My daughter gave Eddie flowers on stage in Boston

Allie02 wrote:

OMG, that brought tears to my eyes. That is so beautiful. What a wonderful moment for you, you must have been the proudest Papa in the whole place! Is that your daughter in the tour pictures listed under the Boston show?

http://pearljam.com/tour/index-photos.php

What a great story! Thanks!

Smile_dad wrote:

"Don't it make you Smile"...

I brought my daughter to Thursday's Boston 2 show, and never expected the incredible night that we wound up having.

She's a big fan of the band, because her dad (ME) always has them playing. Well, so is her six year old sister, and their two year old brother! You should hear the three of them belt out "World Wide Suicide"! LOL

I've been a fan of the band since seeing them at Lollapalooza '92. Then I joined the TEN CLUB in late '94, so my number is low, therefore we had some insane seats for the shows. I brought my wife to night one, and she rocked out... then it was decision time on night 2. Since I bought the tickets, I wanted to take Shae, but because of her nine year old age, my wife and I were torn. I really wanted her to experience the BEST live band in the world! You see, she wants to be a singer when she grows up, so who better to have her witness than the man himself?

Shae LOVES "Smile", and we sing it as a family often. Well, I suggested that if she really wanted to hear it that night (because it's not really a staple in the set), that she should write a sign to request it. So she took my advise and came up with a 'way cool' smiley mouth, that she wrote the word "SMILE" in the center of it... in crayon. Underneath it she wrote "Eddie", then added 'three crooked hearts and swirls all around'... pretty cool sign.

Well, she was having a great time when towards the end of the first encore she held it up, and Mike saw it right away! He nodded and stared down like "maybe... it's on there...we'll see", then loooked back at me and I shrugged as if to say "C'mon, it's for her" (it's hard to really get that across in a couple seconds, but I tried) and when they left the stage my daughter got a little upset because the flowers she brought for the band were still on the ground. She didn't think they were coming back out. I reassured her that they'd be back and now was a good time to hold then up if they came back with a slow song.

Well they returned for Encore 2 and kicked it up a notch with "Why Go". I was lovin' it, but told her to just be patient. After "Life Wasted", I suggested she put 'em back in the air. This is when I was floored. Everyone around her was trying to get Eddie'd attention, and pointing to the flowers! He saw them and her... he came right over and Eddie told her to come up on the stage to give them to her! She was all smiles now, and went up and over the fence, and on to the stage! Eddie said "We'd like to fulfill a request from a young lady in the third row... It isn't a request really, as she's got something for us... so we'll do this for her."

Then she made it up there! Ed said "Thanks" twice for the flowers (according to Shae) then he introduced her to to the Garden crowd... and they gave her a GREAT big cheer! Shae smiled and waved (it felt like an eternity to me!) and the two of them gave the peace sign to everyone. He then gave her a little hug, and she was escorted off the stage and back into my arms. Eddie then said (I'll NEVER forget this!!!!) "This one's for SHAE" ... then they did a stellar version of SMILE! When Ed was done with theh harmonica he came over towards me and tossed it in my hands. Everyone around me parted like they red sea to let it get to me... it was unreal! He pointed to my daughter and I put it in her hands. Then he gave me a big thumbs up! During Ledbetter he waved good-bye to her!

It was truly amazing to have experienced this with my oldest, who was in my wife's belly (she was four months pregnant in '96 when we drove from Boston to Toronto to see them) as my wife and I danced in the back of the concert hall to "Yellow Ledbetter".

Now, ten years later I was dancing with that little girl again. Only this time she was on the outside watching, as well as listening.

Thank you, everyone around, us for being so kind to her. Thank you Ten Club for caring about the fans. And THANK YOU Eddie and the band for having a heart as big as your music is!

Sorry this was so long!!!