In middle school I heard, “Hit Me Baby One more Time” and saw the video on MTV.
I could not get over how awesomely sexy and sultry she was. Plus the dance moves. She had me with the dance moves. She inspired me. I wanted to dance and sing like that. She had IT. I felt almost like I had a little bit of Britney in me. Like, she and I could be friends. Or maybe cousins. More on that in a minute.
I went out and bought the tape, THE TAPE, of the single and played it incessantly.As soon as the CD came out I was hooked.
I watched every music video. I learned every dance. I dressed up like her for Halloween. (Every Year).My obsession was what you could call extreme.
I would tell people that she was my second cousin.
Like, everyone.
I told all the people at my work, where I was a Lifeguard at the YMCA, my entire high school class and even the mail man.
I would eventually tell people I was kidding, but sometimes I would forget.As a gift one year my friend gave me a life size cutout of her. I put it in my room. Where it stayed there for years. I bought magazines and cut out her picture and put it in a scrapbook. To me she was just the best.
I digress.
Everyone in my all girl's Catholic High school knew that I was Britney Spears obsessed. Well, I might have told everyone Freshman year that Britney Spears was my cousin. The rumor spread all over the school, in fact, that when I went to college, in my sorority I gave it as my “fun fact” that I wasn't actually her cousin. One of the girls went to my high school and I guess she never got the news that that was just a joke.
Back to high school.
Well this one girl, who I didn't know that well, had a father with connections.
So she invited me to come with her to meet: The Spears.
I was ecstatic. What would I wear? What would I say? Do?
I decided that a cool outfit to war was a TURTLENECK. I look back at these pictures and scratch my head. A turtleneck Helene? How can you become best friends with her in a dang turtle neck?
Ok. We were going to go meet Britney at Texas Motor Speedway where she was presenting and performing at the Nascar Race.
I had never been to a Nascar race or anything like that for that matter.
We get to the race and I ask “How many times do they go around the track? 3?”
I was clearly clueless since I discovered it's HUNDREDS of times. Oh.
Anyway, I was a ball of nerves before getting to meet her. I went to the bathroom to make sure there wasn't anything stuck in my braces and put my game face on.
We walk in the room and she isn't there yet. But I see her personal assistant and friend Felicia Culotta, aka FeFe. Being the stalker that I am I go up to her and call her by her nick name: “Hey Fe Fe! I am from Louisiana too! (*LIES*) and just love you and Britney!”
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| I smiled with my mouth closed until the day those hideous braces came off. |
She doesn't have much time, but she does tell me I'm “cute and seem like a fun girl” which is something I am sure she says to everyone. Then she tells me to come on tour with her as a back up dancer.
But before we went back in the room with everyone else, we sang Happy Birthday Jamie Lynn Spears (it was her 14th birthday).
Let me tell you I was on cloud 9 for weeks. No one could tell me I wasn't BFFs with Britney Spears.
And well, you still can't.
No matter what I will always, always be a fan of Britney Spears. I got to see her perform live throughout the years, in Vegas, in Dallas, and yes, at that fateful Nascar race. Whether you're a fan or not, she paved the way for a new generation of pop stars. 
Have you ever met your favorite celebrity?
