We waited around for a bit and we then saw John Sampson-Bono's bodyguard.  We knew that Bono had to be in the hotel, so we beckoned him over to us.  We asked him if he was John Sampson and he said "Might be" with a impish grin and we stated our case that we only wanted to say hi to Bono.  Well, John went back in, and a few minutes later he came out with Bono!  I think my heart stopped the first time I saw him, or maybe that was because I had ran around the block looking for his car.  Well, going on, I went over by my friends and stood next to them while John guided Bono over to where we were standing.  Laura handed Bono the christmas card and he pecked her on the cheek!  I still remember the look on her face-awe, excitement and joy all rolled up into one big smile.  When he got to Lies, he looked at her all bundled up and said "awww...look at you" and she about melted.  We all told him how we had camped out over night just to be first in line, and he said "In this Nebraska weather?!" and came over to me.  While I was shaking his hand, I couldn't believe how soft they were-or maybe cuz they contrasted so much to my dry-after-camping-out-in-very-cold-weather hands.  I also couldn't believe how short he was!  I had seen him in concert before and could tell he was very short, but now when I could compare myself to him, he was pretty close to my height (5'6").  He was very friendly and said "I got to go to church so I can't sign autographs right now, but if you meet me back here at 5:00 I will sign them for you."

We were extremely excited!  We had a date with Bono!  How cool was that!  As he got into the car, we jumped up and down and squeled in excitement.  As the car started to leave, he rolled down the window and waved goodbye to us.  After gathering our wits, we thought "oh my gosh-he was probably watching us from his car acting soooo silly and laughing his ass off at the same time!"  But, we got over that quickly thinking that he'd seen this behaviour numerous times. 

Well, we went back to base camp and called every person that we could think of on our cells while jumping up walls and running in circles.  We were too excited to eat, let alone think about how tired we were from the night before.  So, the day passed on and when 5:00 came close to coming around, we all made our way back to the front of the Embassy Suites where Bono had said he would meet us.  We waited around until it was almost time for the presentation and he didn't show up, so we decided he must have got busy with something and forgot.  So we headed back to the Lied Center to see the event, which included Ashley Judd, Lance Armstrong, Bobby Shriver, Agnes from Uganda, an AIDS specialist and a Ghanan childrens song/dance group.  It was both stirring and funny, and I am very glad that DATA came to my home town to spread the message about HIV in Africa. 

After the event was over, we went to the back entrance of the Lied to see if we could catch Bono on his way back to the hotel.  While we were standing there, out came Bobby Shriver (a nephew of JFK's and brother to Maria Shriver).  We stopped him and started talking to him.  What a nice guy he was...he talked to us for about 15 or 20 minutes about everything from the event to Republicans vs. Democrats!  We also asked him about Bono's wherabouts, and he said that he was already in the hotel. 

Crap!!!  Missed him again!     We told him about how Bono had told us to meet him at 5:00, and Bobby turned to his aide and said something to the effect of "what should we do about this" and told us what time the bus was leaving the next day, and that would be a good time to meet Bono.  As he left, we stood around trying to decide whether to wait in front of the hotel or not, but it didn't take long to decide that we didn't have anything to lose if we checked out the front of the hotel one more time...

When we got there, we noticed that the cars were sitting out there once again.  We talked to Bubba, one of the security guys and tried to get out of him if Bono was going to come around.  He wouldn't tell us though.  So we waited around longer and Bubba came back outside and flashed us a big ole' gring.  "Is he coming out?"  We asked but he wouldn't say-he just kept on grinning.

Then Bobby Shriver's aide came outside, turned to us and said "you're standing in a good place" and before we had enough time to get excited Bono walked out the doors.  He was dressed in a black sweater, black pants, black jacket (very nice) and the green Fidel Castro hat.  He was strolling right over to his car when Erin yelled out

"Hey Bono, where were you at 5:00?!"

He turned and came over to us with a quizzical look on his face.  "What are you talking about?"  he asked in a nice but confused tone.

Erin said ..."We met you earlier this morning and you said to meet you here at 5:00 and you never showed up!"

Once again in the confused/nice tone, he said "But I was here!"

We all retorted that he indeed never showed up, and now in an even more confused tone he said "I wasn't here?  Where was I?!"  with a look of guilt on his face.  He started apologizing to us but we all told him it was okay because he was probably busy writing his speech.  He went over to Erin and gave her a big hug, kiss, and even a snapshot of them too!   

So we were standing around Bono talking to him a bit when seemingly out of nowhere autograph hunters crowded around us and pushed my roommate Steph (who had joined us after the event) and I right next to Bono.  I felt bad imposing on his personal space, but Bono, Steph or I could barely move.  After the crowd started backing off, I turned to Bono and asked him if he would like to take a picture with me.  "Sure" he replied as he came over and put his arm around my shoulders.  And wow did he smell good-his cologne smelled like the Midsummer's Night candle by the Yankee Candle Company (check out my links for the page to the Yankee Candle Company if you would like to purchase this candle). 

After Steph took our picture, she asked Bono if she could get her picture taken with him, in which he replied yes.  As I was taking it I said "you guys make such a cute couple" and he turned to Steph and said, "yeah, we are a cute couple!"  You can tell in the photo that's she's grinning from ear to ear!

I really wanted my vintage Unforgettable Fire poster signed, so I waited patiently next to him while he signed other people's stuff.  He was very gracious and made small talk with the fans.  When he finally go to me, he was signing it while I told him how much I appreciated him bringing Agnes to Lincoln to speak to us.  Then, he looked right into my eyes!  His eyes lit up (nobody had really said anything to him about the program the entire time he was standing there) and I melted.  I know he talked to me for a little bit, but I became completly lost in his eyes.  He was talking to me, I could see his lips moving, but I really don't remember anything he said.  Bono was standing an armslength from me and looking right into my eyes-I couldn't believe it.  This sort of lends theory to why I believe he wears shades all the time-it's very easy to get just melt right in front of him, so if he has shades on it covers his eyes somewhat.  He gave me one last smile and turned to another fan, leaving me on top of cloud 9.

I got away from the crowd after that and ran over to my friends and chanted "Bono Has Made MY LIFE" while John the bodyguard chuckled at our enthusium.  A few minutes after our meeting, Bono hopped in his car and left for a dinner party.  Right as he was leaving Bobby Shriver came over to us and said with a smile "You didn't listen to me!"  We all gathered around him and chatted some more with him about our experience.  Then, a man came over who Bobby introduced to us as a friend of his from the Chicago Tribune.  His friend was drinking a Heiniken and was giving Bobby crap about his job as Bono's aide-He's (Bobby) a loser!  Why are you hanging out with him!  He doesn't have a job, doesn't have a girlfriend and all he does is follow Bono around all day carrying his coat!"  They were bantering back and forth, and we all said that we would pay to carry around Bono's coat. 

We also learned all sorts of things about Bono's visit to Lincoln from Bobby.  We found out that Bono had flown in on Friday afternoon (he had been in town all weekend!) and couldn't believe the crowd noise from the Husker's game that was going on (Bono had joked that it was louder than a U2 concert).  Finally, Bobby had to go because him and Bono were going to go out drinking, so we said goodbye to our new friend Bobby.

It was just the most amazing night of my life.  Someday when I'll get around to it, I will tell you about my unbelievable story about how I got to be in the heart during a U2 concert on the Elevation tour.  I have come to the conclusion that even though I am really not a lucky person, I have exceptional luck when it comes to U2.  In closing, I just wanted to say that Bono is truly the biggest-hearted person I have ever met, and the most down to earth as well.  Him and his music has given me some unforgettable memories.  And finally, I want to thank Erin, Lies and Laura for camping out with me and basically giving me the time of my life.  I never thought it would be possible until that weekend to make lifelong friends in 2 short, frantic days, but you proved me wrong.  I hope we'll all be able to do this again.