Looked to the right and I caught the glimpse of a banner and all I saw was Jo and Hil under it, looked back at Dad and Kevin pointed to that direction and kinda yelled out he's over there! And I booked it over there, as I was walking up to the line I saw him and it stopped me dead in my tracks -- first time in my life I have ever been starstruck, not going to lie I screamed a little but no one heard me. I get in line and for the first five minutes I could not for the life of me take my eyes off of him, and kept thinking I've waited six and a half years for this moment and its here, I'm in line to meet Captain Johnathan Hillstrand. Usually any meet and greet I go to I always end up talking and having a good time with the people around me -- I know shocker for me who's always shy. I didn't think I would at this one because I figured I would be too caught up in just staring at Johnathan taking everything in, but I was wrong on that I had some really fun people around me; minus the weird guy in front of me, even Johnathan thought he was odd -- I'll explain that later. The girls behind me were hysterical, I think we were laughing 90% of the time, at one point we were doing the signature crab jig in line and noticed about 15 minutes later there was a camera filming the whole signing and we were like "shit! I hope that didnt get on camera!" The couple behind them were fun too, some random guy who clearly was somewhat intoxicated walked up the husband of this couple and asked what the line was for, when you looked about 50 feet in front of us he would have saw not only Johnathan but a huge banner with his name and from Deadliest Catch, well the man without missing a beat goes "were in line for popcorn." the guy walked away! We all laughed so hard and couldn't believe that happened.
After being in line for about an hour, I was next to go up on stage and meet him, to say I was freaking out is an understatement for sure. Before I did one of the staff went up and was talking to him, I think he was telling him to speed it up because it was getting late. Well while this guy was talking to him, the girl behind me took a picture of Johnathan drinking water and says "well there's a picture of Johnathan Hillstrand drinking water." we started laughing and apparently Johnathan heard cause he looked down at us and started laughing which made us turn red and laugh.
The whole week before this moment I was trying to plan what I was going to say to him or at least an idea of things to say... well as soon as I saw him everything I had thought of ran out of my brain, I had no clue what to say to this man, so I winged it. The only thing I knew for sure was I'm not leaving this place without a hug.
I went up the steps and walked towards him and said "I've heard your hugs are awesome" and I just hugged him, he hugged me and said "Aww thank you" and for the record he does give the BEST hugs ever, any hug I get from here on out will now be compared to his, and I dont think anyone will ever be able to top his. Luckily one thing I had thought about came to me, and that was tell him why the flowers on my tattoo are the colors they are, and I'm glad I did it, honestly dont think he was expecting me to come out with that, he was sort of speechless in a good way.
Me: "I want to show you something."
Johnathan: "What's that?"
Me: "The flowers on my tattoo are a tribute to Phil by being the colors of his boat."
Johnathan: "Wow, thats really nice. Thats awesome."
Next was the biggest thing I wanted next to the hug and that was a picture with him. I pointed to the camera that was being used and he pulled me in close to him. First time in my life I didnt have to try and smile in a picture it just came natural.
We then went over to the table and he signed my picture, like everyone I meet I had to tell him how to spell my name. He goes to hand it to me, then pulls it back after he glanced at my tattoo again, he takes it and writes Love Ya! in the top right hand corner. I dont know if he does or did that on all autographs he signed for women or not but either way it means the world and more to me.
I didnt want to leave, I wish I could live in that moment forever. My life is not even close to near being over and I can say honestly and fully believe that, that night is and will be the BEST night of my life, there is nothing that can top it. Even if someday I meet him again, the first time will always be the best. It took a good 8 hours for me to be able to stop smiling and get my heart back down to a normal rate.
If I didnt love this man before, I certainly do now. He is such a sweetheart and you can tell unlike a lot of people who become famous from TV shows or whatever, he truly does love and appreciates all his fans. He doesnt rush you through so he can leave he does everything he can to take his time with everyone and make them feel welcome. You dont see that much at all anymore in celebrities. Johnathan Hillstrand is an amazing human being and I feel so lucky to have been able to spend five minutes with him and will cherish those minutes for the rest of my life. This man will forever be in my heart, even when I'm a little old lady, butterflies will still fill my stomach when I think of him. I hope there comes a day when I can meet him again, I'll wait patiently but if it never comes I will be satisfied that I met him once.
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