Ellie Goulding

i'm sitting here tonight editing my "about me" and i for some reason decided i needed to include a picture of me and Ellie Goulding from this past march when we were lucky enough to meet her!

Ellie Goulding holds a very special place in my heart, for a very unique reason.

In 2012, Eli and I took in his 16 year old nephew as he was going through a rough time in his life. We spent a lot of time together, just him and i, as eli's work schedule can get pretty crazy. Kevin and I were in the car one day when he plugged in his iPod and played Lights by Ellie Goulding. I had never heard of her before, but I really liked the way she sounded. He played a few more of her songs, and I was really loving what I heard! But I loved it even more because it was something that brought joy to Kevin's heart, which was rare during this time in his life. For the next three weeks, him and I jammed Ellie on the daily.  I ended up downloading her album and then buying the actually cd from target, as well. haha! 

On October 19, 2012, Eli had left for work and I was getting ready for my day.  At the time, we lived in a one bedroom apartment so Kevin slept in the living room on our sectional.  7am came quick and it was time to wake him up so he could study for his GED exam.  No response.  Something wasn't right. Eli couldn't have his phone on his at the job he was at, so I called Eli's sister who lives about 30 minutes away to see what I should do. I was so calm, I didn't realize what was actually happening.  From that moment on, I was just going through the motions. I don't even know what happened that morning. All I remember is calling 911 and leaving our apartment for the very last time. Kevin was gone and we didn't know why. Police and paramedics came to see if they could revive him, but it was too late. That morning, I felt like I lost my son. In just the one short month that he lived with us, we had bonded so much and come such a long way...but he was gone. 10 months later, autopsy reports came back and he passed from a clogged artery in his heart, which sometimes show no symptoms. :(

Now, a year and a half later, I will always cherish the moments we shared, with the most vivid memories including listening to Ellie Goulding.

Fast forward to november of 2013 when eli bought us tickets to her concert here in houston that was scheduled for march 2014. the week of the concert, i was listening to the radio when they announced that radio ticket winners would have their name put in a drawing to meet ellie goulding!!! you guys. i never. win. anything. ever. i am the biggest loser. ever. but i thought, what the heck...it can't hurt anything. i set an alarm on my phone for all 8 contest times that were announced. my first alarm rang...eli was at work so liam and i sat in the car in our driveway and sent over 100 text messages to the radio station that said "ellie". if you know me personally, you know i am a VERY fast tester...yet i got no call, no text. nothing. i didn't win. t was discouraged, but i still had 7 chances! 4 hours later, i noticed the contest was coming and liam was getting tired so i set up shop in the car and liam fell asleep buckled in his carseat. the announcement came over the radio to text in "joy" and it was GAME. ON. 76 text messages later, my phone rang! I WON TWO TICKETS TO SEE ELLIE! I cried like an idiot on the radio, but was even more excited that i had a total of FOUR tickets now and my sister could join us at the concert! I kept asking the guy on the radio, when will the backstage winners be announced?!?! all he kept saying was "i have no idea, but my guess would be monday before the concert". i woke up at the crack of dawn that monday morning and had 104.1 krbe playing all morning via safari on my iPhone. noon quickly approached, and it was time to go home from work to get ready for the concert. at that point, i figured it was a lost cause and that i didn't win the backstage passes..i was still super excited to see her perform, though. around 2 o'clock, eli, liam and i were laying in bed relaxing before we took him over to my parent's house. my phone was charging in the bathroom and was on vibrate. all of a sudden, i heard a noise from the bathroom and i swear y'all...i have never ran that fast in my life. there it was...the call from the same number that called to tell my i won tickets 2 days before this. i answered the phone and was shaking like CRAZY when the lady on the other side said "hi is this haley?" i don't even think i was calm enough to reply to her, but she continued and said "i'm calling to inform you that you and a guest were chosen to meet ellie goulding backstage............" and the rest all drowned out because i was crying so hard. i couldn't breathe (dramatic, i know) but i stayed on the line for more info on how to collect my tickets and whatnot.  ANYWAY....long story short, i met ellie and that was the biggest thing on my bucket list that i can officially say is checked off!

^ I am not a drinker, so when I had a little bit of "juice", I got a little cray. ;)

^Thats my sister...she ended up doing the worm on the wet concrete in the entrance line (it had just rained) and then danced with the people from the radio station for AN HOUR before the show started, so her and her boyfriend, Troy, got to come backstage, too!

This is something I will cherish forever.  When Eli originally bought the tickets before Christmas, I cried (tears of joy, mainly) for days because I felt this would provide closure for me after losing and finding Kevin.  Getting to meet her was a whole different story. I even got the chance to tell her about Kevin and she held a photo of him when we took our picture with her. She was sweet enough to apologize for our loss and was so genuine! 

Thank you Eli and 104.1 KRBE for making this dream a reality. 

Rest In Peace, Kevin Dutton

July 16, 1996-October 19, 2012