I am sure everyone has heard about the upcoming reunion that is sure to rock the music world to its core. New Kids on the Block are back! Oh, man! I feel like a 13-year-old girl again … I can feel the love for Joey Joe returning as we speak.

Nathan has promised me that if the New Kids perform in Nashville, he is getting me tickets and he will go with me. Even if I wasn’t a former fan, I would want to go just to see Nathan at a NKOTB concert. Of course, my husband still brags about front row seats at a Spice Girls concert in 1998, so his music cred has already been completely destroyed.

I was obsessed with the New Kids on the Block from 1988 to 1990. I kept HUNDREDS of pinups organized in a three-ring binder. The individual photos were first, placed in the order in which I liked that member (Joe, Jordan, Jon, Donnie, Danny was my personal pecking order). The group photos were arranged based on how much I liked the particular pose/photo quality. So, each new issue of Teen Beat or Bop brought with it hours of consideration over where to place each photo. When the hole punches I carefully made to insert each page started to wear thin from hours of pouring over their beautiful faces, I affixed gummy reinforcements.

I had all of their birthdays memorized and sent them presents. I remember that Donnie listed his favorite TV show as Sesame Street (I know your fan base was young, but come on now), so I bought him a Bert and Ernie figurine one year. What twenty-year-old dude wouldn’t love that? All I ever got back was an offer to join the fan club. (I spent countless dollars on posters and t-shirts, but could never fork over the $25 to become a member)

I requested admissions catalogs from Boston College so that I could set my sights on the GPA and SAT standards needed to enroll there. I figured that once I got to the city, I could find Joe and convince him to marry me.

I found a letter I wrote to a friend my freshman year in high school. In it, I questioned whether I would break up with my current boyfriend if I met Joe and he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I decided that I would. Sorry, Glenn (names have not been changed to protect anyone because this was nearly twenty years ago and laughable at this point).

I knew that eventually all of the girls who claimed to love NKOTB would move on and stop being real fans. That would never happen to me. I was going to be the last fan standing and I would be rewarded for my unending devotion. The emotions of adolescents can be fleeting, however. My focus changed by the end of 9th grade, when I switched my passionate allegiance to The B-52s and Depeche Mode. I could no longer be bothered by such a childish boy band like the New Kids.

Today, in 2008, nostalgia has gotten the better of me and I would love to see the New Kids on the Block in concert one more time (bringing the total to four). Let’s bring out the Aqua Net, the curling iron and the stonewashed jeans … I’ve got some awkward early teen years to relive!