try.
Love it!! And love the look on Gian’s face as he watches.
Now here is where I fell short of following your advice and let the moment slip away. The “picture taking girl” was rushing us along, and by that time I was so tired I was barely coherent. Luckily, Anne, who had slipped in through a side door when others were going out, managed to get these pictures. Bless her! The dog did show up in several places (Twitter and Facebook) in the picture from Milwaukee of Piero’s bed with the cards etc. from the fans. So even though I wasn’t assertive and focused like I had vowed that I would be, at least the pictures are proof that I gave it to him, and he seemed to like it and have fun with it. And the boys’ expressions are priceless. The rest of the M& G went way too fast, leaving us wondering where it went as we were rushed out. Par for the course, I guess, but hope that next time we get a venue with more consideration for the fans.
So that’s the story…hope you enjoy it.
Mary Bohling
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Mary,
I saw the dog that day. Too cute! So great to spend some time with you. I know you are not only blessed with good health, but with a wonderfully attentive and loving daughter in Anne. What a pleasure to meet you both, twice!
~Marie
Mary, I love your pictures! The expressions on Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca’s faces are just beautiful – they tell a great story. What a perfect gift! It was great meeting you, your daughter and the whole crowd! Michele (mfa or mfazzara)
How sweet, and what adorable pictures! I can totally agree with you on previously deciding to resist the M&G people’s urges to go, and then not resisting much when they told us to go. Same here for me. You are so caught up in the moments of finally seeing them, that being strong and stubborn is the last thing on your mind. Next time maybe we’ll be stronger, though.
We can only hope, Carli.
Mary…great story and beautiful photos! One thing I remember about that moment you handed it to Piero was, he held it up high, looking over at the area Barbara and Mrs. G. were standing in and yelled, “Barbara!! Look what I got!!” I thought that was so cute in that he was so over joyed with this gift he just had to show it to Barbara right away! So fitting as these guys always wear their hearts on their sleeves!
Thanks, Jane, for remembering that. And you had to show him how to press the button in his foot to make him start up again. What a pal!!
Hey, what are friends for? I just keep remembering Piero’s face as he was so joy struck with your gift. These guys show how humble they are in so many ways….like being so happy to receive a gift from a devoted fan!
Mary, your birthday dog was an inspiration!! Piero looked like he really enjoyed it. The look on Ignazio’s face is priceless. I’m so glad you got to the concert and had a good time, hopefully next year we can meet!!
Really cute! You can tell he loved it! i’m really sick of people being rushed in These M&G’s. !50.00 should be worth more than 30 seconds. I know they don’t have all night, but when Someone takes the time to get them something , AND has looked forward for months to see them, give us a COUPLE of minutes! I am so lucky my 2 Meet and Greets were very nice. The picture girl( I think it was Karina Crisp? One of the Road Manager’s Daughter, even remembered me. The boys really try to shmooze a little with all of us! I’m getting better about trying to say something, and being a little more assertive! Becky Darrow and I gave them the Nutella in Vienna! We were in the FRONT row! It was AWESOME! Sorry I keep forgetting about this page. I really like it, but it’s not on facebook, it’s a blog. Hard to keep up with it all!
Aw, Mary, what cute pictures of the guys! They all look like they’re six years old again…adorable!
ERMERGERD!!!!!!!!!! MUCH ADORABLE!!!!!!! I SIMPLY CANNOT GET OVER THE CUTENESS OF THIS ENTIRE POST!!! 😀
Apologies for the fangirling, but it’s past 1:00 in the morning, I’m kinda tired. The dog, the story, the pictures, they;re all adorable!!! Thanks for sharing!!! 😀
Very very cool. The look on their faces is just too adorable. Ignazio is priceless!
The pictures are so cute and they all look really surprised, meet and greet is such a great experience, but not enough time, I’d loved to have been able to say more, though I probably would have got tongue tied, anyway it was great being there with my Daughter and Granddaughter, such a great time together. 🙂
Thank you Mary for sharing this wonderful event. It was so thoughtful of you to give Piero a gift. The expressions on their beautiful faces were so cute. It reminds me of my grandkids when they were small and they would jump up and down screaming. So glad for you. I agree about the meet/greet. We were not allowed to give our gifts to the boys. No pictures either. We had to leave our purses on a table. I snuck a rosary which I had bought in Rome and dipped in holy water at the Vatican and when it was my turn to meet them, I put it in GIANLUCA’S hand. He looked at it, smiled and closed his fist. He was so sweet/gorgeous and all those adjectives. I wish the m/g could be better in the future. An much anticipated moment gone too quickly. All that remains is the subtle fragrant of them. AHHH and what a fragrant it was. Thank you again for the great pictures.
Aww Prese, Beautiful comments on a beautiful story!
How much Meet & Greet time would satisfy all thousands of us? 10 minutes each? Half an hour? Would there ever be enough time? Didn’t you secretly want to hurry the person in front of you? I worked hard on not shoving that person out of the way! That quick “subtle fragrance” will just have to keep us happy for a while. Damn!
Mary, that is too cute, and it looks like they all enjoyed it. 🙂 The fact that it showed up in pictures later is further proof. Thanks for sharing!
And Prese, that is a sweet story also. I can just picture Gian’s face. 🙂
I was right in back of you Mary, and it was an incredibly touching and funny moment watching Piero try to blow out that candle. And then we were rushed out so fast that I missed giving Ignazio a hug. So I missed out smelling his cologne! No fair!
We have to get some of that cologne, Allene.