Two Years Ago Taylor Swift Pointed At Me: Reflecting Upon The Eras Tour

It’d Been a Long Time Coming…

Two years ago Taylor Swift pointed at me.

The Story Of Us

Rewind to a different era: September 2019. Taylor Swift had just announced LoverFest, a bicoastal celebration of her new album Lover, set to take place in LA and Foxborough. It felt like the start of something magical. After 13 brutal hours on Ticketmaster (the first Great War, perhaps?), I somehow landed tickets to both California shows.

Even more amazing? The timing. LoverFest aligned perfectly with Comic-Con, Hella Mega Tour, and Summer at Disneyland. We wrapped it all into a once-in-a-lifetime family trip. Tickets bought. Hotels booked. Flights secured. That Christmas, we surprised our kids with it all—and the excitement was off the charts.

But then…

Stop Everything Now

On March 13, 2020, the United States declared a national emergency in response to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’d been hearing news stories about this new disease, a cold of sorts with extreme respiratory symptoms and sometimes deadly results. It started in China, followed by a few US cases, and then began ravaging senior living communities. Soon, it was everywhere.

Eventually, LoverFest was canceled. RIP

Begin Again

On November 1, 2022, two years after LoverFest should have happened, Taylor Swift announced The Eras Tour, calling it “a journey through the musical eras of my career.”

There was a rumor that former LoverFest ticket holders would get priority access. I don’t know if that’s true, but we somehow landed great tickets to both Cincinnati shows (June 30 & July 1, 2023)—at face value. After the dust settled from The Great War with Ticketmaster, we were also given an opportunity to purchase tickets for Nashville, and we were able to obtain great seats for Night 2 on May 6, 2023.

Things were good…

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

And then, life threw another curveball.

In March 2023, after battling some health challenges, I found out I had massive blockages in my heart. The diagnosis was serious—quadruple bypass surgery was required. The first question I asked?

“Will I still be able to take my daughter to the concert in May?”

My doctor was confident: “If everything goes as planned, yes.”

Thanks to skilled surgeons, a determined recovery, and a lot of love and support, I made it. And so did our dream.



Nashville Night 2 – Oh Boy, This is Genius

Our first show. Nashville. We’d avoided spoilers for two months—no TikTok, no Instagram. Emily even deleted social media from her phone. We wanted to walk in completely blind. We had wild theories. We had no idea what was waiting for us.

We had amazing seats—the kind that instantly validated the long wait, the surgery, and the heartache (literal and figurative) that came before.

Phoebe Bridgers, one of my favorite artists, opened with Motion Sickness, and a few songs in, she asked, “Where are my boys at?”—and out came Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. boygenius, live, unannounced. We were losing our minds.

They performed Cool About It from their debut album and stayed for the rest of the show, along with then-rumored-boyfriend Matty Healy. During the Red era, Phoebe and Taylor performed Nothing New (From the Vault) together, and I can still feel the goosebumps.

It was, in my opinion, the most unique night of the entire tour.


Cincinnati Nights 1 & 2 – Cruel Summer

Cincinnati Night 1 brought a new surprise—we were featured in a local TV news story, and Emily found out at the show that we were sitting front row. Yes, front. row.

The show was magical. Taylor was awesome. And then it happened:

Taylor Swift pointed directly at me.

Night 2 brought a different kind of magic. Cincinnati native and longtime Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner of The National joined Taylor onstage. The crowd went wild. It was another unforgettable night.

And Then… One More Era

Taylor would later add a handful of shows to the Eras tour AND release a new album which would add a whole new era to the Eras Tour. We scored fairly inexpensive but nosebleed seats to N1 and N2 in Indianapolis, the last stop of the US Eras Tour.

I Had The Time Of My Life Fighting Dragons With You

The Eras Tour captured the imagination of the world. Swifties watched grainy live streams of every show on TikTok and haters spent all their time disregarding Taylor, the tour, and her fans. But for 3 hours every weekend for two years, we had joy.

I am so fortunate to have been able to make incredible memories with my daughter. Taylor Swift is a singular artist and the Eras tour is entertainment for the ages.

Take me back…

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