It was Tuesday, August 12, 1997. My friends Jennifer, Sheila and I had tried to rent a car from Enterprise in the Prudential. However, because I went ballistic buying stuff to remind me of my hometown while I'm away from it, my credit card replied:"A car!? Are you kidding me?!" Then, it laughed at me. We were all upset, because the plan was to drive to Braintree. However, we opted to take the T to Brookline, instead, to try to see Joseph.

So, we got on the Green Line near the Pru, switched trains at Park Street, and got off at Brookline Hills. I was merely guessing that this was the right stop, however, because any other time I had gone to Brookline, I had driven. So, we walked through the mini-parking lot there, towards Brookline High School. I soon discovered that I had no clue where I was....I HATE THAT....so, we decided to stop at the Brookline Pool to see if they could at least give us directions to Warren Street....not necessarily 215 Warren Street, mind you. Just plain Warren Street. So, we walked inside, and went up to the friendly-looking lady that sat behind the front desk. Jen and Sheila left getting the directions up to me, so I said:"Excuse me, could you tell me please how I can get to Warren Street from here?" She started to tell me outright, but decided to just draw me a happy little map: "It's not too far from here. But, where on Warren Street? It's a really long street, you know." I hesitated in answering, and she smiled and said: "You just wanna find that New Kid on the Block's house, don't you?" Jen and Sheila laughed, and I joked back. "No, I don't, but they do!" I pointed to my friends. We all laughed. Then, she told us exactly how to get to Joe's, we bought some sodas, then left....walking our happy butts uphill towards Bolyston Street. We crossed Boylston, and headed up Warren. We all three were complaining about what a long walk that was....that is, until the three of us walked to the Knight's in Essex, but that's another story. Anyway, we were almost to Joe's house, when I fell in a hole in the sidewalk. It was covered by a bunch of leaves and stuff, so I didn't see it. Jen and Sheila were behind me, so they avoided the hole. I was in so much pain, that I almost couldn't bear it. However, I finished walking--uh, I mean limping--up the hill, and collapsed on the first lawn that I saw. I looked up, saw the familiar white fence, and said out loud, my voice filled with pain: "We're here! This is Joe's house." I was in process of taking my sock and sneaker off while Jen and Sheila crossed the street to stand on the little island and take photos of the house. Sheila said I could use her cold Coke bottle to put on my ankle, so I did. After they had finished taking photos, they came back across the street. And, Jennifer got volunteered to go see if she could get some ice for my ankle from one of Joe's neighbors. She was gone for about ten minutes, but came back with a Baggie full of ice. I was completely grateful, and I immediately put it on my ankle. We sat out in front of the fence--them on the sidewalk, me on the grass. About an hour or so went by, when these three other fans joined us. They were all from Maine. One had just graduated from high school, the other two had a couple more years to go. I feel terribly horrid that I can't remember their names. I'm no good with names. Forgive me. Anyway, we all sat there talking for about another hour, the ice making my ankle numb. Then, an ambulance stopped at the stop sign across the street from us, and joined the scads of other people that laughed and made fun of us as they drove by. Jennifer waved at them, and even pointed to my ankle, hoping that they would stop and help. But, instead, they just laughed and waved back. The EMT's inside the ambulance drove off laughing--and all because we were sitting out in front of Joe McIntyre's house. I was angry from that point on. They weren't the only ones to laugh and insult the six of us, either. I never realized just what it means to be a NKOTB fan until that moment. The sheer dedication that we all have to our Guys. Only, I was too angry to realize this at the time. Anyway, to continue...

Suddenly, the gates opened, and this woman (driving a blue, 2 door Toyota Tercell....anybody know who she is???) drove her happy little car out of it. "Girls, you can't sit there. You have to move." She insisted, in a rather rude tone. She started telling us to cross the street and stand over there next to the wall, but all I could consentrate on was getting up. I was in so much pain, that Jen and Sheila had to help me limp across the street. And, that evil woman just sat there and watched me limp. She didn't drive off until I had plopped down on the ground, wincing in pain. I started to cry, and Sheila hugged me. The Maine girls went off walking, trying to kill some time. My ice had begun to seriously melt, and Jen and I were debating on where to go get some more ice because we didn't wanna bother that same neighbor again. I was hoping against all hope that someone would stop and help, because I just couldn't walk one step further. After a few minutes, Sheila went looking for the Maine girls, walking down the one-way street. Jen and I sat there, hardly talking, me complaining about the stupid EMT's that wouldn't stop for me. About a half hour later (around 7 pm), Joe pulled his Land Rover to a stop at the stop sign. Sheila had just returned, and I looked up at her and Jen and said: "That's Joe. Guys, that is Joe." Joe was talking on his cell phone, and glanced over towards us--apparently to see if anyone was there. The gates opened, then, he drove into his driveway. The gates closed behind him. The Maine girls had made their way back by this time, and Jen met them as they came up the hill, threatening:"If you scream, I'll kill you." The older one replied, excitedly: "Is he there? Is he there?" To which, Jennifer replied:"Yes, he's in the driveway, talking on the phone. And, if you scream, I'll kill you."

They all came back over to where Sheila and I sat. I was still whining and preaching about all the stupid people that kept driving by and insulting us. Jen came up with the idea to go ask Joe for a new bag of ice for my ankle because the other one had long melted. I was too busy preaching to argue with her, so Jen ran across the street and stood in his driveway, waiting for him to get off the phone, trying not to eavesdrop. I started to preach again about the mangy EMT's that wouldn't stop, well, that, and I was in pain. Jen had given me some aspirin, but it wasn't helping. The girls from Maine started to get excited and flip out. I threatened them, so did Sheila by saying:"If you make Joe go away, I'll kill you." Awful lot of killing being threatened, dont you think? Anyway, they got their cameras and a video camera out, waiting for Joe. Joe, on the other hand, still sat in his Land Rover--with the motor on--getting comfy. He had his left foot propped up out of the window of the Land Rover--still talking on the phone. I was sitting on the ground, still moaning and complaining. (actually, bitching is a better word, but I don't think that I can say that. *laugh*). In fact, I was preaching so loud that Joe had to scream into his phone:"I understand that, but-"

When the Maine girls heard his voice, they REALLY started to freak. I got quieter, because he'd obviously heard me--OOPS. Jennifer still stood over by the gate, her fingers in her ears, trying not to hear his conversation. But, I think that she did hear a little of it. Anyway, I yelled at Jen to come back across the street, and she did. We had a debate about whether or not she should go back across the street to stand in the driveway. Finally, I pronounced that I didn't care what she did, so she ran back across the street to stand in front of the gate--positioning herself to where she could ONLY see his foot hanging out the window, and she couldn't hear his convo. After a little, the older Maine girl went over across the street to stand next to Jen. Jen turned to her, sensing that the girl was about to have a fit, and said:"Don't you dare freak on me! Don't you dare freak on me! Don't you dare freak on me!" The girl replied:"I won't..I'm not..It's just...when he comes out, could you ask him to come out and talk to us?" LIKE JOE WOULD REALLY NOT COME OUT! I really don't think he had a choice. He probably figured that I'd start bitching about him if he didn't come out to talk to us! *laugh* Anyway, Jen said "Fine. Just get back over there." A few minutes later, the other two Maine girls went across the street, went over to the gate, and started peering through the slats in the top of the gate. Jen wasn't happy about that, so she scolded:"Guys, how would you like it if someone was spying on you when you were on the phone?" One of them replied, in a snappy tone:"I wouldn't care." Then, the two girls came back across the street. I had completely stopped preaching, and Sheila got really quiet; trying not to cry. Not long after that, Joe got off the phone, shut off the engine, got out, and closed the door. Jen spoke his name, to see if she could get his attention. Then, the gates started to open, and Joe and Jen started to walk towards each other. Joe spoke first:

"I'll be right over there in a second."

"Actually, Joe," Jen replied "I'm sorry to disturb you, but my friend twisted her ankle, and I was wondering if we could get a bag of ice from you."

"Oh?" Joe smiled a little "A bag of ice, that's all you want?"

"Yeah, that's all I want." Jen answered, as they started to cross the street.

The Maine girls started freaking more, and I thought to myself "Dear GOD! It's Joe! Damn, he looks good!" *laugh* Sheila spoke ever so softly, trying not to cry: "Joe." Jen followed Joe across the street. It was a good thing that Joe looked before crossing, because Jen didn't bother.

"So, that's all you want, a bag of ice?" Joe asked Jen again.

"Yeah," Jen nodded. "That's all I want." Joe got across the street first, and I immediately noticed that he looked really tired. No one said anything to him, so I spouted off:

"Hiya Joe!"

"Hi." He smiled back, looking down at me. "That's all you want, a bag of ice?"

"Yeah," I nearly laughed, then nodded. All three Maine girls chirped together:"No! No! Can we have your autograph?" As they were saying that, Jen was answering Joe, yet again: "Well, that's all I want. I don't know what they want, you'll have to ask them." The older Maine girl, by this point, had remembered that she had a videocamera, and she asked Joe if she could record him.

"Thanks for asking," Joe smiled a bit "but, no. I don't like videocameras." Hey, at least he was polite. But, it didn't go over too well with the girls. However, Joe set to signing their menangerie of belongings, when he looked over his shoulder, down at me. "What happened to you?" he asked, as his hand automatically wrote:"Love Joe McIntyre."

"Well, I was the tour guide," My Bostonian accent was overly obvious

"And, I fell in a hole on the way up here." Joe looked at me, with a puzzled look. "You fell in a hole?" I nodded, and Jen repeated:" Yeah, she fell in a hole and twisted her ankle. Joe smirked, but said nothing. Then, one of the Maine girls said to Joe:"You don't believe her, do you, Joe?"

I immediately became insulted. Jennifer quipped:"Don't be rude" as I grabbed a stick and threw it at the girl. Joe was taken aback, a bit shocked that the girl had said that. But, he recovered quickly, taking photos with the girls, and giving them hugs. Two of them wanted a photo with Joe, and they asked him if he wouldn't mind.

"No. Oh, good, I hate taking pictures alone." Joe smiled, remaining perfectly posed until after the flash went off.

It was at some point in between taking photos and signing autographs that Joe asked me where I got the bag of ice that was on my ankle. Jen told him where she got it, and Joe made a mental note. I hope he went and thanked them for me. It was then that Sheila walked up to him and asked if she could have a hug.

"Sure," he smiled, hugged her, then looked around "Who's gonna take the picture?"

I said that I would, but Sheila handed the camera to Jen. They then proceeded to have a discussion about whose camera to use. The entire time, Joe stood there, smiling that faboo smile. They finally decided to use Sheila's camera, and Sheila posed next to Joe--the whole time, Sheila kept looking at me. Jen tried to get her attention, and finally succeeded by saying:"Sheila, hon, look at me, not at Shadow." Jen took the photo, then commented, looking at Joe:"Man, he's got that posing thing down pat! He didn't even move!" Joe grinned, then turned to sign more stuff for the Maine girls. Sheila came back over by me to get her NKOTB poster out of her backpack. As she did this, the Maine girls decided that they all three wanted a photo with Joe, and asked which one of us wanted to take it. "I'll take it." I spoke without thinking "I have a good view from down here." Then I took the photo. Jen had to walk away, laughing, and Joe smirked. I found out later that my little comment was taken quite sexually, instead of genuinely. Well, who am I to argue? I did have a good view! *laugh* Afterwards, Sheila went back up to Joe: "Will you sign this, Joe?" She spoke softly. "Sure!" Joe smiled, then opened up the (quad-fold) poster to look at. It was a photo from overseas, 1994. "Man, I look tough here." he smiled, then re-folded the poster, and asked who it was to. "Sheila." she spoke with a DEEP Southern, Kentucky accent. "Shayla?" Joe questioned, unsure. "No, SHEILA." Jen butted in:"You'll have to forgive her, she's from Kentucky." Joe smiled, his attention never leaving Sheila. "Sheila?" he asked,then spelled it out loud to make sure he'd gotten it right. Sheila nodded, and I interjected: "Hey,he's the first person to spell your name right!" Joe grinned, and spoke aloud as he signed: "Sheila. Love & More. Love, Joe McIntyre." Sheila thanked him "Sure." he replied, eyeing her up and down. Jen came over beside me to get her notebook out of my backpack, then walked back over to Joe. Sheila put her poster back in her backpack, and I asked her if she would ask him to sign mine. So, she grabbed my posters, and waited for another chance to sneak in close to Joe. It was then that Joe asked where everyone was from (since he'd already found out Sheila was from Kentucky). The girls replied "Maine." Joe didn't need to ask me, I suppose, because it was obvious from my accent where I'm from. *laugh* Then, Jennifer said: "I bet you can't guess where I'm from." Joe was in the middle of signing something else for the Maine girls: "Uh, I don't know. California?" Jennifer laughed. "No, I'm from Houston." "So, you're proud that you don't have that accent?" Joe teased. "Yep, sure am." Jen smiled, joking. He put the cap back on the marker, and started to hand it back to Jennifer, until Sheila walked up to him with my posters. First, Sheila handed Joe a letter she promised one of her friends she would give to him. Then, she handed him a small pullout, in which he was wearing a dark green shirt. He looked at it, and shook his head, speaking aloud as he signed:

"I'm tired here" he drew an arrow towards his face in the poster "Love, Joe McIntyre." I think that Joe likes saying that part,"Love Joe McIntyre", because he says it so well. *laugh* Anyway, he handed that poster back to Sheila, and she handed him another poster. This one was a quad fold. He's wearing a red shirt, jean shorts, and is sitting on a bunch of rocks. He opened it up to look at it, and asked who it was to. "Me," I answered, trying to smile "What's your name?" "Shadow." I replied, then winced in pain "Shadow? As in a 'shadow'?" Joe asked, and I nodded. "Ok, then. To Shadow:' he spoke aloud again. "Ya know, that's my fave poster of you, Joe." He stopped signing. "Really?" "Yeah, for real."

The look he gave me made it clear to me that he didn't like that picture of himself. Then, he finished signing:"Love Joe McIntyre." Then, he handed the poster down to me (I still sat on the ground). One of the girls came over to ask me if I had a piece of paper. I gave her one,and she took it over and jumped in front of Joe, waiting for him to sign it. Then, it was finally Jennifer's turn! "Oh, now you get to sign a postcard." she smiled, handing Joe a postcard of Boston. He took it, then asked"Who's it to?" "Farial." Jennifer replied, then spelled the name for him. "Farial? Shadow? You guys have some strange names here." Joe remarked. It was obvious that he was getting even more tired. "Oh, it's not for me." Jen quipped "it's for my friend. I already have your autograph." Joe looked at Jennifer funny, then started to sign the postcard. He gets to the "Far" part, then stops. "F-A-R what?" "F-A-R-I-A-L" Jen spelled it for him again. A car drove by, and reminded Jen of what had happened to us earlier. "You know, Joe. You have some really rude neighbors here." Joe became concerned. "Which ones? Where? What house? The ones you got the ice from?" Jen shook her head "No, the ones that drive by insulting us, telling us that we should get a life." Joe grinned, then replied "Well, maybe you should."

"JOE!" Jen could tell he was kidding, still she hit his arm-well, actually, it was more like just barely grazing it-with her little notebook. Joe chuckled. So, he finished signing, then handed the card back to Jen. Jen leaned down to put it back into my backpack, when I spoke: "Hey, will someone help me up so that I can get a photo with Joe?" I figured I deserved at least one more happy momento. *laugh* Jen joked "Well, Joe's the strongest one here. Have him help you up." Joe laughed as he was signing yet MORE stuff for the Maine girls. I gave Jen an evil look as Sheila helped me up, and I leaned back against the wall. While Joe was in the middle of signing for the Maine girls, a woman drove by and stopped. "Excuse me," she began, taking us all by suprise, " can anyone tell me how to get to Newbury College?" No one but Joe understood what the woman wanted, because we were all stunned. So, he turned around to give her directions. He smiled at her "Newbury College?" "Yeah." she replied

I think that if I had a choice, I wouldn't ask Joe McIntyre for directions. I get confused too easily. Joseph's reply was: "Okay, if you could go down here (he pointed down the one way street he drove up on) it would be right at the end of the street right there. But, you can't go down that way. So, you can go this way (points down Warren Street), and just stay left. Anytime you can turn left, just go left. Just keep making lefts and it will be right there. You can't miss it." I think that the lady was a little confused, but she said: "Ok. Thanks." "No problem," Joe smiled again. There were four cars stopped behind the lady, and they were honking their horns. Then lady then drove on, but for some reason (ha ha ha) the car directly behind her did not. So, the other three cars started honking even more. Joe took it upon himself to start directing traffic at this point by waving his left arm, urging them on as if to say "Ok, move along. Nothing more to see here." So, they started driving down Warren Street, following the lady. Another car drove by, going the opposite way, and screamed rather loudly and rudely at us. And, you know what people: Joe was the one that screamed back. We felt like Joe had defended us. That one instant made up for all of the rude comments we had heard earlier. After that, Joe came around to stand beside me. He looked at me first, I suppose to judge where he could stand, then opted to stand on my left side to take the photo. Jen snapped it. Joe smiled at me, and I joked. "Hey, can I still have that bag of ice?" "Uh....no." He laughed a little, then helped me sit back down on the ground. Nice guy. "Ahh, Joe!"I feigned anger. "Well, I can't help it."Joe smiled, then went back over to where he had been standing. One of the girls asked:" Joe, will you sign my shirt?" Joe smirked "Yeah, sure, the back of it."He turned her around, and the rest of us had to laugh. Joe handed Jen the marker, then walked back over to me. "Are you sure you're gonna be ok?" "No," I managed to tease "I bag of ice would help." He laughed. "I'm sorry. You want me to call you a cab?" I SHOULD HAVE SAID YES! "No, thanks, Joe. Those girls have a van, and they said they'd drive us to the T." "Aww, well that's nice. Well, I hope that you feel better." In that instant, I think that I did. "Thanks, Joe." Joe smiled down at me, then started to walk away, crossing the street. "Hey," Jen followed him again "don't forget about that bag of ice." Joe pushed the button to open his gate "Hey, you can buy a bag of ice for a dollar at the store down there." he pointed up Warren Street (towards Bolyston St.) We never did find that store!

Anyway, Jen reached into her back pocket, finding the dollar she knew was there "How about I give you a dollar, you give me the ice." Joe stepped just inside the gate "I don't have any ice. I haven't even been in my kitchen in like a year." Jen said nothing, as the gates started to close, and Joe went inside. I almost started to cry as I watched him open his door then go in. But, the Maine girls went and got their van, came back to pick Jen, Sheila and me up, then dropped us off at the T.

And, that was just the first time that we saw Joe that week! But, I have to say that half hour he spent with us truly made my day. You know something, my ankle still hurts quite often. The doctor said that it's a good possiblity that I might have had a hairline fracture. Leave it to me to break something for Joseph! But, in the end, it was all worth it to see everyone happy....and to get the rare chance to spend some time with someone I truly admire...moreso now than ever before. Thanks, Joe, for everything. You'll never know how much seeing you that day meant to me. The End