Clay or Friends?

I love Clay Aiken! No question, no doubt I love Clay Aiken.

I often wonder, though, after all this time if I get more excited about seeing Clay or about seeing my friends? Like so many in this fandom, the friends I refer to are the ones I have made in the fandom. These are women I did not know before AI2. These are women I would never have met if not for Clay Aiken. We live in different states, we have different lifestyles, we have different interests. What we had in common is Clay. In the years since we randomly met at concerts and on message boards though, we have discovered that we have much more than Clay in common. We have built true and real friendships. We talk about and care about one another's families. We know their names and what they are doing. We celebrate our ups and we sympathize with our downs. I have friends who I can't imagine living without. Often, they are the first and last people I talk to every day. It's amazing how many of our conversations are not about Clay anymore. They are about us.

I love Clay Aiken. I love his voice. I love the personality he has shown us. I love the selfless life of service he has chosen. I love how available to his fans he has been doing the book signing, CD signings, the meet and greets, the bus lines and the stage door. I love seeing him both live and in pictures and video and sensing his happiness. I will never know Clay Aiken on a personal level, but I can enjoy what he chooses to share with his fans. I do, however, know the friends I have made on a personal level. For this I am grateful and so very fortunate! I used to refer to them in RL as "my Clay friends". Now they are part of my RL and they are simply "friends".

Thanks, Clay, for all you do, but especially for letting me know these friends,