Thanks FC!! I am glad this is put in the private area of the board!
BE WARNED THIS WILL BE LONG!!
Get comfortable and get you popcorn 
Everybody here now knows i got to go the AI three concert and then the Meet and Greet to meet my Georgie. Most though do not know how this came to be though!!!!
Okay now let me start from the beginning. When AI 3 started we were still aloud to have threads for each contestant of the show on the CB. I always posted in the George Huff and Diana Degarmo threads cause they were my faves. There were other people that liked George a lot to but i was the biggest fan for sure and would just post and post about him cause i just loved everything about him. Every week he got through i was thrilled. When his performances started going south cause of his on going problem with his astma,(Sp?), I started to worry about him and would post about it. He had to get shots and was on vocal rest many times during the week when they weren't doing anything,(press, ford videos so on and so on). I met others on another board that were like me and just cared about him so much. One girl i met actually knew George and would pass our well wishes to him and he said it gave him the spiritual strength to keep on going even when he wasn't feeling well. Weeks came and went and George was still in there and it was awesome. People were loving him for sure. When Big Band week came George was the only guy left,(people were beyond shocked. He didn't even make it into the competition right off. he was invited back when someone who did make it in got drunk and got busted. George was called back didn't get voted into the top 12 but was brought back for wild card and shockingly Simon put him through,(I have video of this moment check bottom of post.), and I was so thrilled for him. He earned his right to be standing there. He sang
Cheek to Cheek and What A Wonderful World that week. He sounded amazing and looked fabulous in his very awesome suit. I saw nothing wrong with those performances and was so sad when the Simon and Randy started to throw him under the bus. George moved me to tears with his
"What a Wonderful World" performance. I knew in the back of my mind that something was up cause he was so much better than Jazzy that night,(her voice was totally shot), and he was getting put down by the judges. Well results night came and I was a bundle of nerves. George and Jazzy ended up in the bottom two and i knew in my heart when i saw that who was going. From the beginning of the show that season they were saying it was going to be an all girl season. No one thought of George getting this far. Well George went out instead of Jazzy and they had their all girl final four,(I do not hate Jasmine by the way i really like her). After George went out I was totally crushed for like two days. Then after seeing something Jennifer Hudson had said made me think of something. She had said that
"George Huff is a man that you need to be able to see and you need to meet him cause he is just an amazing man with the biggest heart in the world". After hearing this I came on the CB and went into Georges thread and wrote this huge post,(you think i get long winded here oh boy I was more so in that post), i wrote about why I felt that what happened maybe was something meant to be.
Maybe George going out singing What A Wonderful World and showing his loving spirit was what the plan for him was,(
maybe the plan was never for him to win it; it was just to put himself in the audience's heart).
George always said he felt that he made it on the show for a purpose and he still doesn't know what it is but i think part of it was to truly touch peoples lives with who he was as a person and not just as a singer. in the post i went on saying after i had really thought about things maybe all worked how it should for George. After writing it i felt a certain peace come over me and I have carried that peace with me when ever i think of George.
I know this is long but this is where the good stuff is coming up!!!After George went off the show i still watched cause Diana was still on. i watched all the way through to the finale where Diana didn't win :( She should have by the way. It was awesome seeing and hearing George again on the finale. Loved seeing his smile. When the show was over the idols would show up on shows talking of the tour and many people who knew i loved George and Diana would ask in the George thread if i was going to the show. I always said no because I couldn't afford it,(I wasn't working at the time). Well about a month went by when I started receiving pm's from someone. The person was really nice and would ask me questions and stuff about George. I would answer them honestly cause I really did adore the guy and thought he was so special. I guess what I answered was what the person wanted to know. After all the pm's she pmed me again telling me who she was. This person was one of Georges sisters who was a huge Clay fan and i guess posted on the CB
i was psyched to see this but also kind of sad cause she probably read post from the ONLY CLAY Fans that were constantly knocking George down,(I of course always and i mean always defended him and said if you can't see Georges talent then you aren't looking hard enough. Got slapped down a lot cause of that, but who cares I felt good defending George). She had said she had been posting there since AI 3 started and loved reading my post in Georges thread. She said i was a fan who for sure stuck by him. I was very touched when said this. I was more so when she let me know she had been talking to George about me
She had told him what a big fan of his I was and all kinds of other things. She mentioned that he had asked if i was going to the concert and she told him i couldn't. Well what she told me next blew my mind.
She said that George wanted to invite me to come to the concert and to have me come back stage 
:confetti: :confetti: :confetti: :confetti: ,(these were my reactions. Shock, crying and then jumping for joy). I told her that was so amazing and I was greatful but I couldn't acccept,(because if only having one ticket means i go alone which means no way to get to venue),. She went on to ask did i have someone to take me and i said yes my stepmom. She said that George was offering two tickets so i could bring a guest. I was beyond dieing because I was excited i would be able to do this but also filled with joy cause my stepmom could do this to. She said George wanted to do this because of how much support i showed him all through the competition
i was a blubbering mess for like an hour after that was told to me. I always wrote from the heart and when it came to George things just flowed out of me. George always made me feel things in my heart and he could make me smile just by him smiling....
Weeks went by and plans were made of how to get my tickets at will call and all that good stuff. I got my present for him together made sure packing was all done and when the day came i was a nervous girl but so happy. The concert was in Anaheim,(when they still had them at that venue). My stepmom and i had made sure we got down there in plenty of time to get our hotel room, get pretty, eat dinner and get to the show to go to willcall to get the tickets. When i saw the backstage meet and greet tickets for after the show i swear i would faint. Luckily i didn't. We got in the venue bought all our goodies then went to our seats. where we were sitting we got to see the stage really well. Loved watching Georges set the most. All the idols were really good. During intermission the people behind us started talking to us and we found out they were Jasmines family. They were awesome and they just praised everybody to death especially George and John Stevens as well as Jazzy. We watched the rest of the show then were told to stay there if we had AP tickets. We had to wait for everybody to leave the area we were in and when that happened we were told what would happen and were taken to the room. A pen pal of mine stopped me before i got in the room cause i promised to get something signed for her from John Stevens if she found me in time. Well she did and i got her item. We were lead into this little room and told to wait here for the idols. One by one they would come in and so took advantage of it :) First i met
John Stevens. So adorable he was and so darn polite. He signed my pen pals item and then mine and he gave me a big hug :) after that I met
Camille and
JPL,(JPL was rude for sure; he kept looking at other people and wouldn't face you). Camille was a doll,(she was so much better off of AI. Her nerves got her just like they got Matt this year). After them came
Jasmine and
Jennifer. Jasmine so gorgeous and sweet. I asked her to sign from Jazzy and she said "are you sure?" and i was like "yeah cause that was your nickname on the show". She laughed and said "then Jazzy it is" :) Jennifer Hudson what can i say about her. Just amazing, sweet, kind and funny,(I tell ya I still can't believe i have met a real and true academy award winner; of course at the time nobody knew what was in store for her). After meeting them i headed out into the hall way and met up with
Latoya who is so tiny and very soft spoken. Very Kind woman. While talking to Latoya we both see this huge gathering of people off to the left of us and then I hear a male voice say "Where is Shannon?" at first i was not registering anything at all and then Latoya says "isn't that you honey?" Duh
so embarrassed didn't even remember my own name. Anyway the person saying that was my
Georgie. He is swamped by people but was thinking of me
i raised my hand and said "i'm Shannon" and he yelled "don't go anywhere i have something for you"
My stepmom was in the room talking with Jasmine's family in the back and I said "i have to get her". Latoya said "go get her cause it would be a bit." So i ran into the room to get her and went back out in the hallway. The group was moving along and George got to me. He excused himself from them after signing all their stuff. He came over to me and we introduced ourselves and then he went onto say I want to give you something because you have always supported me. He pulled something that looked like a cape out of a bag and i almost cried. The cape he started to sign was the one he used to where for his "Ain't To Proud to Beg" performances. He used the cape as a homage to James brown. You know when James would bow down like he was exhausted and someone would come and put something on his back and walk him off the stage before he through it off and started getting down again. Well that is kind of what George would do. George was giving me that special gift and it was amazing. He signed it and everything. After he handed it to me we started talking and we talked for a long time. We talked about mutual people we knew and as that was going on I had to do something i was told by our mutual friends. i was told to give him kisses on the cheek if i could. Well i got my hugs first and then I asked him could i give him a kiss on the cheek,(there was no way i would do that without asking first). I explained why and he was like of course and smiled. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and named who it was from and he says is that all while laughing and then he said "you can give a few more i love the sugar!!" it was so cute. I got pics with him and everything. My stepmom got to meet him to and she loved him loads :) Being around George was like talking to a best friend. I was not nervous in the least. When he spoke to you he looked you into the eyes and it was like the most precious time i had ever had. He treated me like a friend of his and not just a fan
Well I noticed a lot of people wanted to talk to him so i took the chance to go meet
Diana. She at 16 at the time was so mature for her age. Just awesome and so cool. She signed the graphic a friend of mine had made for me and then I left her alone cause she had family there for her. Well while We were waiting to get out of there. I saw George looking sad. he hated leaving and the handlers were starting to tell everybody they had to get him out of there. Well when i saw the sadness in his eyes i yelled over to him to sing his favorite hymm cause it would cheer him up. He smiled at me and started to sing "Old Rugged Cross" as soon as he started singing the room got quiet and people just listened to him as he was walking out the door singing all the way to the buses. It was pretty fantastic seeing that. He just by singing a hymn totally got a whole room to fall silent :) George Huff is a one of a kind man and people like him don't come around all the time,(There is someone who is a lot like him though and i am a huge fan,(Mr. Kris Allen).
Because of everything George did for me out of the goodness of his heart he will always hold a piece of my heart. The man is a blessing to me from God and I am so thankful i had the time i did with him. I will treasure it to the day I die..
Well there you go ladies the whole long story of how it came to be meeting the Huff man. I don't get to stay in touch with him like i would like to cause I do not have a myspace page or twitter like he does. But i do have a friend who said she could farward a email to him for me.
I hope you enjoy my story. Oh if you ever get the chance to see him live or to meet him; Just do it! You will not be sorry. After meeting him you will feel so much joy cause all he has to do is smile at you and you feel the warmth of the man to your soul.
Check out the youtube videos and pics:
"Lean On Me": Wild Card Performance!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVIGNHrd-bEOne of the happiest moments for me. This is when Simon shocked me and put my favorite guy in the top 12 :confetti:
He was soooooooooo shocked that Simon put him through I was so excited for George. He sounded so good singing "Lean On Me"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzYe7jDaHEU"Ain't to Proud To Beg"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YSJOL-w2Bk"
Take Me To the Pilot"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCiju7cMceIGeorge singing
"I Can Love You Like That" 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5JtRObQmK0Here is both
Cheek to Cheek and
What a Wonderful World on the same video. He looked so handsome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXfbaYk3dds
This is one of George's amazing songs from his newest cd. It is called "Don't Let Go" The message of the song is so inspiring!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BerK-DGRuRQ
This is a pic from the tour when George is performing "Ain't To Proud to Beg" He is wearing the CAPE that he had given to me backstage at the Anaheim concert!!!
The moment i got to get a pic with my Georgie. I love this pic and i have it in a frame and it sits on my hutch!! 
Shannon
:angel3:
Never liked him.
Just remember to cover me on the left and look at the guys who all look REALLY good!!! Ready? I'm not, but here we go...............I really should have looked in the mirror before I allowed them to be taken!! 
At Christmas time the last few years he has been doing some Christmas shows in Salinas, CA. so Teddy maybe if he does it this year you maybe could go see the show. I think you would like it :)