Today is Tammy’s (40th) birthday. Like we had told ya’ll earlier, she was giving her birthday to Michael. He kept telling everyone that it would make more sense for a 40 year old to have cancer rather than a 10 year old. Anyway, Michael just couldn’t understand what was the big deal about mom giving him her birthday. Michael apparently just thought it was because Tammy was turning 40! This past April, Michael had wanted to stay in a hotel for his birthday so he could go swimming in the indoor pool, so that is what we did. Mickey told Michael and Justin that mom decided that she wanted to stay in a hotel for her birthday also. Little did they realize that staying in a hotel was NOT on the top of mom’s list of desirable things to do.We left the house around 1:00 p.m. and headed to Weatherford where we checked into the LaQuinta. A very nice room, but this wasn’t going to be the highlight of the day. Michael laid down for a nap while Tammy and Justin ran and got lunch. Around 4:00 p.m. we all got dressed and headed to what the boys thought was “Mom’s Big Birthday Surprise”. The boys didn’t know what it was because Mickey told them that they wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret. We arrived at the Willow Springs Baptist Church in Aledo, TX around 5:00 p.m. Michael told us later that he thought The Huckaba Family was singing at this church and that was mom’s surprise. We got out of the van and Michael saw the name “GOLD CITY QUARTET” written on the side of that bus, the look on his face was the best present Tammy could have gotten. When we walked inside, Randy, from The Crusaders (a group opening for Gold City) was the first to meet us. He said that he had heard that Michael was supposed to be there and that the guys from Gold City were looking forward to meeting him. You see, Michael’s favorite southern gospel group is Gold City and he had never been to one of their concerts. We think he sings the Gold City CD’s in his sleep. We know for sure that he can sing them in the shower because we have heard it many times! Q.L. and Joseph from Hampton Park Productions provided us with FREE tickets and made Michael feel very welcome at the concert and checked on him continually. They made sure that Michael got his pick of seats in the auditorium and they also gave Justin and Michael each a T-shirt. They are really cool and Michael couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel room to put his on. The first of the Gold City members for Michael to meet was Channing Eleton, pianist. Inside the auditorium Michael got to meet one of the best bass singers in Southern Gospel music, Tim Riley. After that, several of the guys came out to meet Michael. Steve Ladd was Gold City’s new tenor singer and tonight would be only his third night to sing with the quartet. Steve told Michael about how he had prayed when he was little that he could someday sing with the Gold City Quartet. He also told Michael that when he was young he had traveled around the country with his mom and dad singing southern gospel music and his dad preached. This story seemed all too familiar to Michael. As many of you know, we traveled and sang for about 5 years. We had even talked about going back out on the road if this was God’s will. Apparently God wants us to stay home for a little while longer because Michael’s Dr.’s would not take kindly to him “gallivanting” across the country in a motor home singing gospel music! At one point before the concert started Michael began to get really tired. We asked him if he wanted to lay down for a little while. Michael perked up and bugged out his eyes and said “NO”. He was afraid he would fall asleep and miss the concert or a chance to talk with one of the guys. The Crusaders began singing around 7:00 p.m. Michael really enjoyed hearing them, but it wasn’t until around 7:30 p.m. that Michael really got excited! Finally, he was going to hear Gold City – Live. They sang Michael’s favorite song, “I’m Not Givin’ Up”. This is Michael’s theme song right now because he sure ain’t givin’ up in this battle. After the concert Michael got a chance to get a few more pictures with group and then it was off to our hotel. It was getting really late and we could tell that Michael was getting tired. We got back to the hotel around 11:00 p.m. and Michael insisted on sleeping in his shirt that he got from Q.L. and Joseph. He probably would have slept in his Gold City hat if he thought he could have gotten away with it.
Michael and Justin after we arrived at the hotel.
Michael posing with Tim Riley, bass singer and owner of Gold City.
After the concert, Michael got a group picture with the guys before saying good-bye.