If I Could Just Rewind

If you could rewind and go back in time, what would you do?
Tell yourself that one day it won't matter that Lesley always played with the better My Little Ponies?
That one day you would actually be friends with your sister instead of trying to send her back upstairs?
Maybe you would tell your younger self that your science project is not the end of the world; that you SHOULD go to bed earlier, or that you should definitely not let that greasy loser into your heart, or your pants.
Maybe you would go back and relive your engagement, your promotion, your wedding, your kid's birth?

If I could rewind time, I would go back One Year Ago.

That was the fateful day my life intertwined with my teen idol by only the most coincidental of chances.

I was looking for Dolly Parton.
He was looking for Ted Turner.
I was with my mom and sister.
He was with his bodyguards.
I was in town for a New Kids concert.
He WAS a New Kid.



Yes, Jordan Knight was standing in the same Chapters bookstore, in the same Edmonton mall, at the EXACT SAME TIME as me. Do you know what the chances of that are? You couldn't duplicate that if you wanted to. (And believe me, we tried.)

It's a moment I have relived a million times since then. His Boston accent. His slight frame and shortness. His dark hair. His politeness at the radio interview I am pretty sure I was giving him, if only in my own mind.

If I could rewind, I would ask to get a photo. If I could rewind, I would have said "Thank you for being the first boy I really fell in love with. Thank you for giving me something my 12-year-old friends and I could bond over. Thank you for not thinking I am entirely crazy for stalking you in this store."

The jarring reality is that the very event that started my idea for a blog and my re-obsession with my favorite boy band is a moment I can only relive online, here with you.

But there is always the possibility he might read this...I can always hope for that.