I had seen Phish only a few times before the hiatus, but had really gotten into the boys over the break. I truly thought it was too late though, I didn't think I was going to get another chance to truly appreciate what is live Phish.

I had not heard any rumors about Phish returning and actually did not find out until the 15th. I was coming back to work from lunch, and one of my co-workers who knows I like Phish showed me an article announcing their comeback. The second I looked at the article and the picture of Trey I knew what it was going to say and my jaw dropped. But as I started to read, my jaw came back up and turned into the biggest smile I have ever smiled and stayed that way all day long. When I walked by our receptionist, she said she had never seen anybody smile so big. All day, I kept jumping and running around, bothering my co-workers, telling them how excited I was. I also told everybody I talked to about the comeback that I would be at MSG on NYE, no ifs ands or buts. I told them all to mark my words, I WOULD BE THERE.

So mail order time comes around and I submit my e-mail entry, but the days pass and there is no good word back from phish.com. Ticketmaster time comes around, but for whatever reason, the sale starts on a Friday morning, when I am at work. I knew I would be able to get in a couple calls from work, but nothing like the determination you really need to get Phish tix from Ticketmaster. So my fiancé is also trying for us at home and he actually gets through and is able to score one ticket. He said I could have the ticket, but I would have felt horrible going without him, and of course it wouldn't have been near as fun. And the idea of me, a 21 year old female alone in NY for the first time, didn't sound like fun either. But if that's the way it had to be, so be it, I had a ticket for the show!!

The very next day, I started calling Ticketmaster to see if they had any cancelled orders or sales that didn't go through. I kept this up for a good two weeks, calling at least 5 times a day. Finally, my day came around, and not only did I get one ticket, I got two, for better seats than the previous ticket!! And the Ticketmaster guy was so nice and patient. My credit card did not go through, so he waited on the phone and held the tickets while I called my fiancé on the other line to get his card info and the Ticketmaster guy ran everything through again.

So in the end we were both able to go, and we were able to help out a friend with our extra ticket. And what a great show. When the boys walked out on stage, to see them, to be in their presence, to be in the same room as them again, to know what was about to hit me, I didn't think it was possible, but I actually smiled bigger than I did when I read that article. And by the end of the night my smile reached from one ear to miles and miles past the other.

- Susie