No, these kids don’t have family who can afford that or even think to prioritize it. That’s not okay, Taylor said quietly. Every kid deserves to have those experiences. Every kid deserves to feel special and normal and like they matter enough for someone to take them somewhere fun. I agree, Sarah said.
But with our budget and the number of kids we serve, we just can’t make it happen. I probably shouldn’t have posted about it. I don’t want to make the kids feel worse by highlighting what they can’t have. Sarah, what if they could have it? Taylor asked. What if every single one of those 300 kids came to my opening night in Nashville? Would that work? Could you organize that? Sarah actually laughed, thinking Taylor was joking. That would be amazing.
But Taylor, do you know what 300 Iris tour tickets cost? We couldn’t possibly afford that. And I can’t ask you to just give away that many tickets when people are paying thousands for them. I’m not asking you to afford it, Taylor said. I’m telling you, I want to do this. I want every kid in your program at my opening night show, but more than that, I want to make sure they have the full experience.
I don’t want them to just have tickets and feel grateful. I want them to feel like they deserve to be there, like they’re just as important as every other kid in that stadium. Sarah was crying now. Taylor, I don’t know what to say. That would change their lives. They would never forget that. good, because they should never forget that they matter.
Now, here’s what I’m thinking, and you tell me if I’m missing anything that would make this better. What Taylor outlined over the next 20 minutes was so far beyond just tickets that Sarah kept having to stop her to make sure she’d heard correctly. Taylor wanted to provide not just tickets, but the entire experience.
That meant new outfits for every child because many of them didn’t have concert appropriate clothes and she didn’t want them to feel self-conscious. That meant transportation to and from the stadium because many foster families didn’t have reliable vehicles or the means to drive that many kids. That meant food during the concert because Taylor had learned that some of these kids struggled with food insecurity and she wanted them to enjoy the full experience without worrying about hunger.
But Taylor wanted to go further than the logistics. She wanted every child to have a VIP experience that made them feel special. That meant early entry to watch soundcheck. That meant special seating sections reserved just for them with signs that said Tennessee foster care family. That meant a meet and greet before the show where Taylor could actually talk to these kids, learn their names, hear their stories, and make sure they knew they mattered to her personally, not just as a charitable gesture. These kids spend their whole
lives feeling like an obligation, like a problem to be solved, like a burden on the system. Taylor explained to Sarah, “I want them to spend one night feeling like they’re the most important people in the world because they are.” Sarah called an emergency meeting with her staff and the foster families in the program.
When she told them what Taylor was offering, several people burst into tears. The foster parents, who worked so hard with limited resources to give these kids good lives, felt overwhelming gratitude that someone was recognizing how much these children deserved. But the real moment came when they told the kids.
15-year-old Marcus, who had been in seven different homes since age 8 and had learned to never get excited about anything because disappointment hurt too much, just stared at Sarah when she told him, “You’re lying. Nobody does stuff like that for kids like us.” Marcus, I’m not lying. Taylor Swift wants you at her concert. She wants to meet you.
She wants you to have the same experience as every other kid who loves her music. Marcus broke down crying. But why? Why does she care about us? We’re nobody. Sarah knelt down to his eye level. That’s exactly why she cares, Marcus. Because she doesn’t think you’re nobody. She thinks you’re somebody who deserves the world.
8-year-old Jasmine, who had been in foster care since she was three and barely remembered her biological parents, asked a question that broke every adult’s heart. Do I get to keep my outfit after, or do I have to give it back? She had never owned clothes that she didn’t have to share or pass down or leave behind when she moved to a new placement.
The idea that she might get to keep something special, something just hers was almost too good to believe. You get to keep everything, sweetheart, Sarah assured her. The outfit, the memories, everything, it’s all yours. The week leading up to the concert was chaotic in the best possible way. Taylor’s team worked with Sarah to get sizes for every child.
And instead of just sending generic outfits, they sent options so each kid could choose what they wanted to wear. For many of these children, it was the first time anyone had asked their preference about something. The first time their individual taste mattered. 12-year-old Destiny chose a sparkly purple dress because, as she told her foster mom, “I’ve always wanted to feel like a princess, and purple is my favorite color, and maybe tonight I can feel pretty.
” Her foster mom cried because Destiny had never expressed wanting to feel pretty before. Had never seemed to believe she deserved to feel beautiful. The day of the concert arrived, and the logistics were extraordinary. Taylor had arranged for buses to pick up all 300 children and their chaperones from various locations around Nashville.
Each bus had snacks, drinks, and a video message from Taylor welcoming them and telling them how excited she was to meet them. On the buses, something beautiful happened. These kids who came from different foster homes, different schools, different circumstances, but shared the common thread of being in the system started connecting with each other. They realized they weren’t alone.
They found kids who understood what it felt like to not have a permanent family, to always be the new kid, to feel like you didn’t quite belong anywhere. 16-year-old Alexis, who would age out of the system in two years and was terrified about her future, found herself sitting next to 15-year-old Jordan, who was equally scared.
“I’ve never met another foster kid my age before,” Jordan admitted. “I thought I was the only one feeling this way.” “Me, too,” Alexa said. “I thought something was wrong with me for being so worried all the time.” They exchanged phone numbers and that connection formed on a bus ride to a Taylor Swift concert became a friendship that would support both of them through aging out and into adulthood.
When the buses arrived at the stadium, Taylor was waiting outside to personally greet them. Not just a quick wave, but actually standing there as 300 kids filed off buses, making eye contact, high-fiving, hugging kids who wanted hugs and saying, “I’m so glad you’re here.” to each small group. Marcus, the 15-year-old who hadn’t believed this was real, walked off the bus and locked eyes with Taylor.
