We'd been standing there for about 2 or 3 minutes when, suddenly, Ray came from behind a black curtain to the right of us, followed by Graeme.  Both were so warm and friendly!  Maggie (one of the sweetest people on the face of the earth) pointed her camera at me and Ray.  He put his arm around me, squeezing me.  (I LOVED it!)  and she took our photo.

Then Graeme came up to me and, again, there was Maggie with her camera.  He pulled me close and my head rested on his shoulder (is this heaven or what?), while Maggie snapped away.  Graeme and I talked a few minutes, and I told him we'd listened to Strange Times several times on the drive to Greenville. I said we thought Nothing Changes was just beautiful, and that it was so good to hear from him again.  He seemed pleased and said, "Well, ya know we're doing 5 songs from it in the show tonight."  I said, "Oh, great!"  He was so nice, and I kept thinking how pretty that silver hair of his is.  As we were chatting, I looked up to see Justin coming in.

Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that a more intense Justin Hayward fan you will not find, and as much as I love all the Moodies (and I do love them), when I found out I'd won that pass, all I could think about was I'M GONNA MEET JUSTIN!!  I can't even begin to put into words the feeling that came over me when he entered that room.  There he was, the man whose songs mean so much to me, and whose voice just melts my heart.  I was overwhelmed and had a really hard time keeping my emotions under control.  He looked drop-dead gorgeous, by the way, and seeing him so close-up really put me over the edge.

I remember asking if I could have a picture with him, to which he said, "Sure!"  I handed my camera to Maggie, and went and stood next to him.  I dropped my arms to my sides and crossed my hands in front of me. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder, so I quickly, but ever so gently, slipped my arm around his waist.  As luck would have it, the shutter release jammed on my camera, and I think that's when Paula (love you, girl!) took the photo with her camera.  Justin was so sweet when my camera wouldn't work and said, "Well, you can all just switch out."

At that point, Sue and Maggie both gave me their cards, and I told them I'd give them my address.  The next thing I remember is Justin walking over to me and Maggie - she handed him her San Juan Capistrano CD to be signed. I took out an 8x10 photo of him from the '97 tour book (a copy Lila had made for me).  He seemed taken aback when he saw it, and said, "Oh!!"  I thought to myself, "Yep, that's what I said when I saw it".  It's one of my favorite photos of him.

Anyway, I got out my SJC CD, too, and as he signed it, I actually managed to get myself together enough to thank him for it (the SJC show), and for ALL the wonderful music. He handed the CD back to me and, as I was putting it back in my envelope, he said, "Thank you, Sweetheart."  I had my back to him when he said it, and I don't know if he even knew I heard him, but I did, and I'll never forget it.  He's so kind.