When you wish upon a star

When you’re 13 years old, you’re too young to shave or drive a pickup truck.

You don’t always get the girl, either, even though you can write a song about it.

Still, you can sit on the edge of your bed with a guitar and sing to the lamp shades and sock drawers.

You can dream about having your guitar autographed by Luke Bryan before a big concert at the stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play football.

You can imagine he will ask you to take it out of the case and play him a song.

This is the part of the dream when the country music star rolls back his head in amazement.

Luke Bryan is your hero. You are pinching yourself just standing in your boots next to him. He wants to know if you will come onstage with him and sing in front of 50,000 people.

“Yes, sir,’’ you tell him, with nerves of steel guitar strings.

There are twice as many people in the crowd than the entire population of 398 square miles back home in Monroe County. There are so many lights you feel as if you’ve been transported to another galaxy. Above your head is the one of the largest high-definition TV screens in the world.

But there you are, playing one of Luke Bryan’s guitars and singing two of his songs — “Do I” and “Here’s to the Farmer.’’

In between songs, he asks if you’re nervous.

“How are you not nervous? I’m nervous!” he shouts. Then he tells the crowd, “This is unbelievable. He’s 13 years old!”

He sings along, but mostly yields the stage to you. The loyal fans who came to see him are clapping with their hands above their heads. They are screaming and applauding for you.

At the end, when the roar dies down, he points to his fancy, custom Gibson guitar he let you play.

“See that guitar?” he asks. “You just take it with you back to Georgia.’’

NO, IT WAS NOT A DREAM

Ethan Payne is not tallest, strongest or heaviest student at Banks Stephens Middle School in Forsyth. But, for the past two weeks, he has been the Big Man on Campus.

His classmates have nicknamed him “Celebrity.’’ Even though math is his favorite subject, there is no way to keep count of how many times folks have been slapping him on the back.

To meet young Ethan and have him play a song for you on the sofa in his living room, you might never know he has cystic fibrosis, an incurable — and often terminal — genetic disease that results in lung infections and other health issues.

His older brother, Chris, who turned 20 last week, also suffers from cystic fibrosis. A few months ago, a social worker with Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta asked Ethan what he would like to do through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants “wishes” to children with life-threatening illnesses.

Twelve years ago, brother Chris chose to go to Disney World. Without hesitation, Ethan said he wanted to attend a Luke Bryan concert.

“I’ve always loved his music,’’ Ethan said. “He’s a nice guy with lots of fans. He is humble and genuine.’’

Bryan also is from just down the road in Leesburg. He has sold more than seven million albums and is a two-time winner of the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award.

Make-A-Wish made it happen. Ethan and his mom, Lisa Payne, and grandmother, Annie Hester, headed to Dallas with tickets to Bryan’s show on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Ethan and his family were at the end of a line of about 200 people for a “meet and greet” with Bryan a few hours before the concert. (Make-A-Wish kids usually are the last to meet with Bryan so he can spend time with them without holding up the line.)

He was allowed to bring three items for Bryan to autograph. He took his guitar, and that’s when the magic began.

Ethan started playing the guitar when he was 8 years old. His mother wasn’t so sure it would last much past a G, C and a D chord.

“His older brothers got guitars when they were about that age. I guess it’s a phase they go through. But Ethan was the only one who actually did anything except break the strings,’ Lisa said, laughing.

His grandmother was skeptical, too, when she bought him the guitar for Christmas at Bill Hardin Music in Macon.

“To tell you the truth, I got the cheapest thing I could find,’’ Annie said. “I thought he would play it for a little while and it would be over with.’’

He began taking lessons and never stopped moving his fingers up and down the frets. His mother finds guitar picks scattered like crumbs around the house. For years, he was in the band at school, playing the tuba, baritone and trombone.

Lisa signed him up for voice lessons this past spring, “after his voice stopped changing.’’ Now, he joins vocal coach Torri Barnette-Broxton and her other students to perform around town at places like Twang and Mellow Mushroom.

It’s a long way from playing in front of 50 folks at Twang and 50,000 at the Cowboys’ stadium.

But Ethan now has a Luke Bryan guitar and a memory that will stick with him forever. When you wish upon a star, dreams really do come true.

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 2:52 PM with the headline "When you wish upon a star."