March, 17, 2010, I may be taking a break from touring but, I don’t get to take from being famous!!! Chris has a week off for school vacation and I’m curious to see what it feels like to live under the same roof as him. It felt really weird waking up with him lying next to me. Since it was our first time sleeping in the same bed last night it’s going to take some getting used to. When he opened his eyes I said” you snore so loud”!!! He smiled and said” yeah well; you hog the bed”!!! I stood up and walked downstairs with Reegan in my arms. Grandma was sitting at the kitchen table and said” how was your party; did you have fun”? I said” yeah I wish you could have been there but, I know that you can’t move around as well as you used to”. I rested my hand on the table and she looked down at my ring. She said” what is that your wearing” with a puzzled look on her face. I said” I thought someone would have told you; Chris proposed to me at the party”!!! She said” wow…that’s a lot to take in at once”!!! I showed her the ring and she said” where did he sleep last night”? I thought for a second and said” in my bedroom”. She said” did you two do anything besides sleep”!!! I was trying to figure out what she was saying and said” besides sleeping”? She said” you know what I mean…that thing”!!! I said” oh that thing…I think we’re all set with one baby for now…that won’t happen for a very long time”!!! Chris came downstairs and said” man; I’m starving”!!! I opened up the cabinet and there was nothing inside it. I said” Grandma there isn’t any cereal in here; what are we supposed to eat”? She said” you have two hands; cook something”. I looked at Chris and said” I don’t know how to cook; do you”? He said” no…I guess we are going to starve”!!! Grandma said laughing “you two are going to get married and neither of you know how to cook”!!! She passed us some frozen bacon and pancake batter. I said” what are we supposed to do with this”? She said” gee I don’t know… maybe you should cook it”!!! Before I could say anything she walked out of the room. Chris looked at the package of bacon and said” we better get started if we want to eat something today”. I washed my hands and poured the batter in a pan. Chris said” I don’t think it goes in the oven honey”!!! I said” oh…OK…I thought it seemed a little weird”!!! He said” the bacon is crispy should I take It out of the pan”? I said” look at who you’re talking to, I have no idea”!!! I put the pancakes on a plate and he placed the bacon next to them. We both sat down at the table with the food we cooked in front of us. Chris took a bite of the pancakes and made a funny face. He said” it’s didn’t cook all the way… its pure batter in the middle”. I looked at it and said” what do expect, ask me to sing any song; I will; cooking is a whole other thing”!!! I took a bite of the bacon and spit out onto my plate. Chris said” what’s wrong did I burn it or something”? I walked over to the trash can and pulled out the package that the bacon came in. I looked on the back and started to laugh. He said” what’s so funny”? I said” it says that you were supposed to put it in the microwave, not on the stove”. After all we went through making that food…we ended up going to McDonalds’!
March, 17, 2010, Chris and I were driving around trying to get Reegan to go to sleep. I drove past our old house Neverland and noticed that I still had the house key. I looked at Chris and said” you want to go inside”? He said” he isn’t yet asleep yet; let’s go”!!! Chris took Reegan out of the car and walked to the door with me. I said” I can’t believe this place is going to be for sale soon, I wish I could buy it right now”!!! We walked in the front door and none of the stuff had been moved out yet. I looked around and saw the piano. I went over to it and slowly ran my fingers across the keys. Chris saw me start to get a little emotional and hugged me. He said” it will be alright A.J…is it bringing back memories”? I said while wiping away tears “every night my dad would sit here and sing us songs before we went to bed”. We walked into the kitchen and sat down on the bar stools. I was holding Reegan in my arms and said” my dad made it a rule that we ate dinner at the table as a family every single night”!!! Chris said” I bet you never thought that you would ever come back here with your fiancée and son”. I stood up and he followed me into my dad’s award room. Plaques and trophies lined the entire room and one in particular caught my eye. It was one that is made of paper that said” to the world’s best daddy…love A.J”. Chris look at the at the award and said” you must have gave that to him a long time ago because some of the letters in your name are upper case and some of them are lower case”. We walked upstairs and I went up to my dad’s bedroom door. I haven’t seen his room since 2005 before the police raided it. Chris opened the door and I was completely shocked at its condition. Everything my dad had in the room had been thrown on the floor. As I climbed piles of stuff trying to get to his bed Chris said” that poor man, this is awful”!!! I looked at the mattress and the police had cut into it with knifes. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I went over to his safe and noticed they had broken into it. I hugged Chris and” come on…let me show you my bedroom”!!! We walked into my room and Chris said” I knew you loved Toy Story but I didn’t think it was this bad”!!! He looked at my life size cutout of woody and said” I don’t know how you could sleep in here with that thing staring at you”. I looked at my mattress and said” I’ve always wanted to try something”!!! Chris said” this isn’t another one of your crazy ideas…is it”? I started dragging the mattress out of the room and dropped it in front of the steps. Chris” um…what do you think you’re doing”!!! I took his hand and said” you and I are going to ride this down the stairs”!!! I put Reegan on one of the couches upstairs and sat on the mattress with Chris behind me. He said” A.J I don’t think this is safe”!!! I said” it’s too late now” and we flew down the flight of stairs at 60mph. when we hit the wall Chris was laughing so hard that his face was turn red and I said” see I knew you would have fun”!!!
March, 18, 2010 I’m spending the day with a boy who has leukemia for the make a wish foundation and I can’t wait to meet him. As I sat on the front steps waiting for him to get here I thought about all the things my father has done to help others. A limo pulled into the driveway and I walked up to it. The door opened and a man put a pale little boy in a wheelchair. I went up to him and said” hey dude what’s up”? He said” I can’t believe it’s really you”!!! I laughed and said” how old are you; what’s your name buddy”!!! He said” Ryan; I’m 9 years old”. I said” well, Ryan are you ready for me to make your wish come true”? He said “I’m so excited…this is already the best of my life”!!! I pushed his wheelchair inside the house and put the brakes on. I said” so… you have me all to yourself for the day what do you want to do”? He said can you show me your bedroom…I’ve always wanted to see it”!!! I said” sure if that’s what you want to do” and pushed him down the hallway. I took him up the indoor ramp and unlocked the door to my room. I forgot that my room looked like a tornado hit it but, Ryan didn’t seem to care as he stared at the walls. He said” wow you must be in love with Justin Timberlake because there are like…10 posters of him in here”. I laughed and said” I guess you could say I have a crush on him”. He said” don’t tell anyone but, I have a huge crush on you”!!! I gave him a hug and said” just don’t say that to my fiancée because he will be jealous”!!! He said” you’re getting married…can I meet him”? I took him outside where Chris was with Reegan and said” Chris this is Ryan”. Ryan said” when you marry her make sure you treat her like gold”!!! Chris laughed at the fact that a 9 year old was telling him this and said” I’ll make sure I treat her that way, thanks for the advice”!!! I said” hey Ryan, you want to see where I like to get away from it all”? He said” sure” and I pushed him all the way to my favorite tree. He said” wow…that’s so cool, I’ve never climbed a tree before”!!! I thought for a second and said” you want to climb it right now”? He looked at me and said” how; I’m too weak to get up there myself”? I said” I’m going to carry you up there”!!! He said” you don’t have to do that for me”. I looked at him and said” I know but, I want too”!!! He had a big smile on his face as I carefully put him over my shoulder. As I was climbing up the tree with him in one arm I could feel his ribs. We sat on a branch and Ryan said” it’s really beautiful up here”. He started coughing hysterically and I felt so bad that he is spending the best years of his life sick like that. He said” I’m so happy that I got to meet you before I die…your songs are the only thing that gives me hope”!!! That just about made me cry!!! When I was saying goodbye he said” thanks for everything…I truly mean it”. I took my hat off and placed it on his head. He faced it forward and I said” no…man…you got to wear it backwards”!!! I turned the hat around and he hugged me with all his might. This experience will defiantly have a lasting effect on me!!!
March, 17, 2010, Chris and I were driving around trying to get Reegan to go to sleep. I drove past our old house Neverland and noticed that I still had the house key. I looked at Chris and said” you want to go inside”? He said” he isn’t yet asleep yet; let’s go”!!! Chris took Reegan out of the car and walked to the door with me. I said” I can’t believe this place is going to be for sale soon, I wish I could buy it right now”!!! We walked in the front door and none of the stuff had been moved out yet. I looked around and saw the piano. I went over to it and slowly ran my fingers across the keys. Chris saw me start to get a little emotional and hugged me. He said” it will be alright A.J…is it bringing back memories”? I said while wiping away tears “every night my dad would sit here and sing us songs before we went to bed”. We walked into the kitchen and sat down on the bar stools. I was holding Reegan in my arms and said” my dad made it a rule that we ate dinner at the table as a family every single night”!!! Chris said” I bet you never thought that you would ever come back here with your fiancée and son”. I stood up and he followed me into my dad’s award room. Plaques and trophies lined the entire room and one in particular caught my eye. It was one that is made of paper that said” to the world’s best daddy…love A.J”. Chris look at the at the award and said” you must have gave that to him a long time ago because some of the letters in your name are upper case and some of them are lower case”. We walked upstairs and I went up to my dad’s bedroom door. I haven’t seen his room since 2005 before the police raided it. Chris opened the door and I was completely shocked at its condition. Everything my dad had in the room had been thrown on the floor. As I climbed piles of stuff trying to get to his bed Chris said” that poor man, this is awful”!!! I looked at the mattress and the police had cut into it with knifes. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I went over to his safe and noticed they had broken into it. I hugged Chris and” come on…let me show you my bedroom”!!! We walked into my room and Chris said” I knew you loved Toy Story but I didn’t think it was this bad”!!! He looked at my life size cutout of woody and said” I don’t know how you could sleep in here with that thing staring at you”. I looked at my mattress and said” I’ve always wanted to try something”!!! Chris said” this isn’t another one of your crazy ideas…is it”? I started dragging the mattress out of the room and dropped it in front of the steps. Chris” um…what do you think you’re doing”!!! I took his hand and said” you and I are going to ride this down the stairs”!!! I put Reegan on one of the couches upstairs and sat on the mattress with Chris behind me. He said” A.J I don’t think this is safe”!!! I said” it’s too late now” and we flew down the flight of stairs at 60mph. when we hit the wall Chris was laughing so hard that his face was turn red and I said” see I knew you would have fun”!!!
March, 18, 2010 I’m spending the day with a boy who has leukemia for the make a wish foundation and I can’t wait to meet him. As I sat on the front steps waiting for him to get here I thought about all the things my father has done to help others. A limo pulled into the driveway and I walked up to it. The door opened and a man put a pale little boy in a wheelchair. I went up to him and said” hey dude what’s up”? He said” I can’t believe it’s really you”!!! I laughed and said” how old are you; what’s your name buddy”!!! He said” Ryan; I’m 9 years old”. I said” well, Ryan are you ready for me to make your wish come true”? He said “I’m so excited…this is already the best of my life”!!! I pushed his wheelchair inside the house and put the brakes on. I said” so… you have me all to yourself for the day what do you want to do”? He said can you show me your bedroom…I’ve always wanted to see it”!!! I said” sure if that’s what you want to do” and pushed him down the hallway. I took him up the indoor ramp and unlocked the door to my room. I forgot that my room looked like a tornado hit it but, Ryan didn’t seem to care as he stared at the walls. He said” wow you must be in love with Justin Timberlake because there are like…10 posters of him in here”. I laughed and said” I guess you could say I have a crush on him”. He said” don’t tell anyone but, I have a huge crush on you”!!! I gave him a hug and said” just don’t say that to my fiancée because he will be jealous”!!! He said” you’re getting married…can I meet him”? I took him outside where Chris was with Reegan and said” Chris this is Ryan”. Ryan said” when you marry her make sure you treat her like gold”!!! Chris laughed at the fact that a 9 year old was telling him this and said” I’ll make sure I treat her that way, thanks for the advice”!!! I said” hey Ryan, you want to see where I like to get away from it all”? He said” sure” and I pushed him all the way to my favorite tree. He said” wow…that’s so cool, I’ve never climbed a tree before”!!! I thought for a second and said” you want to climb it right now”? He looked at me and said” how; I’m too weak to get up there myself”? I said” I’m going to carry you up there”!!! He said” you don’t have to do that for me”. I looked at him and said” I know but, I want too”!!! He had a big smile on his face as I carefully put him over my shoulder. As I was climbing up the tree with him in one arm I could feel his ribs. We sat on a branch and Ryan said” it’s really beautiful up here”. He started coughing hysterically and I felt so bad that he is spending the best years of his life sick like that. He said” I’m so happy that I got to meet you before I die…your songs are the only thing that gives me hope”!!! That just about made me cry!!! When I was saying goodbye he said” thanks for everything…I truly mean it”. I took my hat off and placed it on his head. He faced it forward and I said” no…man…you got to wear it backwards”!!! I turned the hat around and he hugged me with all his might. This experience will defiantly have a lasting effect on me!!!