Charlie + Ladybird = BFF

When I moved to Nashville, I found myself in a city of strangers. To my relief I turned on the television in my lonely apartment and saw a familiar face. There was Charlie Neese smiling back at me! Charlie was the meteorologist at one of the television stations that we received in Kentucky, so seeing him in Nashville was a shock…….and a comfort.

Now to all of you, Charlie may just be a television personality, but he was my first friend in Nashville…….whether he knew it or not. It was nice to see a familiar face in a sea full of new ones.

Apparently I voiced my opinion on Charlie a lot without realizing it. Whenever he would come on the television screen I would unconsciously say, “I love Charlie Neese!” Birddog rolled his eyes at me for a while. Then, he started mocking me by saying it with me……adding a huge sigh, like I was hopelessly in love with my meteorologist friend. Finally I just stopped saying it out loud, because before I could even think of it, Birddog would say, “I know, I know, you just LOVE Charlie Neese!”

It became a running joke that Birddog would pretend to be jealous of Charlie, someone that I had never met. I thought that it was cute. Like the time that I had a dream that Kenny Chesney was trying to get me to be his girlfriend. I thought it was so funny, because I don’t even like Kenny Chesney, but every time one of his songs came on the radio, Birddog would quickly change the channel and mumble things under his breath.

On my way into church a couple of weeks ago, a nice looking gentleman opened the door for me and welcomed me inside. About the time I got half-way across the lobby, I did a double-take. IT WAS CHARLIE NEESE! Charlie goes to my church! It was so hard for me to contain my laughter and I could not wait to get home to tell Birddog who had greeted me at church.

I had looked for Charlie every week since then with no luck……..until this weekend. On Sunday morning, I was walking toward the front door and I noticed that he was standing on the stairs outside. Here was my chance......I waltzed over, stuck out my hand and introduced myself. As soon as I got my name out of my mouth, his eyes widened, he smiled and said, “YOU’ RE LADYBIRD GARTON! I have been looking for you!!”

I was thrilled! My first Nashville friend was looking for me too! And then I realized that he had been sent as a lookout. Chad, my Dickson pastor, needed to speak with me and had sent Charlie to try to find me on my way into church. (I am sure with the baby-bump that he could see me from a mile away.) But at least I got the thrill, even for a moment, of thinking that Charlie was looking for me too!

I got to chat a few minutes with him and explained my husband’s jealousy over my pseudo-obsession with him. It was nice to finally meet him face-to-face and thank him for being my first friend in Nashville. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and I hope that I didn’t freak him out by telling him my story!

The same thing is now happening with Amy Watson……ever since she moved from WPSD to Nashville, I keep saying that I love her too. Ironically, Birddog isn’t jealous of her and even agrees with me. Hhhmmmm…….maybe I should be worried!

Take a minute to check out Charlie's blog too!

It turns out, BrandiAndBoys has a big tv crush!