My last night in The Pants

Although I've yet to actually post the rules for the pants on the Divas in Denim blog, I do have them scribbled down on a napkin from the day we all sat at The Venetian gobbling down lunch. 1 of the rules is, "You must wear the pants on the first day you get them, and the last day you have them." So, on 4/20, I was definitely going to be wearing the pants. But ironically enough, on 4/20, I was also headed to San Diego to meet up with family friends and go to a concert. Chantal Kreviazuk was opening for Five for Fighting and is a neighbor of my friends; she also just so happens to be the one who sang the signature song for the soundtrack to none other than The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And while her songs on The Sisterhood soundtrack hold special meaning for me, she has a beautiful voice and some other great music out there.
The day started out a bit dreary and it rained the whole way down to San Diego. Chantal's voice had given out the night before at a concert in Canada, so it was questionable whether she was going to be able to perform. But, I had my fingers crossed, since her song These Days, resonated in my heart and reminded me of our Vegas trip. The lyrics are amazing,
"Where we can wear each other for awhile
I'll lend you my tears if I could borrow your smile,
We'll get through tomorrow somehow today
Happy After...Once upon these days"
Thinking back to Vegas and Shelby's situation always makes this song extra special. I remember singing the song with Missy in the car while we ran out for snacks, and listening to it with Court during the car ride to and from Vegas.
So, back to 4/20. I made it down to the venue in San Diego where we met up with Chantal and my friends Megan and Paul. We spent a little time putting our stuff backstage and checking out the lay of the land and then decided to go to Dobsons (thanks to Missy's recommendation) for some dinner. Chantal's voice was sounding pretty good after a day of hot steam and tea. As we were driving to the restaurant, I started thinking about the pants, and the song (which I couldn't wait to hear live) and just how lame it could sound for me to break out with the story of the pants in the middle of dinner. How do I bridge this one...did it matter? I felt a bit like the pants deserved to have their story told to someone who had such a connection to their very existence (I mean face it, without the movie we would have never thought to buy 1 pair of pants for the 4 of us and swap them every month along with stories of how our lives changed while they were in our possession). So, I realized that I owed it to the pants and the girls to make our story known. Dinner went well, the Mussel Bisque was all that Missy made it out to be. We chatted about a ton of things including Chantal's work rebuilding schools that were devastated by war for children in the Congo; could the pants story hold a candle to this? Then it came, time to just come out with it. And I did, I told our story from beginning to end. The great part was that Chantal was as excited about the whole thing as we are. She kept saying, "this sounds like a movie," to which I responded, "it was a movie, remember? :)" Then she started talking about her friendship with the movie's Producer and how I need to sit down with her and tell her our story. She brought up a good point, after all the original story was about adolescent coming of age but who ever thought that it could happen in real life, to 4 very real women. So we laughed a lot, I filled her in on everything from our being ousted from Tao the Nightclub, to the finding, trying on and buying the pants, to Shelby's early morning story telling of her McDreamy night and all of the magic that ensued. There I was, now really looking forward to hearing the pants anthem, live, and from someone who knew our story, and was excited about our story...and then...Chantal broke that news, "it's too bad I can't sing the song tonight, it just really isn't something that you can sing in a club like environment, too much noise and not enough beat to grab the attention of a big crowd." What the &%$($&, oh well, at least I had a 1 1/2 hr drive home ahead with the CD in my car, and I can belt out some tunes when I'm alone!
We got back to 4th and B (the venue), and hung out backstage for a bit. A few more folks cruised through the area, and buzz about the pants started. I ended up telling a fairly abridged version of the story a couple of more times, and had several, "I need some of them pants" comments. Chantal was called out for sound check, and I ran upstairs to go to the bathroom. There I was in the men's bathroom (because the women's wasn't working) and all of the sudden I hear, "Liz, Liz where are you?" and the comforting sound of the piano playing the opening notes to These Days and then those all too familiar words:
What's this life anyway?
What's it to you and me?
What's it to anyone?
Who are we supposed to be?
I darted out of the bathroom and down to the front of the stage, and just stood, taking it all in. It absolutely grabbed me at the bottom of my heart and I wished more than anything that we could be there all together. In January, it was Shelby's tears we all dried, and in April you all confronted me through my tears. Our friendships, these pants, this song...
The night was amazing, the concert was incredible and when Chantal was done and Five for Fighting took the stage and almost feared what I'd do when John sang Superman. Missy and I have talked endlessly about the emotions behind Superman, and if you ever have a chance to sit and just listen to the words, listen to them from the perspective of a mother.
Anyway, that night I ended up seeing people I hadn't seen in 15 yrs, reconnecting and renewing friendships. When I talked to Court the next day, she said, "Oh my gaw, you sound like you're just floating" and I was.
Chantal is touring with Five for Fighting and then will most likely head out on her own tour after the release of her new album. She plans to head to Vegas for a show, and we talked about all of the girls coming out for a reunion. It promises to be a night none of us will forget.
So I hand on the pants to Courtney knowing that she'll find them a reminder of the love and strength of The Sisterhood. Have a great month Court!