I MET STACIE ORRICO.

Anyone who knew me in childhood and talked music with me (or didn’t ha ha) knows how absolutely OBSESSED I was with Stacie Orrico growing up.

It began the night of her performance at the Rockefeller Center Tree Lightning. 2003? I don’t know what it was about that night but I immediately went onto her official website, as the performance was still going on, to find out everything that I possibly could about her. She was (and remains) so talented. Her voice spoke to my core and I was Obsessed.

That night, I joined the official forum/message board on her website & that was my introduction to fandom. That was my 1st real fandom. (I LOVED HP but I hadn’t fully immersed myself in the online fandom.) My screenname was poeticmelody or melody13190, I think? One of those variations. I was on that message board every single day, all day when I wasn’t in school (and later on, even when I was). I ate, breathed, and slept her music and that message board. If you remember message boards, there’s a place where you could click to see who the top posters were. I lived at number 2.

At one point, I even formed & co-ran a Stacie Orrico street team (with Isabel if I’m remembering her name correctly, from Boston) through the message board. It was a thing.

I cannot stress enough how much a part of my daily life the Stacie Orrico community was for me. It was a safe place to love what I love (starting with Stacie but going beyond that), which is hard to find when you love all the “wrong” things as a young Black girl, let me tell you. So I can’t separate the two – Stacie’s music and the message board – I can’t distinguish which meant more to me and I don’t want or even need to.

Stacie Orrico’s music was and always will be so special to me. You know how there are just certain artists that you just gravitate towards and you just never let go of and are rooting for them, always? She’s that artist for me.

She became my soundtrack (well, I switched back and forth between her and the OBC RENT soundtrack) when brainstorming and writing in my room. The day I met her, I was arriving at a cafe to revise my first story that I’m contracted for (that I can’t talk about yet). You can’t tell me running into her wasn’t a full circle moment, an affirmation because it was. It was so pure and so validating and so amazing.

I remember years ago she had a meet and greet in NYC one day at a Coldstone or something and my dad took me but reader, guess what?! We went to the wrong location and missed the entire event. I was crushed. When we got to the right location, they informed me that she was leaving and I shoved my CD their way and begged for them to head after her to get it signed for me. Bless them.

Fast forward to the day I met her (Sunday, July 22, 2018)… I was meeting a friend at a cafe to write but I decided I’d get there one hour early to get a prime outlet spot. I also decided, which I have no business doing since I’m supposed to be saving my money for an apartment, to take a ride share there instead of the bus. If I hadn’t made both of these decisions, none of this would have happened!

They say never meet your “heroes” & all that jazz but meeting Stacie was everything & more. Because it wasn’t even about HER per say, it was about her music & what it & the community created under her umbrella meant for me. The cherry on top was that she was so genuinely kind and lovely and real.

I gushed to her and confessed my deep obsession. We talked for a bit and when she left, I couldn’t believe it… I still can’t believe it, really. I have never felt more star struck and more at home in the presence of an artist than I did today. I quickly held back tears from coming during my fangirl tell all but oh my goodness, I was shaken to my core and could barely string words together for a moment.

After I said, “Oh my God” a few times, I even said, “There’s so much to say to you, I don’t even know what to say.” She was so gracious and took the time with me to get it all out. I can’t thank her enough.

As for a music update, she’s working on new music (not Christian) and is excited to collaborate with other women in the industry and oh my God, I am so excited for the day when all of this comes together and releases!

I’ve met a lot of people in the industry but sometimes only one really means everything. This was the one.

Thank you, Stacie!