The 2002 American Idols Live! tour was coming to an end. One of our last cities was Seattle, and as always, we were backstage after the performance mingling with fans at what is called a meet-and-greet. I don’t know why, but whenever there were little children at the meet-and-greets, they always gravitated toward me. Seattle was no different.
Tylee was the cutest little girl I’d ever seen, with her tan corduroy overalls and little bald head from her chemotherapy. Her big brother, Tre, and her mom were with her. She was only five years old and already a huge Idol fan.
From the minute she walked into the meet-and-greet room, she didn’t leave my side. She hugged me and kissed me as we drew pictures together. Whatever her disease was it had to be serious, but despite it, she was such a perky and happy little girl.
Although I’m usually tired by the time the meet-and-greets are done, I was sad when this one ended because I had to say good-bye to Tylee.
With the tour over, I headed back to Dallas and looked forward to spending some time just chilling and being with my four-year-old son, Tristen. I’d hardly seen him over the...