by hosive

Here’s the story of how my magical friend, weiling chen got pulled on stage for with or without you.

It starts way early in the day, during the wait on the ga line that weiling cannot make because she had work. My wife, whose ability to get into the ellipse(3 times: LA, Chicago, Boston aka left coast, Midwest and east coast)has earned her the nickname: St. Theresa of the ellipse. Theresa agrees to wait in line in weiling’s place until she can get off work. weiling arrives around 5 and Theresa heads home before coming back to her seats with our friend Jessica.

Around 6:30 they let us in and they scan weiling’s ticket for her last show of the tour. Nada! Zip! Sayla! And depression sets in. but magically, prophetically, and in surreal time, the scanner lady takes my ticket and announces: “hold on! I have a good feeling about THIS one” like a scene from lola’s run, the scanner lady wills the ticket to produce vertigo, vertigo, vertigo(literally and figuratively). Weiling shocked with joy is about to float away but I calm her and hold her down to get our tickets punched and receive a second bracelet.

Then the snafu. Msg allows us to get into the arena before the ushers are ready. This is show 7 not show 1! Security guards screaming. Fans herded out. Englishmen ready to go to blows. Fans hiding in the upper levels. But the number system partially saves the day and we get back in line to reboot.

We are ready to plant ourselves on edge’s side when we think we see more daylight on Adam’s side. We’re wrong and find ourselves in a similar niche that we would’ve had on the left side of the stage. However, another good omen occurs when Patti smith unleashes a loogie(ptooie)into the audience during her set pretty darn close to where we would set up.

Then the fun, kids. Weiling, St. Theresa and I had made a sign based off Bono’s fable of the Edge being from the future. The sign read: “I am from the future too! It is better!” The band ignores it the first time we debut it in msg in October. A few days later in Philly, bono spots it when I’m with my boy Q….and lets out a hearty grin. Tonight, Adam is the first to see it and nods in approval as to say: that’s a good place to be from! Sometime during pride, bono also sees the sign and can’t keep himself from neing surprised and letting out a chuckle. Edge and Larry are too focused on their craft tonight to notice us along the rail.

During the encore, bono makes unusually strong eye contact with us and especially of course with weiling. He comes over to us a few times during until the end of the world and mysterious ways. He points at us(read: mostly her)and engages us(read: mostly her again but I get some nodding too!). then during with or without you, he picks her to go on stage to dance and romance. I snap away with my battery running low. I’ll post a picture sometime soon. He puts his hat on her head. And tells her shh! And off they went. He holds her tight. She inhales it in. he kneels and kisses her hand and returns her back next to me. (all this with the help of his staff…who also ask weiling to sign a waiver)

Later, before they exit the first encore, bono returns to our spot and reaches out his hand….this time to shake my hand. And then weiling’s hand. And says goodbye to me and my magical friend. I tell him that I will see him soon. And I will.

Ps. Instant karma and bad made it a perfect New York City night. God bless and happy thanksgiving.

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