Bret Michaels Makes Dream Come True

Sometimes you are just put in the right place at the right time. My buddy Brad was that guy last night and he kicked off a series of events that led to Bret Michaels being able to make a 13 year old girl's dream come true.

I'd been debating on going to the Bret Michaels concerts this weekend in both Kansas City on Friday and Dubuque, IA, on Saturday. I had hoped to make both shows, but knew I had to make at least one. I don't like traveling alone so that figured into trying to make my decision. I decided to stay in Friday night and see if someone wanted to go on Saturday. Saturday morning I even started debating making the even longer drive to Dubuque, but then I received a text from Pete Evick asking if I was going to be at the show. I just made up my mind for sure at that moment and said I'd be there so I started texting friends to see who was willing to go. I enlisted my friend Brad and my friend and S&S Entertainment partner Dave.

We got to the show and found our seats inside. At the inside end of our row was a very young girl who seemed to be there by herself. Brad is the talkative and social type and the first question out of his mouth to this young girl was to ask what she seemed to be doing there alone.

Turns out Elaina M. is a 13 year old girl who has a very rare form of cancer. Doctors told her that she is only the 8th person they know of documented to have the form of cancer she has. While she seemed to be a very normal and healthy young girl with a great spirit, she had recently been very sick under chemotherapy and doctors are unable to tell her if she is in remission. Apparently, the others with this cancer have died within 5 years of being diagnosed with it. She wore a knit cap to cover her head and made comments to Brad about how beautiful another girl's hair was and that she missed having hers. Elaina's favorite program to watch on TV during her lengthy time in the hospital was Bret Michael's Rock Of Love. While she had been quite ill, she turned in an application to the Make A Wish Foundation in the hopes of some day meeting Bret Michaels. She was able to get a ticket to this show, but had to come by herself due to what seemed like her family's ability to be able to afford to get her the one ticket. Elaina was very excited to be at the show and hoped she might be able to find some way to meet Bret.

Brad heard this story and soon turned to me to relate it. I have been very fortunate since Bret played Waterstock in Des Moines a few years ago to have kept in touch with Pete Evick. I knew I had to find a way to let Pete know this girl's story and see if there was a way to make this girl's wish come true.

I found a young woman who was assisting at the merch table and I'd seen her talking to Pete earlier and with her access she'd be able to get the word to Pete if I didn't catch him first. I brought Elaina out to meet this young woman and she said she'd do her best to get word to Bret.

I happened to catch Big John and related Elaina's story briefly to him as well. I knew Big John is a father and I had a bit of trouble holding it together as I told him about Elaina because I have two daughters myself. Big John said he'd see what he could do for Elaina, too, and asked that I bring her to the front curtain at the end of the show.

Everyone I could find in Bret's group I had to stop briefly just to let them know about Elaina's wish. I introduced her to Lucky Chuck as he passed through the crowd and finally found Pete to relate the story to him.

The compassion and honest emotion was evident with each of the people I stopped and I knew they would each find a way to let Bret know about Elaina.

This evening became more than just a night out with a couple of buddies to see a concert. It became a mission to make Elaina's wish come true. My 9 year old daughter happened to call before Bret went on stage and I related the story to her, too. She said she really hoped that Elaina's wish would come true, too. She was proud of her old man for trying.

Bret put on a fun show as he always does. Evick is the perfect band to be the Bret Michaels Band. These guys are tight, fun, and always great to watch and interact with. Bret made a great choice not only musically, but it seems to be a great decision on a personal level to have these guys in his band. I will separately write about the show itself.

After the concert, my friends and I had to look around for Elaina. She had initially followed Brad to the front of the stage as the seating really didn't matter at this show. I was in row J and yet was crushed front and center for the entire show against the barrier. Elaina had gotten separated and while she really seemed like she could handle herself just fine, my buddies and I still felt a little responsible for her safety and really wanted to make sure that she had the opportunity to meet Bret.

We found her and as Bob (Bret's cousin), Pete, and Big John tried to get things wrapped up we waited by the merch table. Bob had made a promise to Elaina that she'd meet Bret. It sounded like she really was going to have this dream come true. I asked Elaina if she had brought a camera and all she had was her RAZR to take pictures. I offered to take pics with my camera for her if they would allow that and gave her my card so she could contact me and I could get the pictures to her.

After the merch area had been taken down and packed away and carted off, Bob asked Elaina and me to follow him. Big John and a friend of his came with us and we made our way out to Bret's tour bus.

Bret was the perfect host as we walked on. Elaina immediately got a hug and Bret struck up conversation with her. He asked her if she had anything to sign, which she did. She even asked him to sign her phone. He signed a huge cardboard Rock Of Love tour piece from a previous show with "Something To Believe In". He signed a notebook she had once for her and once for a friend she wanted to give it to. I used my camera and took a couple of pictures of her with Bret and was able to get a picture with them both while one of the crew took the picture. Bret is coming back to Iowa next month and asked if Elaina was going to be there. She hesitated and you could see Bret's heart start to sink as she wasn't sure. She certainly hopes to and it was hard to tell if her hesitation was due to her health or due to other circumstances. Bret was honest in his desire to see her at that show next month.

Elaina has a great sense of honesty and humor about her. I mentioned that Bret certainly made the right choice by picking Ambre on his TV show Rock Of Love. When I said that, Elaina agreed and then added that Daisy "looks like a whore". This brought laughter from everyone on the bus as Bret certainly disagrees in that he believes Daisy is "hot", but he was laughing because Elaina certainly has a knack for honesty and hearing this type of talk from a 13 year old girl was almost shocking. Bret let Elaina have as much time as she wanted and as she was ready to leave, he gave her another hug. As she turned to go, she took a step away and then turned right back around again for another hug from Bret. You could see the raw honest emotion on Bret's face as she did this. It's certainly not easy seeing someone so young and so full of energy and life in that moment knowing that she has been through so much and her future is very uncertain.

I thanked Bret myself for making this Elaina's dream come true. I had never met this girl before this night and just by making Bret's band and friends aware, Bret was able to make this moment happen for Elaina. I thanked everyone in Bret's bus, Bob, Big John, Rob, Ray, Pete, Doyle, Whitey, and the wonderful young lady who helped make everyone of Bret's crew aware of Elaina. These people are incredible and they each have a huge heart.

My friends and I waited until Elaina's family showed up to pick her up. Elaina couldn't wait to tell them and their expressions were pure amazement as she quickly told them she met Bret and we put her cardboard poster in their SUV. They were very thankful and anxious to hear more as they took her home.

I've been to tons of concerts. I've had a lot of great times and even what some might term "religious experiences" as there are just moments in life that hearing certain songs performed live can touch you deeply. I've pretty much been able to attend most concerts in a more selfish manner as I get lost in the music. Last night while I still get lost in the performances, meant so much more as the honesty of Bret's lyrics was followed up in the honesty of Bret's actions after the stage was dark and the crowd had left.

Elaina and her experience touched a lot of people last night, none more so than her. She is in a lot of people's prayers and if her energy and spirit are any indication, she may just surprise her doctors, too.