A long, long time ago, back in the early days of the fandom, a disabled fan name Dragon was disappointed Tara Strong couldn't come to the Knoxville Comic and Anime convention. In true Tara Strong awesomeness, she called up the fan and spoke to him in Twilight Sparkles voice, giving him a great gift he would always remember.
Flash forward to the present day and the story has come full circle. Tara was coming to the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention and had even gotten passes for Dragon and his mother to come see her on the Sunday of the event.
The rest is history with Dragon finally getting to meet the actress he had admired for all these years!
Get the full story along with pictures after the break.
Back in December, a Facebook friend messaged me to tell me that Tara Strong would be at the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention in Lexington, Ky. Since we've stayed in touch with her all these years, I messaged Tara herself to make sure the news was right, and she confirmed it. I intended to buy tickets in January, but my father passed away January 12th, so I had to postpone the purchase.
I waited until February, but because of funeral expenses, I couldn't afford to go for all three days, and since Sunday tickets were cheapest, I was ready to buy those. I had the purchase page open, but decided to ask Tara if she would for sure be there on Sunday. She replied "I got you passes." I was stunned that she had been so thoughtful, and after giving her my address, she had the con send the passes for us.
Finally the day came. On March 11th we set off on the two and a half hour drive to Lexington. To skip over the boring parts, we finally found Tara's line, and she was at lunch. Dragon and I waited about half an hour, and because of his autism he was getting anxious, so I texted her to ask if she would be back soon. She texted back that she would. Finally we saw her walk by, and I put my phone in my pocket, which ended up being a stupid move. After 40 minutes or so waiting in line, we were finally close enough to actually see her booth, and I took my phone out to have it ready. That's when I saw she'd sent me a text saying "Come to the front." *facepalm*
I waited until February, but because of funeral expenses, I couldn't afford to go for all three days, and since Sunday tickets were cheapest, I was ready to buy those. I had the purchase page open, but decided to ask Tara if she would for sure be there on Sunday. She replied "I got you passes." I was stunned that she had been so thoughtful, and after giving her my address, she had the con send the passes for us.
Finally the day came. On March 11th we set off on the two and a half hour drive to Lexington. To skip over the boring parts, we finally found Tara's line, and she was at lunch. Dragon and I waited about half an hour, and because of his autism he was getting anxious, so I texted her to ask if she would be back soon. She texted back that she would. Finally we saw her walk by, and I put my phone in my pocket, which ended up being a stupid move. After 40 minutes or so waiting in line, we were finally close enough to actually see her booth, and I took my phone out to have it ready. That's when I saw she'd sent me a text saying "Come to the front." *facepalm*
By this time there were only two people ahead of us, and Tara's very sweet assistant Roxie came and asked me what we were going to get, pictures, autographs, whatever. I showed her Tara's text, and she said, "Oh, are you Dragon and Rebecca? She's been waiting for you guys! Come on!" So we cut in front of the two people ahead of us, which just so happened to be two members of Fire Team Harmony. Yeah, we're probably on some kind of hit list now. lol
When Tara saw Dragon, she stood up and came around the booth with her arms open wide, smiling. "There's my Dragon! Give me a hug!" Of course, he hugged her and she told him, "Oh, you HAVE to pick me up and twirl me around!" Of course, he did that as well. I wish I'd been fast enough to get it on video, but my phone sucks. But it is a moment that I'll never forget. I don't know whose face was lit up the brightest, his or hers. It was beautiful. Then she turned to me and gave me a big hug, telling me "I'm so glad to FINALLY meet you!"
While we were in line, I'd been looking at the prices, and told Dragon that since we already had autographs, we would just get a picture with her. Like I said, we didn't have much spare cash because of funeral expenses. Dragon had brought his movie poster to get signed, so he was a little disappointed, but he was so excited to finally be meeting her that he didn't complain. However, at the booth she told us, "Pick out whatever you guys want. YOU don't pay." I nearly cried at her generosity. I had never told her about being a bit short on cash, and never posted anything on Facebook or Twitter about it, and she refused to charge us anyway. She ended up signing Dragon's poster and my Twilight plushie, and gave Dragon a picture of Raven and a Twilight Sparkle toy, both signed, and I got a Harley Quinn purse. Her assistant took pictures of the three of us with my phone, then some of us with Tara's phone. After more hugs, we left for a little while to see the rest of the con, but she asked us to come back before we left.
When we went back to say our goodbyes, we talked a bit, got more hugs, and she signed our convention badges. Dragon was completely beside himself with joy. Yet he wasn't the least bit starstruck by her like I was. To him, he was finally meeting a beloved friend, who just so happens to be a celebrity. She told us both she loves us, and squealed "We FINALLY did it!" I will always treasure he last thing she said to me. It brought me to tears. She put her hands on my shoulders and said "You are an awesome mom. I really mean it. You ARE." There was nothing she could have said that would have made me prouder.
When we went back to say our goodbyes, we talked a bit, got more hugs, and she signed our convention badges. Dragon was completely beside himself with joy. Yet he wasn't the least bit starstruck by her like I was. To him, he was finally meeting a beloved friend, who just so happens to be a celebrity. She told us both she loves us, and squealed "We FINALLY did it!" I will always treasure he last thing she said to me. It brought me to tears. She put her hands on my shoulders and said "You are an awesome mom. I really mean it. You ARE." There was nothing she could have said that would have made me prouder.
On the way home, Dragon and I were talking about our day, and the subject of the boys who bullied him came up. He was bullied for other things besides like MLP, but once they found out about that, it was certainly included in their harassment. I said I wished the boys could have seen what comes from being a Brony; getting to hug, pick up, and twirl around a beautiful, sexy actress. Dragon said, "Yeah, if that's being a p***y, I'll take it."
Twitter: Calpain
