The Day We Met a WWE Superstar

Remember how just a few days ago I listed a few reasons the month of June is going to rock? Well one of the reasons was because we would be attending a live WWE event, which we did this past weekend. Mind you, going to a WWE Show rocks way more for the rest of my family than it does for me, but I’m happy if they’re happy. While the day had a few speed bumps along the way, it turned out better than I hoped, especially for Paul, Cody and Nick. We headed to the city where the event was to be held early in the afternoon so that I could grab our tickets at the venue and do a little shopping at Target because when you live an hour from Target it’s a rule you have to go shopping when you’re in town. Once arriving in the big city it became obvious things weren’t meant to go as I had originally planned. I was annoyed and Paul was overly concerned with finding someplace to eat lunch and since we never agree on where that should be I decided the obvious choice was Panera Bread because it’s where I like to eat and it’s really the only healthy place in that entire area. You’ll see very soon why Paul probably won’t argue with my dining preference ever again. No really, I mean never ever.

We Met a WWE Superstar!

Photo courtesy of WWE

It was mid-afternoon, which is nice because the lunch crowd was gone and there was no long line to stand in or challenge to find an empty, and clean, table. We ordered our meals, sat down, and devoured our food hardly looking up from the table. Then Nick saw someone. Not just any someone, though, a WWE Superstar someone. He casually asked, hey Dad isn’t that so-and-so? Paul glanced up, took a good look at the guy wearing an over-sized sweatshirt and baseball cap, and said Yes, that is definitely Sheamus, as in WWE Superstar Sheamus! And then they both just sat there and stared as he walked right out the door. Now I’m not one for chasing down celebrities or other people whom I admire (okay, maybe sometimes I am), but I’ve come to a stage in my life where I believe you need to step out of your comfort zone and go for it every now and then. As luck would have it Sheamus turned around and walked back into Panera Bread and was standing less than twenty feet from our table. I looked at Nick’s face beaming with awe and admiration and I knew I had to get past my own nervousness and add some awesomeness to his day. I got up, rushed over to Sheamus, blurted out a sentence bunch of random words that I’m pretty sure made no sense whatsoever as I pointed over to our table explaining he had some huge fans sitting nearby. I’m quite certain he thought I was some sort of crazy person and probably wanted to rush back out the door, especially since he kinda had someplace to be, but what he did next was one of the very reasons I’ve come to appreciate the WWE, their talented Superstars, and all they do for kids. He walked right over to our table, shook hands with Paul, Nick and Cody, complimented Nick on his mohawk and told us to enjoy the show that evening. He put a smile on everyone’s face and I can honestly say that we all enjoyed the show that night, especially when our new friend Sheamus made his entrance. I truly can’t express how much it meant to me that he took that one minute to say hello to my family regardless of the fact I made a complete fool of myself in order to get his attention.

It turns out that even when things don’t always go as smoothly as you hope and you don’t actually get to go to Target as planned, a day can still turn out pretty good. I wouldn’t trade any of the challenges we faced that day, and they really don’t even matter anymore, because I made something unforgettable happen for the guys in my family, with a little help from a WWE Superstar named Sheamus. For the record, I will be planning a special trip to Target and you can bet I will eat at Panera Bread while I’m in town. I’m pretty sure Paul won’t mind one bit.