Bismarck fans have a memorable run-in with Taylor Swift's mom during Minneapolis concert
MINNEAPOLIS – People know Kathleen Wrigley for many things. She is a writer, public speaker, health/child advocate, counselor, professor, parent, and the former second lady of North Dakota, but this weekend she’s the latest gal pal of Taylor Swift’s mom.
Okay, “gal pal,” might be too strong a moniker, but the two women definitely did a little mom-bonding at Andrea Swift’s daughter’s concert in Minneapolis Friday – capped off with Swift sharing a meal of concession stand hot dogs with Kathleen and her entire crew from Bismarck.
“It was kind of surreal. I'm not gonna lie,” said Wrigley.
“A girls’ weekend”
Wrigley’s “surreal’ night began as it did for the 120,000 or so other fans who eventually made their way to Swift’s concerts at U.S. Bank Stadium, Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 with the decision to try and get tickets to see one of music’s biggest superstars.
Wrigley had seen her in concert once in Fargo, but her daughters nudged her to go again.
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“Both Quinn and Harper were like, ‘Mom, it's a girl's weekend. We got to do this!’” Wrigley said.
It didn’t take much convincing.
“I really do like Taylor Swift. She just is such a great role model and example to girls, women, young women, and so I really did want to go with them,” she said.
They lucked out on getting ‘wonderful seats’ in the eighth row thanks to some dedicated computer-surfing – repeatedly clicking and refreshing –on ticket-sale day.
Wrigley, 22-year-old Quinn, and 15-year-old Harper left their home in Bismarck to attend the sold-out show. (Kathleen’s husband and Quinn and Harper’s dad is Drew Wrigley, North Dakota’s Lt. Governor from 2010 to 2016 and the current Attorney General for North Dakota.)
The Wrigleys were joined at the concert by Harper’s friends; Tarynn Backman, Katie Kusler, and Maddie Miller, all of whom, like Harper are incoming sophomores at Shiloh Christian School in Bismarck.
A ‘fan-fulfilling concert’
Wrigley said because of the great seats they had they were very close to a canopy where Taylor Swift’s parents were said to be.
Andrea Swift is said to go to most if not all, of Taylor’s shows and Minneapolis was no exception.
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“Right before Taylor Swift came out people were going right near our section and going crazy. Harper and her friends are standing on the chairs trying to see what's going on. And Harper said ‘I bet it's her mom.’ So lo and behold apparently her mom was sitting near us,” Wrigley said.
She didn’t think much of it and just enjoyed what she called an 'unbelievable show' and what Star Tribune critic John Beam said, “may be the most fan-fulfilling show I've ever seen in 48 years of reviewing.”
Wrigley concurs.
I cannot believe not just how insanely talented she is, but her stamina. Yeah. I mean, she played 44 songs. 17 costume changes. I was blown away!” Wrigley said.
But Wrigley and the Bismarck fans' night was about to go into the stratosphere.
Meeting Tay-Tay’s mom
Toward the end of the show, Kathleen and Quinn went to the restroom. On their way back to their seats, they spotted Andrea Swift.
“So I waved to her and one security guard said ‘No, no, you can't stop. They don't talk to anyone when she's on stage,’” Wrigley said.
But another security guard was more tender-hearted
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“I said ‘I really want to get a picture with my daughter and her mom, but I don't want to intrude or be rude.’ And he said ‘Well, I'm not going to stop you. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’ And I said “You know what? My dad always told me, ‘The only dumb question is the one not asked.’ So I'm going to ask,” Wrigley recalled.
From left Kathleen Wrigley, Andrea Swift and Quinn Wrigley. Kathleen wanted to let Andrea, Taylor Swift's mother, know what a wonderful role model Taylor is to young women and told her how proud she must be of her superstar daughter. Contributed photo/Kathleen Wrigley
So Wrigley caught her attention and Andrea Swift responded to the bubbly Bismarck mom.
“She started walking down and I said “I just want to say hello from my mom's heart to your mom's heart. I'm a mom and I can't even imagine how proud you are,’” Wrigley said.
That mom bond seemed to have struck a chord with Mama Swift.
“She said ‘Oh my goodness I need to give you a hug!’ And she embraced me full-on. Our arms were fully wrapped around each other,” Wrigley said, “I was in shock and kind of choked up by how kind and approachable and normal she was. Just a normal mom.”
Kathleen Wrigley, right gets a hug from Taylor Swift's mother, Andrea after telling her how proud she must be of Taylor. Contributed photo/Quinn Wrigley
Kathleen told Quinn to run and get Harper and her friends or she’d never forgive them. When Harper and her friends found out about Kathleen’s brush with Swift greatness, they came running and it turns out Harper wasn’t surprised by what her mom had done.
“She said, ‘I knew it. I knew you would go up to her!’ She just knows me,” Wrigley said.
Wrigley says the girls were sobbing when they met the woman who gave birth to their favorite superstar. They had their photo taken covered in the colorful friendship bracelets fans exchange at Taylor’s concerts.
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Harper Wrigley, 15, was excited to meet Andrea Swift, Taylor Swift's mom, at Taylor's Friday, June 23 concert at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Contributed photo/Kathleen Wrigley
“Harper’s friend Tarynn made hundreds of these bracelets to swap and get out to people in the crowd. She's giving them to security guards and everyone,” Wrigley said. “Tarynn had also made a bracelet specifically for Taylor’s mom and she got to give it to her last night. That was really super sweet.”
And it seemed Andrea Swift had a gift of her own to share. Perhaps, because her daughter’s show was going into marathon territory (three and a half hours in length), Andrea might have been concerned that the young fans were getting hungry. She started passing out concession stand hot dogs to a lot of the fans.
“So she gave the girls the hot dogs. Of course, Harper ate her hot dog because she was starving. But Tarynn says that she's going to put it in a shadow box,” Wrigley said with a big laugh.
Wrigley said it was a whirlwind of a weekend. After the show, she and Harper only got a couple of hours of sleep because she had to get her youngest child (Kathleen and Drew are also parents to 20-year-old Patrick) to a basketball camp in South Dakota.
But as Harper hit the courts and Kathleen sat in the stands watching the games, memories of the concert and her night “mom-bonding” with Taylor Swift’s mom stuck.
"It was a really neat mom moment. Forget the flare. Forget the title. The title was just Mom. At that moment, the titles were mom and we just embraced," Wrigley said.
She said she and her daughters are still riding on a high.
“I’ll never forget Harper as she's walking away from Taylor Swift's mom, she's crying and she is sobbing saying ‘this is the best night of my whole life.”
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Source: INFORUM
