Well, we got good seats for the show, and I knew that with Mark having been in a “Murdercycle” accident not too long ago (and banging up his knee pretty bad) that he would be on his little “Jazzy-Rascal-Scooter”- but when the sound effect of the big engine and the squealing tires started - you’d have thought Elvis had entered the building. Leave it Mark!! LOL
The show was great, and Mark’s touring buddies (singing group) LordSong and pianist Stan Whitmire were wonderful. All was going smoothly until…….intermission. For some odd reason (and when we asked him about it later, he didn’t even know why he did it) Mark decided to drive off the stage on his scooter BACKWARDS!?!?!? Well, he started down the ramp (and per John’s observation, Mark looked off to the side at the same time moving the steering column and increasing speed). Well, thank GOD that a pretty good sized guy was standing right there, because Mark and the scooter went right off the ramp and that guy was able to catch him and the scooter before they hit the ground. Needless to say - there was a collective gasp and hush throughout the crowd at that moment, but all was ok and Mark drove off with his arms in the air. LOL
After the show, Mark did a meet and greet and we were able to talk a few minutes with him, have our picture taken with him, and I asked him to sign the children’s book he wrote, “Piper’s Great Adventures” for Emilia. I told him we were adopting her from China, and he signed the book to her. He said, “Now you’re going to have to spell her name that way cause I wrote it like that,” and I said “That’s great - cause that’s how we’re spelling it.” :)
Oh, when we told him we were from Leavenworth, he asked if they had let us out for the night, and I said “Yeah, on good behavior”. LOL (Leavenworth is known for the Federal Penitentiary)
Well, we said goodbye and headed out. We didn’t get a chance to eat dinner earlier, so we decided to stop at this little place in Marysville that is a train car called Penny‘s Diner. It looked cute (and was basically the only thing open at that time) so we stopped for a bite. We were sitting there for quite a while and we heard the waiter ask someone why there was so many people in there at that time of night (there were only 2 people working and the place was filling up). Someone told him that there was a concert or something up at the school, and he went on about his business. Well, John and I were sitting at our table and John made the comment that wouldn’t it be funny if Mark walked in. I said, “Yeah right, I doubt it. If he walked in here, I‘d probably pee my pants.” (Oh me of little faith) I’m not kidding you about this…roughly 1 minute later I looked out the window and I saw a bus pulling in the parking lot. I looked at John and said “NO WAY!!!” Now, we are blessed John & I, but things like THIS just don’t happen to us. John was facing the door and he goes - “Here he comes, he’s walking in the door right now”. I whipped around and couldn’t believe my eyes. Here came Mark with some of his crew…and the only booth open in the restaurant is the booth right behind us!!!
Ok - can you sense that I’m probably wigging right about now?!?! Well, I was. We said hello to him, and he sat down. John’s cracking up - cause I can just imagine the look on my face, but I remained cool and nonchalant. After a few minutes, we start talking with him, and all is going cool (still can’t believe it!!) and then I notice this weird little grin on John’s face. I give him this quizzical look and the next thing I know is he says, “Hey Mark, we were sitting here talking and she said that if you came in here, she’d probably pee her pants." WHAT?!?!? NO HE DID NOT?!?!? Mark looked at me, I looked at him, and this is how the rest of it went down:
Me: “But I didn’t!!”
Mark: “Well that’s good, that would have been so embarrassing”
Me: :)
John: “Yeah, I told her if she did, we’d have to wait until you left to get up” (hardy har har)
Mark & His Crew: MUCH LAUGHTER
Dawn: :)
So, we had a good laugh, talked a while more - Mark asked when we were getting Emilia - and it was time for us to head out. Their food arrived and we had a long drive home ahead of us. We said goodbye, told him we’d hopefully see him in December for the Gaither Homecoming (and hopefully we’ll have Emilia to introduce him to) and we hit the road.
It was a great end to a great day - and I still have trouble believing it actually happened. I’ve said for years that I would love to meet Mark and be able to sit down and talk to him….and it actually happened. Ya know, GOD loves all his kids…but Friday night - he loved me best!!! :)
NOTE TO MARK:
Thank you Mark for being who you are - and for doing what GOD has called you to do. You are a “ReMarkable” person, and we are blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and talk with you. We hope our paths cross again, and if you’re around the Leavenworth area, drop on by….we’ll leave a cell open for ya!! :) May GOD continue to bless you (and please don’t go down the ramp backwards anymore!!)
P.S. If you'd like to check out Mark's website, click below:
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