Today I got to meet my first and biggest celebrity crush of all time. To mark the occasion, I thought I'd give you a little background on my [one-sided] love affair with Aaron Carter.
I was 9 when Aaron pretty much became the center of my universe. I was already a long-time fan of the Backstreet
Boys—2 years is practically half your life at that age—but knew, in all my
well-developed wisdom, that even sweet, boyish, floppy-haired Nick was too old
for me. (Eight and a half years seems insurmountable when that’s as long as you’ve
been alive).
Just look at that face! How could you not love him?
Back in the day, before Google was a verb, I got my Aaron fix through BOP and Tiger Beat (and later, the unauthorized bio “Hangin’ With Aaron Carter”, which I distinctly remember spending my entire school book fair allowance on). I poured over the mags, gathering and memorizing all the facts I could—his birthday, his siblings’ names, his favorite things. With all this data, I felt like I knew him, and by the time I was 12, I was “in love”. I probably thought that if someday I ever got the chance to meet him, I would win him over by impressing him with my bounteous knowledge about him… ‘cause that’s obviously what all the boys want. Well, that and candy (see, Aaron, I was paying attention).
This puppy lived on my nightstand for months.
The turning point—a defining moment
for my young heart—came in 2001. Aaron
was featured on an episode of the Lizzie Maguire Show, staring Hilary Duff. I’m
pretty sure I knew through the teen mags that they were an item in real life,
and I knew that the events onscreen were scripted, but I still remember the
feeling of daggers when they (GASP) kissed! “Merry Christmas Lizzie” were the
words that tore into my heart. I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw something. I
felt so betrayed, rejected, hopeless. I had had “boyfriends” and “breakups” by
this point, but I had never before known heartache like that! I moped for
weeks.
This. The moment my heart truly broke for the first time.
As with any breakup (shut up, that's what it felt like), time eased away some of the pain. I removed
memory triggers, found happiness in other areas of my life, eventually moved on
(oh the melodrama, jk!). But seriously, I went down a slightly more punk/emo
path in musical taste and diversified my wall-hangings. Like, a lot. I grew up
a little bit, put my most intense fan girl/rabidly obsessive ways behind me and only
followed Aaron’s career peripherally.
[Hil, meanwhile, continued living
the life I dreamed of: acting, singing, having Simple Plan (my FAVORITE band at
that point, cause let’s be honest, their album was the anthem to my life) at
her 16th birthday party. Marrying Mike Comrie (my all-time favorite
hockey player).]
Still a heartbreaker :D
These days I wouldn't call myself “Aaron Carter’s biggest fan” (I've seen the girls on his Twitter feed, I know it's no longer true) but I am so happy for him getting back on tour and doing what he loves. I am still a little fan-girly at heart, but I try to remember that everyone is a human being. That’s why I will always hope for the best for Aaron and his career. I will fork over the dough to go see him in concert (and get VIP to boot) in part for nostalgia’s sake, but mostly because I believe in supporting people to pursue their goals, and because I want to be there to cheer him on.
And well, you know, like the ever-so-wise Nicholas Sparks once said "There's no love like the first love".
ADDITION
The concert was a lot of fun. I made some new friends, and enjoyed being in the front of the pack with Alison. He didn't play very many songs, but did do a few from the early days (everyone flipped when he did I Want Candy and Aaron's Party). To my great dismay, he didn't do All About You (don't worry, I will put myself to bed with it on repeat). He played a few new songs and I think there's a lot of promise. One, called Recovery, I am really excited for!
It was fun to see his personality over dinner. One of my favorite moments was when we were getting ready to go, and he goes "Are you ready to bounce?... Ha. Bounce," like the pun had just crossed his mind, and he watched my reaction to see if it meant anything to me. Well, if that was a test, I rocked it. (For the uninitiated, Bounce is one of his early singles.)
This makes my inner 12-year old incredibly happy. Above my finger there, you'll see my childhood dream, as listed in my senior yearbook: To marry Aaron Carter. Naturally, I had to have him sign it. It took a lot to not slip into full on fangirl mode when he handed the book back to me and it said "Let's do it". That's as close as I'll ever come to a proposal from him, so I'll take it ;)
Also, the cherry on top... after tweeting the original blog link yesterday, I woke up this morning to find that Aaron had retweeted it. There's something exciting about that. Wonder if he read it?
