When I first learned that I might have the opportunity to meet someone who I've dreamt of meeting for the past 10 years or so, I felt a pang of anxiety go through my body. Could it be true? Was I really going to meet Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids On The Block? This is the man who's made all of my dreams at night so pleasant and wonderful and I never ever felt that it could ever happen in a million years!

So early Thursday morning, the 19th, Michelle, Annette and I climbed into my little Nissan Sentra and set out to find Donnie Wahlberg! We arrived at Sony around 4:30, where we immediately met up with two girls, who were also there to meet Donnie and of course see the movie. It was around six o'clock when we got the chance to meet Jimmy Cummings , who plays Joey Ward, Donnie's arch enemy in the movie. He was really sweet, assuring us that Donnie was on his way, but that he was stuck on the 405 in traffic---typical LA! He stuck around for a half hour or so, posing with us for pictures, giving out autographs and I believe a couple of girls got kisses! I did have the chance to meet, and ladies as you can see in the pictures, he is quite handsome and has a Boston accent too!

From there on, things get kind of fuzzy for me because Donnie soon arrived and we were screaming like crazy when we saw him and his entourage. He had two huge umbrellas over him and he looked like a million bucks wearing a pair of black pants, shoes, a tight black shirt and the infamous black jacket that he wears all of the time! Of course we crowded around him and tried to get pictures and autographs but the rain was really coming down now and Donnie wanted to get inside, so he was hurried up the steps and into the theater. Soon after that, Shauna from KKO, started to call out the drawing numbrs so we all crowded around her and attentively waited for our numbers to be called. I forgot what number she was at, but I looked above her and there was Donnie standing with Jimmy and some other guy and just kind of observing us. Of course we screamed and forgot all about Shauna. He started asking some questions to us and then told a couple of girls to come on up. They were so lucky! We quickly found seats as Jimmy started to talk. I don't remember a word he said, because all I can remember is hearing a very familiar laugh when he said something funny. I turned around quickly and there he was...about six or seven rows behind me and Annette--all the way in the back!! (Actually it's a very small screening room, only about 10-12 rows all together!) Donnie had this smile on his face and I quickly could feel the warmth hit my cold and wet body. I turned back towards the movie screen and for the next hour and a half, I stared at disbelievement, shock and most of all, a sense of giddiness! Ask Annette, I had a smile on my face the ENTIRE time!

Once the movie was over, we all sort of stood up and gave the movie a standing ovation. And then of course we all turned to Donnie and kind of just stared at him. Some fans did go up to him and got pictures and autographs but all I could so was shake because a) I was freezing still and b) Donnie, my idol since I was 12, was standing a couple of feet away from me. We all kind of stood around as "VIP looking" people milled in and out of the theater, including Anne Meara (Ben Stiller's mom), who plays Donnie's mom in the movie and Rose McGowan (Marilyn Manson's fiancee and the actress from Scream). We were told that Donnie was going to talk to us, so we waited and waited and waited some more.

When he finally came out, he didn't even really look at us...just tried to sneak in as we surrounded him. I was getting a little peeved now and it looked as though he wasn't going to come out again in a while. Just when I was about to give up hope, he came out and headed towards the bathroom again. This time we followed him to where he was going and lined up to wait and see him. It turned out to be a little room and when I finally got to see him, he was talking on his cell phone and his manager was trying to get rid of us. But Michelle walked up to him anyways and gave him a huge hug as I tried to play around with her camera. Donnie looked really impatient with me, but then again his bodyguards were acting impatient towards him. When Michelle let go, I started to step up to him when his manager grabbed onto him and told him that they had to leave. I watched as they headed down a small corridor and then one of his bodyguards asked us to get out because Donnie was leaving.

I was so steamed, I passed everyone who was waiting in line, telling them to forget it because Donnie didn't want to see us. I was so mad!!! I cursed every possible curse word I could think of as I stomped down the steps and out onto the pavement. I was in tears. Michelle and Annette came up to me and looked real sympathetic, but I was just so angry that I couldn't even talk to them, I just wanted to go back to the hotel and get into the fetal position underneath the covers. We did stand around for a couple of minutes hoping that maybe there would be one ray of light and Donnie would come down to where we were standing and give me a huge hug. But I was feeling foolish for thinking that.

We headed towards the parking lot, my heart broken into a million pieces. I was telling Michelle and Annette just how mad I was and how I couldn't understand why Donnie would just brush us off, when I noticed as we rounded a corner, a limousine and a bleached-blonde guy standing near it with a couple of fans around him. I jumped into the air and quickly but carefully since I didn't want to kill myself in front of him, walked over to the small crowd.

Donnie had just finished taking a picture with a fan and no one was going up to him. He looked over at me, with a tired, almost weary smile on his face. I think he motioned for me to come over to him, which I promptly did. As I got closer, he held out his arms for me to walk in and I did just that. I told him that he did a great job and thanked him for everything, especially this opportunity. I then hugged him tightly, so tight I think he was laughing, but I didn't care! Then I turned towards Michelle who in turn pointed my camera towards me and him. His manager was telling him that they had to leave, but Donnie said and I'll temember this until the day I die, "I just gotta meet and take a picture with this girl. I'm gonna remember every fan I met today." I was beaming from ear to ear and my camera was not cooperating!

As Michelle fiddled around with it, Donnie kind of mumbled, sounding very sad, "that it [being the movie] bombed." I think I told him that it didn't, but I'm still in such a daze that I just don't remember anything. At last, my camera decided it was going to work and *snap* our picture was taken. I turned to Donnie gave him another hug, this one a little shorter but just as tight and told him "thank you" again. Then it was Michelle's turn again. She told him that she flew all the way from Missouri just to meet him and he said something, along these lines, "Thanks. Man, I hurt myself falling down the stairs." As I tried to work Michelle's camera again, Donnie's manager kind of told anyone who was listening how Donnie fell down the stairs, trying to get away unnoticed. Donnie reassured us he was okay. I shoved Annette over to Michelle and Donnie and then took one last shot. He stuck around for a couple more minutes and then his manager literally had to push him into the limousine. We stood around and shouted a couple of things to him as he got situated and then he was gone...



*******REFLECTIONS******* It didn't really, truly hit me that I met Donnie Wahlberg until that night, a little more than 24 hours after I met him. I was laying in my comfortable bed thinking about everything when all of a sudden I just started to cry. I wasn't sure why though. I had already seen my pictures and for the most part they turned out okay, but I ended up crying like a baby who was trying to fall asleep. His smile is what really put me to sleep though and I can still see it so clearly and vividly. Once again, thanks Cheese--my heart is in your hands, always and forever.

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