A Magical Night

There's only one word to describe tonight: magical. Two of my favorite things: Amy Grant and figure skating combined to create one spectacular show and a night that I'll never forget.

It all started at the beginning of November when I read in the paper that Scott Hamilton and Friends on Ice was coming to Knoxville. I couldn't believe it!! I really didn't think much about it though, because I didn't think there would be a chance that I could go. That is, until I was talking to Mom on the phone one night and mentioned it to her. She asked if I would like for that to be one of my Christmas presents. Without even hesitating, I said yes! A few days later she told me that we were going. A mother/daughter outing I could not wait for!! The news only got better when, a few weeks later, I found out that the skaters would be skating to Amy Grant music and not only that, but Amy would be there in person to sing. Figure skating plus an Amy Grant concert equals one magical night in my book.

So tonight finally came. I was beside myself with excitement! Not even the pouring down rain could dampen my spirits. Mom and I got off to a little later start then we had planned on, but we still had plenty of time to get to the Knoxville Coliseum, or so we thought. The rain plus the Knoxville Christmas Parade being held at the same time meant that we were delayed. We had to take a detour, but eventually found our way to the parking garage with five minutes until show time. But it wasn't as easy as just walking into the building. No, we had to walk down these long steep ramps and over a crosswalk and through the woods (OK, maybe not that last one!!) to get to the Coliseum. I was almost in tears, knowing that we were super late. I even exclaimed that we would miss half the show (I can be a little dramatic every once in awhile - ha!) Mom kept me focused on the task at hand though - which was getting inside. To most people, this would not have been a problem, but to me it seemed like we would never make it in time. Mom even exclaimed that one day we would look back on this and laugh, but at the time it was not funny! But, with Mom's help we finally did make it inside, only to be met by the realization that we had to walk down several steep rows with no railing on them to get to our seats. I left my walker at the top of the row and with the help of Mom and my cane made it precariously down to our seats. God knew that I wanted to see this show from start to finish and it's only by His grace that for whatever reason the show did not start until literally 30 seconds after Mom and I took our seats. Mom looked at her watch. It was 6:10 and the show was to have started at 6pm. All I can say is, Thank you, Jesus!! :)

The show itself was absolutely magical in my eyes. I was transported back to being a little kid seeing everything with wonder and amazement. It truly was a spectacular evening. I loved spending it with Mom and will treasure it always in my heart. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. About a half an hour into the show I looked over the railing down to the lower level and spotted a familiar bald head. I nudged Mom and she looked too. Scott Hamilton was standing right below us watching the show from the side lines. Then I turned into stalker lady and started taking pictures of him. I wasn't the only one though. I was sitting next to a husband and wife and the wife started taking pictures too. Her husband called us the paparazzi. I sang along to all the songs and was enthralled by all the skaters. It was a truly blessed night in which I will forever remember.



Amy Grant and her band (which included her stepdaughter, Jenny Gill)





The stalker picture I took of Scott Hamilton :)





The entire cast of figure skating performers: Katia Gordeeva (my favorite!), Ilia Kulik, Paul Wylie, Jozef Sabovcik, Michael Weiss, Nicole Bobek, Caryn Kadavy, Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Lindsay Davis and Rockne Brubaker, and Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre