My new Favorite Fangirl Story

06/05/2011 by Amy H. Johnson 2 Comments

This weekend I saw NKOTBSB at the Boston Garden (Or “Gahhhden” to us Massholes 🙂 ) and it was AWESOME!! The show is really great and SO MUCH FUN! It is a full-on party and the crowd is up dancing and singing and having the best time. And that includes all the Kids/Boys who look like they are having an absolute blast.

My friend Laura was fulfilling a long held dream to see the New Kids on the Block – her teen idols who she had never seen live before. It was so great to get to share that moment with her – her squeals of excitement when they were actually standing right in front of us was a joy to watch. Also a joy? Hearing about her own fangirl moments back in the day.

My personal favorite: Apparently her “husband Donnie” Wahlberg was injured in a stage snafu back in 1990. It happened near to where she lived at the time and although she couldn’t go to the hospital he was at to hold vigil like some other girls did, she did the next best thing: she called the hospital to get updates on his status. Every. Single. Day.

I’m not sure what ended first – Donnie’s hospital stay or the arrival of the phone bill that highlighted the fact that while the hospital wasn’t too far away in miles, it was far enough away in long distance charges to result in a docking of her allowance to pay the bill.

Why do I love this story so much? Because it’s adorable. I mean, that’s devotion! And the hospital staff was so nice to respond to her (although she figures they were getting so many calls they figured it was easier to give updates than listen to sobbing 15 year olds all day long.) “Kids today” don’t understand that in the ye olden days it wasn’t as easy as Twitter or the internet to get instant news. She would have had to wait until the next issue of Bop to get the update on Donnie’s health and that may have been WEEKS away!! No goshdarn it, she could not wait to know how her beloved was fairing and made those calls.

I am now living for the day that she can meet Donnie and tell him this story! Here’s what cost Laura several weeks allowance, and here’s a Donnie-centric video from our show to tide her over until that day comes: