THEY CROSSED MY PATH
AND
THINGS HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME

These were the words of my daughter Kim telling the Facebook family about my “Life with the boys”.

When this year’s US Tour was announced I checked the list of cities that Il Volo would be making and right away knew that they would not be coming back to the “Wild West”.
Two cities jumped out. New York and Radio City and Las Vegas. I had lived in Manhattan years ago. Years before the boys were born but always loved the memory. It just seemed so far away now. Vegas seemed closer to Waco so I just casually announced to my family that someone should take me there. I knew that Kim 8 had the most flexible work schedule and was used to “corralling” her mother thru the Airports. It was early so the idea sort of died until we got a call from my 81 year old sister in law in Lubbock. “I want to go. I want to go”. I knew that Jo had never heard of Il Volo so I kept saying “are you sure”? Well in the end she was talking about IL DIVO but insisted that she would love Il Volo and wanted to go. The trip came back to life.
We finally got the tickets, hotel and airline tickets. I WAS GOING ON MY LAST LONG DISTANCE ADVENTURE.

The time flew by and we were getting excited about this trip. ONE PHONE CALL put a damper on the trip. My sister in law JO died in her sleep. A few weeks later my husband fell and cracked the knee cap of his already bad leg. Then my son wound up in the emergency room with terribly high blood pressure. By this time I felt there was a sign that maybe I should stay home. Everyone told me to GO. I found a ‘baby sitter” for my husband and asked Myron to find someone that might enjoy the concert and use Jo’s ticket. He did and her name was Ronda.
A lovely lady that had not been a fan but I know she is now.

I will not bore you with the trip to Las Vegas. It is not easy for a 81 old lady with a daughter that was protective and always wanting to put me in a wheel chair.
I was using a cane and got some perks to get thru faster in the check in line. One person yelled at me “do you have metal, pacemaker or other artificial item” so I told him “no, I still have my own parts”. I did get to go thru some faster check in.

ARRIVED VEGAS. Took a taxi to Monte Carlo motel. MY FIRST trip to VEGAS. I was in shock to see the masses of people checking in and checking out. The hotel is under renovation but the PARK Theatre had already been redone. A taxi driver told us that once the hotel is completely renovated they will rename it to “Park”.
We arrived THURSDAY morning and walked three miles on the strip. Friday we went downtown to the old VEGAS on FREEMONT STREET. Another three miles. Kim has some device that counts your steps and converts into miles. TIRED is the magic word.
SATURDAY the day of the concert we did not leave the room till it was time to go to eat at d. Vino Italian Food and Wine Bar – Monte Carlo.

Myron had mentioned that it was right across the Park Theatre and a nice place for Il Volo fans to informally meet and have dinner. I turned over my extra ticket to a friend of Myron’s who later turned out to be Rhonda.
The Park Theatre has an unusual (to me) seating arrangement. We where slightly elevated after the “Orchestra” section and had a great view.
Finally the orchestra came out, played and THE BOYS APPEARED. So handsome, confident and professional. I saw them in Dallas on their last US Tour and they were boys and this Saturday to me they became grown men.
My Dallas concert was AN EXPERIENCE because it was my first time seeing them live. It takes a while to transfer your VIDEO images to LIVE so I had a special experience in Dallas. NOW I could sit back and just listen. Their voices changed so much. It is amazing how far they have come only in such a short time.
As soon as I get my house back in shape and get enough sleep I will get back on YOUTUBE and close my eyes and listen to the concert from Radio City.
They will always be “boys” to me but I am so proud of the grown young men.

~Gina