The night my sister Sue and I lost our TJ cherries was Sunday, August 22nd, 2004…a night that will forever be cherished.
The October before, Sue had been to Wal-Mart and run across a new Tom Jones CD entitled Reloaded. She bought it, gave it a listen, and was hooked even more than she was back in 1970! Of course, she then had to share the CD with me. I remembered the man from the This is Tom Jones TV show but I was 14 then. As a grown woman, I could now truly appreciate him and boy, do I ever!!!
Early in 2004, I asked Sue what she wanted for her 62nd birthday, which was coming up in October. She said without hesitation, “Oh, it would be so wonderful to see Tom Jones in person.” My response was, “Let’s do it!” We then started planning our adventure. Because our Tom Jones fever was so intense we knew we couldn’t wait until her birthday. We decided to try to see him at the MGM Grand Las Vegas that coming August!
On August 20th, Sue drove down from Kentucky to our house in Houston, TX. The next day – my sister, my husband Mike and I hopped on a plane for Vegas where Sue and I had tickets for two shows.
The day of our first concert, we arrived at the MGM about an hour before show time. We sat my husband down at a video poker machine and Sue and I scurried to the theater.
Once inside, we ordered a couple of those specialty drinks in the commemorative glasses to celebrate the evening. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur…I remember hardly being able to sit still in my seat…grinning from ear-to-ear while watching Tom and watching Sister Sue. It was like she was in a trance. Every now and then, she would turn back to look at me — shudder, sigh, and then turn back around to continue staring at him. We floated back to the poker machine area, scooped up my husband, and headed back to our condo. All we knew was that hearing that powerful voice and feeling his strong presence only made us more eager for the next performance two days later.
Before leaving for Vegas, we did some research and found out from other fans that Mr. Jones likes Dom and Courvoisier Brandy. We priced the Dom and bought the Courvoisier. Sue wrapped it in “Wales” ribbons and hand carried it on the plane, guarding it with her life. Her plan was to give it to him on his last night, hoping he would be able to sip, enjoy, and relax before he started touring again — OK, and maybe share it.
Everything went as planned. Sue approached the stage during the encore. He was doing his Solomon Burke routine about giving your woman what she wants. TJ kept asking, “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” I stood up, yelled, “I DO!” and took my hat off and curtseyed. I swear he looked right at me, chuckled, pointed at me, and said, “Oh, I can tell YOU know what I’m talking about.”
I stood spellbound for a second or two, feeling as if I were the only woman in the room…then remembered Sister Sue! So, while I still had his attention, I pointed down and over to her. Tom followed my cue, just as a security guard approached her, telling her to return to her seat. Tom looked at her and her package, then asked, “What do you have there, darling?” He took a step or two towards her, leaned forward a bit, and said, “OH…I’ll be with you in just a minute.”
But, for some reason, he never made it back to her. Although somewhat disappointed, we were still thrilled! So much so, when Sister Sue drove back to Kentucky, the bottle of Courvoisier Brandy, sat securely in the passenger seat, in order to be ready for our next rendezvous with Mr. Jones, whenever that may be.
