Cam's First Concert

Where do I begin? What a night!

Ever since Cameron's surgery, I have decided to give him experiences and quality time instead of gifts for holidays and events. Trust me, he gets PLENTY of gifts from everyone else in his life—but from Mama, it's trips, vacations, and one-on-one time.

One of his gifts for his 8th birthday this year was his first concert to see Mammoth WVH, Creed, and 3 Doors Down at the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

We headed to our Aunt Rachel's Friday night. We got in pretty late and hit the hay to get some rest for Saturday. Saturday morning, Cameron got up and went with Rachel to exercise her pup, Tavi. We made breakfast, played games, and watched a movie before getting ready for the concert.

Cameron had asked me a few weeks prior if he could be a sign and have some friends sign like he did at the C6 tailgate at Lincoln Financial. We thought long and hard about what the sign should say, and we finally came up with something that represented Cameron, 3 Doors Down, and his favorite 3 Doors Down song, "It's Not My Time."

We packed our bags and headed to the arena (Thank you, Aunt Rae, for the lift). We headed into the arena and to our floor seats. Cameron passed out some of his buttons to the staff and friendly people he met. We met Mr. Isaiah, who was an usher and a Schwooperhero. Our outstanding usher gave us a wristband for our section when we got to our seats. We had hoped to get a photo of Cameron with his sign in front of the stage before the night began, but we were told that the ushers in the section were pretty strict and it wouldn't be allowed. We had the kindest lady, Ms. Holly, sit next to us. Once we got our sign out and the staff saw it, they told us to hold on while they checked with a supervisor. We were told a few seconds later that we could go into the pit area and take our picture.

After our photo, we were told we could go in and out of the pit area as much as we wanted. The pit supervisor gave us another wristband, and we returned to grab our things. I had a hip wrap with a seat I brought with me, and once we were in the pit, I put the wrap on, grabbed Cameron's headphones for ear protection, and slung him on my hip. He was high-fived and fist-pounded by just about everyone who walked by. We met Mr. Brad and Mr. Neil. Mr. Brad had a son named Camero. He talked to Cameron about his story,y and we showed him our sign. He told Cameron he could get on his shoulders when the show started and gave him some money to spend for the merch shop (we bought a 3DD t-shirt). We listened to Mammoth WVH and ran and got a bottle of water before settling in for the 3 Doors Down set. The lights hypnotized Cameron. The first song in the set was "Train." We danced and sang and yelled, and the energy was amazing. The second song was our song - "It's Not My Time". We moved to the back left corner of the pit and pulled out our sign. We held it up, and Brad and the gang sang and rocked out. At one point, Brad was at our end of the stage; he pointed at us and put his hand on his heart. In between lyrics, he yelled, "That's amazing," and Cameron started beaming. At that time, a trio of what can only be described as angels came over to us. They took a photo of us and hugged Cameron. One of the lovely ladies, Dr. Kristy Heron, Ms. Jamie Ren,o and Ms. Holly Warehime - asked if I wanted to get to the stage, "Let's do it," I replied, and just like these ladies were on a mission to part the crowd like the sea. They were polite but determined as we navigated to the front of the pit. The crowddidn'tt mind at all and would cheer as we walked by with our sign. By this time, the song ended, and we were one row away from the front. Once the song ended, Brad pointed to our sign and asked to take it on stage. He read the sign and asked all 14.000 people to "Give it up for Cameron." It was an intensely emotional moment for me. After all, we had been through, it was a fantastic moment to see other people cheering on my boy just as much as I did.

After this interaction, Cameron was on cloud 9, and there was nothing that could steal his smile. We danced the rest of the 3 Doors Down set. We yelled, "I am enough," during Brad's inspirational speech. And we had the BEST time. Cam didn't make it too long into Creed's set before he fell asleep - but he was kind enough to tell me that I could stay as long as he could sleep in my lap. I can not thank Kristy and her girls for making this night so special. The guys of 3 Doors Down for showing kindness and compassion to my boy and for that entire arena of people for yelling for him. He is so loved and I am so lucky.

Photo Cred: 3 Doors Down / Wurzy Media