McCartney Times

When Sally Smalling and her family attended their first Paul McCartney concert together, she never expected they’d be called up on stage, where her son, Jes, a 9-year-old with autism, would get to play the former Beatle’s bass guitar.“It was the most amazing experience that I can imagine, not only for ourselves, but for our children,” Smalling said, still ecstatic a week after the family returned from the concert to their home in Bowling Green.Along with her son, Sally and her husband, Hank, have an 11-year-old daughter named Danielle.The family decided to go all out when it got tickets to see rock legend McCartney during his One on One Tour in Duluth, Ga., last week.The family wore flamboyant costumes modeled after the button-up suits worn by the Beatles on the cover of the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album and carried signs spelling out “Help!” after the group’s fifth album. The costumes were tailored by local seamstress Joyce Piel, and Louisville artist Gretchen Leachman did the lettering on their signs.While looking after Jes, Hank got the word from a security guard to “come with me” backstage.“The crowd knows,” Hank said of the moment, recalling “everybody cheering and waving.”Along with feeling starstruck, Sally said she was impressed by how well McCartney engaged with her kids, especially her son.“He was so nice. He talked to each one of us,” she said. The moment was captured in several videos taken by audience members that were posted online.“I love your costume, by the way,” McCartney can be heard telling Danielle in the video. Danielle wore a bright pink suit, portraying Ringo Starr.“What do you think of being up in front of all these people?” McCartney asked her.“I’m very nervous,” Danielle said, a smile breaking out on her face as the crowd cheered.“So am I,” McCartney replied.McCartney then turned to Jes, who wore a blue suit and portrayed a younger McCartney. Jes can be seen eagerly reaching for McCartney’s bass guitar.“Do you want to play my bass?” McCartney said, bending down to let Jes strum the strings while the family breaks out in grins.“You’ve got a lovely family,” McCartney told Hank before signing their costumes and bidding farewell with a group hug. As they left the stage, several other audience members offered to share video and pictures they’d taken and asked them to pose for photos.Looking back, Danielle remembers how stunned she was.“I couldn’t believe that I was meeting Paul McCartney,” she said.For the Smalling family, their shared love of the Beatles’ music brings them together despite their different interests.“It’s just like a big thing that we all like,” Danielle said. Her mother agreed, adding, “It’s kind of like one of those things that brings us all together.”

Source: Paul McCartney gives Bowling Green family ‘amazing experience’ | News | bgdailynews.com