How I Met NICHOLAS SPARKS!

The Notebook, The Wedding, The Guardian, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember – these are some of the books that made me cry. And who’s the great mind behind these novels? For most of you, this is a no-brainer question. Who else, but Nicholas Sparks!

I admire Nicholas! I love his writing style, and being a hopeless romantic myself, aside from being inspired by his novels, I also literally cry over his books! When I heard the news that he’s coming over for a book tour, my heart leaped! Finally, a chance to meet my idol! But, as the saying goes, life is like a roller coaster. Not everyone will have the chance to get his autograph. According to the mechanics of National Book Store, a lucky draw coupon will be given for every purchase of Nicholas’ new book, The Best of Me, but this coupon is not a guaranteed Signing Pass! NBS will also be giving the top 50 “early birds” a Signing Pass, but then, I have work, and I cannot leave the office early. I was really sad, dismayed, and disheartened. 

Friday came, normal work day, but deep inside, I was too excited to leave the office to go to The Podium Mall. Since the mall is just a few blocks away from my office, I left work at around 4:30 pm and reached there by 4:50. There were a lot of people waiting. I didn’t know where NBS was, and I didn’t bother asking the guards since I didn’t expect to still get a lucky draw coupon (although admittedly, I was hoping so). I roamed around Podium, went through all floors (yes, as in, ALL) until I reached the topmost level, yet no NBS can be found. I decided to go back to the 2^nd level, where the stage for Nicholas was. I noticed that a lot of people where carrying these orange plastic bags. I thought to myself, does NBS have a new bag? Okay fine, later did I discover that their branch at Podium is called Bestsellers! Anyway, I still tried my luck and gave it a shot. I bought a book, asked if they still have a Lucky Draw Coupon….. Guess what? Coupons were still available! 

 I immediately went to the registration table, gave my coupon in exchange of a raffle stub. There were only a few left. I picked one, and my hands were trembling as I slowly opened the stub. To my surprise, the stub says: “YES You get a signing pass!” The girl at the registration table was smiling really well, as she told me “Ma’am, ang swerte mo naman”, as she handed me my Signing Pass sticker. I went blank for a second, I couldn’t believe my eyes…. I got a Signing Pass! I remembered asking the girl, “Are you sure, I can have my book signed by Nicholas?” and she answered me “Yes, Ma’am, totoo! Pwede ka pa magpapicture sa kanya!” 

I waited on the side, I was alone, but I didn’t mind that, I was simply HAPPY. A few minutes later, people started to scream…. Nicholas started walking down the stairs from the upper level! But I could hardly get a glimpse of him since there were a lot of people, and I was far from the stage and only had my old-fashioned phone camera with me. But still, I didn’t care. I knew I was going to meet him up close and personal. After Nicholas answered a few interview questions, he started the autograph signing. Guess what my signing pass number was? 1074! 

So I had to wait for 1073 people ahead of me before I can finally see Nicholas up close. But it was okay, patience is a virtue, and I knew, meeting him was worth the wait! 

At around 10 PM, it was finally my turn! Everything went as fast as a breeze. I went up the stage, all smiles, then Nicholas greeted by: “How are you?” I answered, “Doing great ‘coz I finally met you”, I was cut by the organizer, they took our picture while we posed, then after the shot, I turned to Nicholas and handed him the greeting card that I bought. I told him “By the way, here’s an invitation to my wedding…. “The Wedding”, while I flaunted my engagement ring. He was smiling and said “OH!”, but the events crew cut us again, and prompted me to get off the stage. Haist! Anyway, at least I was able to give him my card (hope he gets to read what I wrote). 

It may be a long tiring day for me, but I’m certainly very, very, very happy! Another item on my bucket list: CHECKED! 

My admiration for Nicholas Sparks just became deeper, as I witnessed how patient he was signing all those autographs, posing for more than a thousand fans, and still keeping that smile on his face!