By: Lizet
I was awakened at 3:28 am on September 9th by a loud ringing sound. As I reached in the direction of the sound, I picked up the phone.
“Hello?” I said, still half asleep, "Who is this?"
“Happy Birthday!!!” my parents yelled, “Did we wake you?”
“No, I was just practicing for when someone else calls at 3:28 in the morning!” I said sarcastically.
“Well, we were just calling to wish you a Happy 19th Birthday,” they said, “We will also be coming by later to visit.”
“Don’t bother,” I said, “Don’t you remember that I have already made plans.” And with that I hung up the phone.
‘What were they thinking calling me at 3 in the morning? I’m not like they are.’ I said to Fergie, my Chocolate Labrador. Fergie just licked my hand and lay back down and went to sleep. ‘How can she possibly do that? Now I am wide-awake and I can’t go back to sleep, I guess I can go for a jog at Independence Park.’
I put on my shorts, tank top, socks and tennis shoes and then I grabbed my keys. As I walked toward the door, I tripped over the rug and went crashing down onto the floor. My sister came running up the stairs from her apartment and asked if I was alright. She could tell that I was in a lot of pain so she took me to the hospital.
While we were at the hospital, she helped me fill out the check-in papers and then told me to call her if I needed a ride home. She also told me that she would get Marlin to take the rug out and then she would clean up any mess that was around. Then she left.
As I waiting to be called I heard soft music and I wanted to see where it was coming from. I limped along the hall, not paying attention to my surroundings, and I bumped into someone that looked really familiar to me, but I couldn’t remember from where though, that is until I heard him speak.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” The man said. The voice sounded more familiar and I realized who it was
“You’re Lance Bass, aren’t you?
“H…how did you know?”
“How could any female who knows *N SYNC not know your voice?” I said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here?”
“I am visiting one of my friends and this is the only time when the hospital isn’t full of people. What are you doing here?” he asked.
“This morning I hurt my ankle and my sister brought me here.”
“How did you hurt it?”
“I was getting ready to go for a jog and I tripped over the rug in my apartment.”
“Why don’t we get you off that ankle, so it doesn’t get worse.”
“I’d like that.” I laughed.
We walked back to the first waiting room I was in and waited for them to call my name. While we were waiting we talked for about 2 hours talking about different thing, basically getting to know each other. Then at 5:30 the nurse came into the room and told me that the doctor would see me now.
“Lizet, you didn’t fill in the part for date of birth,” the nurse said.
“Oh, its today 1982 is the year.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“Today is your birthday?” Lance asked
“Yes, I’m 19.”
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.”
“Before you go, I hope that I am not to forward by asking this but, do you have a boyfriend?”
“Nope, I am as single as they come.” I said with a laugh.
“Would you mind if I asked for your number? I mean, that is, if you aren’t busy doing anything for your birthday.”
“Yes you can have my phone number, and no I’m not doing anything.” I gave him my cell number and home number and I told him to call me anytime. Then I went to see the doctor.
“All you have is a little soft tissue damage.” The doctor told me.
“I have plans for tonight; will I have to wrap my ankle or anything like that?” I asked.
“No, but if you should have any pain just take 2 aspirin and the pain should go away”
“Ok, can I go now?”
“Yes you can go. Have a nice day.”
I was walked down the hall toward the pay phone, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and there was Lance.
“Hi, what are you still doing here?” I asked. By this time it was 7 am and I had been in the doctor’s office for about 2 hours because he was seeing other patients.
Here I am chatting with this really cute guy and I forgot that I was tired and I wanted to go home and go to sleep.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
“I just finish with my doctor and I am on my way to call my sister to have her come and pick me up.”
“You were with the doctor for 2 hours, are you alright?” he asked with deep concern in his voice.
“Yes I’m fine. I just have a little tissue damage to my ankle. It should heal in a few days.”
It was after 7 am and I knew that my sister was already at work, so I took a shot and asked him if he could drop me off at home. “My sister is at work now and I was wondering if you could give me a ride home? It’s ok if you can’t…I’ll get a cab.”
“No it’s ok…I’ll take you home. Where do you live?” he asked.
“Just a few blocks away from here”
“Ok are you ready to go?”
“Yup, let’s go.”
Even though the drive isn’t that long, we talked about so much. It felt like I had known him my entire life, but I knew that I had only known him for a couple of hours, and there was still so much more that I wanted to know about him.
When we arrived at my apartment, I asked him if he wanted to come up. He agreed to come up. As I entered the door, Fergie came running to me. When she noticed that there was someone else was with me, she stopped right in her tracks and started to bark.
“Here, give this to her and she’ll love you forever.” I picked up the doggie treat bag and took one out and handed it to him.
He leaned down with the treat in his hand. Fergie stopped barking, walked slowly over toward him, smelled his hand, took the treat and then licked his hand.
“I think she likes you,” I laughed.
I showed Lance around and then we sat down and continued talking.
“Would you like to do something today?” he asked.
“Sure. Like what?”
“What ever you want to do”
“Well, I usually take Fergie to this dog park for a little exercise, would you like to join me?” I asked, partly hoping that he would say yes. And of course, he said yes.
“After that, if you aren’t too tired, I mean, would you like to come to a recording session with me and the other guys?” he asked slightly blushing
‘Did he just say what I think he said? Was he asking me to go with him to the recording studio and see the other *N SYNC guys? I can’t believe my ears!’
Having thought it over for like 5 seconds I said, “That would be so much fun, sure I’d like to go. My gosh, I can’t believe I sound like such a little kid!”
“No you don’t, and besides, everybody has the little kid in them that likes to come out once and a while.” He smiled
“Since I know where the park is, why don’t we take my car? You can park yours in the underground parking and then we can leave. I’ll show you where it’s at.”
I showed him where everything was; he went and parked his car. While he was doing that, I was changing my clothes, and I got Fergie’s leash, and some bottled water. 10 minutes later, Lance came back.
“Ready to go,” I asked.
“Yes, but I have to make a quick call.” He took out his cell phone and called who ever it was that he had to call.
While he was talking, I overheard him say that he was going to be bringing over a girl that he really liked to the studio and he wanted the guys to act normal. I know; I am so nosy, but hey, this is my place, and if someone is talking, whether it is on a cell phone or my phone, I kinda listen to the conversation. He got off the phone and we left.
After the Dog Park, we went back to my place to leave Fergie, I changed clothes again and we in his car. Now I know that I really wouldn’t change my clothes 3 times in one day, but hey, this is Lance Bass I’m going to be going out in public with and I don’t want to look like I just rolled out of bed.
“I had so much fun!” Lance said, “I also never knew that I had a bigger fan than my own mom!”
“Well, you should go online and see some of the clubs that are dedicated to you, I am sure that you will find some more obsessed, I mean dedicated that me.” I said jokingly, “Where would you like to eat?”
“What about there?” he asked as we passed Café Club.
“That’s fine with me.”
We went inside the restaurant and sat down. While we were waiting for the menus to come, we continued talking…
“So what kind of music do you like?” he asked.
“I like all kinds of music, but I mostly listen to whatever is playing on KIIS FM; that’s really the only station that I listen to. I especially like…I bet know what I am going to say, don’t you?”
We looked at each other and at the same time said, “*N SYNC!” and laughed.
The menus came; we ordered, ate, and Lance paid for the food. Then we left for the studio.
As we were heading into the parking garage of the studio, Lance leaned over and whispered the words that I will never forget.
“I really like you, and I would like to see you again sometime, but we are only going to be in town for a couple more weeks.”
I was so shocked at what I heard that I didn’t say anything.
“Are you ok?”
“Yes, I’m just a little shocked. I was about to say the same thing but I didn’t know how you would react, so I didn’t say anything. But I am sure that you hear that a lot for the girls that you meet. I’m sure that we can find something to do before you have to leave.” I stopped and smiled. ‘Oh geez, I can’t believe I just said all that!’ I screamed in my head.
“I do, but with you I think that’s its different and I like the fact that you like me for who I am. I think that we could find something to do, maybe include the guys…if they are nice.” Lance laughed
He parked the car, got out and came around to the other side of the car and opened the door for me. Then we headed for the studio…holding hands. For the first time I think I truly have found love.
As we were getting to the elevator, we saw Chris and Joey. I nearly fell right where I was standing. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to meet the other guys in the group.
“Hey Lance, wait up,” Chris yelled, “Who’s that girl with you?”
We waited for Joey to catch up, and then we waited for the elevator.
“Lance, who’s the chick?” Joey chimed.
“I just asked that freak!” Chris said.
“Chill out you guys, you’ll find out who she is soon enough.” Lance said.
The elevator came and we got on. Then, not even 5 minutes later Joey asked me, “So when are we going to find out who you are?”
“Whenever Lance decides to tell you.” I said. Then I looked at Lance and smiled.
When we finally got to the studio, J.C. and Justin were just getting out of the booth and Mike their manager was talking on the phone. A few minutes later Mike got off the phone and walked over to where the guys and I were and that’s when Lance told them who I was.
“Guys, this is Lizet. I met her at Memorial Hospital this morning.”
“So, you’re the girl that Lance has a thing for,” Mike said, “I can see why, you are very pretty.”
“Thank you” I was embarrassed when he pointed me out like that and I was hoping that no one else could tell.
The other guys had no idea what Mike was talking about, so Lance was going to tell them, but he wanted to make sure that everything was done before he gave his big news.
Sometime later everything was done Lance told everybody everything. They were all shocked that Lance would pick up a girl at the hospital. Joey and Chris were making jokes at Lance’s expense that is until I gave them the evil eye and they stopped. Everybody else was happy for Lance. After all of the excitement had died down, we listened to the final cut of their new song. It was so awesome to see them all ecstatic about what they worked so hard on. The song was great.
I sat there watching the guys sing along to the song, I couldn’t help but think back on all that has happened to me in the last 15 hours. Every once and a while, Lance shot me a smile and it sent chills going up and down my spine. It’s my birthday and for the first time in years, I was really happy. I met a great guy that actually likes me; we went out and had a lot of fun. What more could I ask for. This is the best birthday that I had, so far.
“Hey guys, let’s do that thing that I was just telling you about for Lizet.” Lance said.
‘What could he be talking about?’ I thought to myself.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LIZET…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!” They all sang.
“And Minnie More on channel 4 and Scooby Doo on channel 2…” Joey, J.C., Chris and Justin sang.
“Wow, my own personal serenade for my birthday, now I can die happy.”
“Not before I give you your birthday gift.” Lance said.
“You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Oh but I did…” He slowly leaned down and kissed me. Not just a little kiss, one of those long passionate kisses that you only get from a boyfriend. I knew that my life was never going to be the same…ever again. I was on board for the ride of a lifetime and I didn’t know if I was prepared for what was ahead, but I also knew that there was no turning back. So I embraced the moment and I was hoping for the best in everything that was heading in the direction of Lance and me!
My relationship with Lance was much like any other one. I quickly got over the fact that he was rich and famous, I also got over the fact that other females were throwing themselves at him and the other guys. This was easy for me to get over because I knew who he truly loved.
Our relationship remained a secret until a magazine interview. Within that interview, 2 questions that I think are important were asked. When the topic of girlfriends came up, the first question was, now these are the magazine’s words, “single and ready to mingle”, no one really wanted to answer the question because they wanted to respect my privacy. What shocked everybody the most was that Lance decided to go first. He told them that he has a girlfriend and that was it. No mention of this girl’s name or how they met or anything of that nature. The other guys followed suit and answered the question and didn’t provide any additional information. When the next topic of how free time was spent, Lance said that he liked to get to California as much as possible to see Lizet. There no question of who Lizet was, they just left it at that.
After our initial first meeting, Lance and I were inseparable. We did lots of things together and just had an all around fun time. Then, the day that I was hoping would never come – came. It was the day that *N SYNC left California, taking Lance with them. The first few days after Lance left, I was really depressed. Then I got a letter for him. Later on that same day, Lance called. It felt so good to hear his voice again. That night we talked for hours. I told him that I was planning a trip to Florida to visit family, and if he had so free time we could get together. I was surprised when I saw him at the airport.
“How did you know which terminal I was going to be at?” I asked as I kissed him and gave him a hug.
“I have my ways, plus a little birdie named Andrea told me.”
“Well, I’ll just have to thank that birdie when I get a chance.”
We went to the baggage terminal to get me bags and then went headed off to see my aunt.
I stayed in Florida a few weeks. When it was time for me to leave, I was a little sad because I didn’t know the next time that I would see Lance was going to be, but we promised to write each other all the time – which we did, and we talked on the phone as much as we could. When it came time for my graduation from college with my 2-year degree, all of my family was there except for Lance because he wasn’t able to free up any time to make the trip.
After being with Lance for a few months I decided that I wanted to go on the road with them. I called their management team and asked if it was ok; they said it was. I also asked them not to mention it to Lance because I wanted to surprise him. I finished paying off my bills, made arrangements to have my cousin sub-lease my apartment, then I packed my things and Fergie and I were off. First we stopped in Mississippi, and then we were off to Florida.
When I arrived in Florida, my Aunt already had a place for me that was very close to Lance. Some of my cousins helped me unpack everything and get settled in. After I was done, I went to see if I could find Lance. I found him and he was very surprised to see me back in Florida. I told him that I had an apartment and he didn’t believe me, but when my parents confirmed everything and he saw my apartment he had no choice but to believe me.
There we were…Lance and Lizet – inseparable – just like before. Right before I got there, they had just finished putting the final touches on their next tour. Now the fun starts. They are just getting ready to go on tour and I get to go along with them. While I was going to be away, my cousins were going to watch my place and Fergie and finish unpacking the rest my things as they arrived.
I hadn’t been too many *N SYNC concerts, but I knew that seeing the concert from backstage was going to be a blast. I got to see first hand everything that went into making a concert successful.
During the sound check at our first stop, I sat out where the audience would be and just watched them do their thing.
“So how did we sound?” Lance asked. Like he didn’t already know the answer to that one.
“You guys were awesome!”
“No kidding?!” he said, “How did I sound?”
“You were the best!” and I gave him a kiss.
That concert went off with out any problems. At the end of the first concert there were a few people who had backstage pass that were wondering around hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the *N SYNC guys. They were in luck when they saw a room filled with other people who also had passes, so they joined in on the fun. They were able to take pictures of and with their favorite *N SYNC member.
After all was done, the day had finally come to an end. Let me tell you, four concerts really did go by fast. It just seems like yesterday that I was at the first one, now we are getting ready for the fifth and sadly last concert in New York. That is going to be so much fun!
In the hotel where we are staying, we all have our own rooms that are connected. It was so cool. Of course I was the first room in the hall and the second room was Lance’s room. No one had to go through my room to get to somebody else’s room and I liked that. Throughout the entire night all you heard on our floor was the opening and closing of doors. I was desperately trying to get some sleep when the phone rang. On the other end was Lance. He could have just knocked on the door to see if I was sleep, but he called instead, which I didn‘t mind either. He was calling to tell me good night. We ended up going down to the bar and there we sat until 5 in the morning just talking. We went back up to our rooms for about 2 hours of sleep and then it was off to our fifth stop: New York – the town that never sleeps!
When we arrived in New York I wanted to get some shopping done. When I took out my wallet in Saks Fifth Avenue, I noticed the calendar had March 9th circled on it. That’s when I realized that it was my sixth month anniversary with Lance. Wow, six months went by really fast! I have absolutely no idea what to get him. I could get him something with the Tazmanian Devil on it or another Mickey Mouse. Then again I could go ultra-romantic and we could fly away to Fiji for the weekend. Maybe all 3, who knows?
When I was done shopping I was going back to the hotel, but I stopped when I saw a little bookstore. I decided to go in and see what they had there. That’s when I saw it…the perfect gift! It was the first edition of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I just had to get it…so I did.
When I arrived back at the hotel, there was a swarm of screaming girls. I had to fight my way through the mob just to get to the elevator. I finally got to my room and there were roses all over the place. At first I thought that I had walked in to a chapel of a mortuary. When I read all of the cards, I found out that all the flowers were from Lance.
I still had 3 hours until we were going to leave for the concert venue so I tried on all of my clothes that I had just bought. After 1 ½ hours I still couldn’t decide so I called Lance and the other guys into my room and I told each one of them to pick their single favorite and then I would choose the one that I would wear later on that night. After they left I decided on a pair of tight black jeans with a candy apple red halter-top. The only thing that was left for me to decide on was what shoes to wear, how to do my hair and make-up. I bet that I will be done before the guys will, I thought to myself.
It’s show time and I have been in the bar for close to 30 minutes and working on my third soda. I make a quick stop to the ladies room to freshen up and as I make my way back from the ladies room the guys come rushing out of the elevator. When Lance saw me he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Wow, you look great!”
“Thanks, so do you, but then you already knew that.”
He blushed and I thought that he looked even cuter than before. We hugged and we are off to the concert venue. Since it was their last concert before their 3-month vacation, they decided to do all of the songs that are on all of the records that they have done. It was a real blast, especially when they did “God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You”. It was such a shock to me when they randomly picked 4 girls from the audience and I was the 5th girl and sang the song to us. I felt that Lance was singing directly to me. When they were done, each girl got a rose and a hug. For me, it was much more important because it was the night of our 6 month anniversary.
When we left the venue and were on our way back to the hotel, Lance told me that we were going to go to someplace very special for our anniversary, but he wouldn’t tell me where…it was to be a big surprise. At that point in time I was on cloud 9.
‘I can’t wait until we leave. I wonder where we are going?’ I asked myself.
Once we arrived at the hotel, Lance told me that I had one hour to pack everything then we had to catch a plane to our surprise destination. I check at the front desk to see if there were any messages for me – only one from Lance. The entire message read was “Happy Anniversary, pack lots of sun block, and don’t forget your swimsuit.”
As I thought about the message, it got me to thinking about where we were really going. When I got to my room I started packing and I finished in a record 30 minutes. That meant that I still had 30 minutes left to buy a new swimsuit and get back to the hotel so that we could leave. I knew exactly where I wanted to get my suit from, so I went directly there and picked out the suit that I wanted paid for the suit and the left back for the hotel. I got back with 5 minutes to spare.
Lance loaded our things into the airport van, and then he blindfolded me so that I couldn’t see the name of the airline that we were going on. When we got to the airport I still had on my blindfold. I wasn’t able to take it off until we were on the plane. When I took it off the captain started his usual announcements.
“Ladies and Gentlemen welcome aboard Flight 300, non-stop to Honolulu.”
“Hawaii?” I asked Lance, “I’ve never been to Hawaii!”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” He smiled and kissed me on the cheek.
An hour before we land I give him his gift. As he opened it up, his eyes lit up.
“Oh, sweetie! I love it,” he said, “it must have cost a fortune.”
“I couldn’t put a price on how much I love you, so the price didn’t matter.” We hugged and kissed.
“You have to wait until we get to Hawaii before you get your real gift.”
“Ok, that’s fine. Can’t you give a little hint as to what it is?” I pleaded.
“Nope, no hints. You just have to wait.”
When we landed I was so excited. As we were getting off the plane, we were laid with beautiful flower lays. After, we got into a waiting limousine to take us to the hotel. At the hotel, we went to the roof and boarded a helicopter and flew to a secluded island. When we got out of the helicopter there were the most beautiful horses that I had ever seen.
The owner of the ranch – which was named Juniper’s Palace – gave us a tour. He asked if Lance and I were on our honeymoon and Lance told him no, but when we did have our honeymoon we were definitely going to come back to the ranch.
‘Did I hear him right…When we have one?’ I nearly fainted.
Our first night at the ranch was very romantic. We had a candlelit dinner in our room that over looked that Pacific Ocean. The next day Lance woke up early to go see the horses, so when I woke up at 10 he wasn’t there. I put on my robe and walked to the deck to look at the ocean.
When I got to the deck there was a note that said, “Follow my clues, go into the bathroom and lift up the towel on the sink.” So I did that. When I got to the bathroom, I lifted up the towel. The next note said, “Get dressed and walk on to the beach.” So I did that. When I go to the beach I saw written in the sand… “Will you marry me?” and as I turned around Lance was there with a beautiful ring.
“Well?” he asked.
“Of course I will!” We hugged and kissed again. It was so romantic
As we were hugging, he whispered in my ear, “I couldn’t put a price on how much I love you and this is the best that I could do.”
We stayed at the ranch 3 more days. In total, we were in Hawaii for 5 days. The last 3 days were spent horseback riding, and of course…SHOPPING!
When we arrived back in Florida all of my family was so excited. They heard from Justin because Lance told the other guys before we left what he was going to do. We hadn’t set a date for the wedding. Then my best friend Crystal suggested the date of December 9th, which is the date of our 15-month anniversary. So that was the date we kept. All that’s left is planning it.
Since the date was set for the wedding, the next thing to do was to find a place to have a wedding. I wanted something with a romantic feel to it, so Lance suggested that we ask his parents if we could have it at the ranch. They gladly agreed and they also volunteered to help wherever they were needed. My parents and other family members were flying in and needed to be picked up so they said that they would go. Joey, J.C., Justin and Chris also went to pick up other family and friends.
I wanted the wedding to be light blue and pink and white. The white would represent our purity and the light blue and pink would represent our love for life. Lance picked all of the music to be played and picked the flowers to be put out.
We invited 100 people, 20 weren’t able to attend, 75 were already present and 5 were on the way. As the guest were arriving I still wasn’t ready, and neither was the Maid of Honor. My veil was enroute from my Grandmother’s house and would be coming in 5 minutes. The photographer and videograher were busy doing their job of capturing all of the special memories on film. Our family and friends were getting to know each other and I was trying hard to keep my food down and to remember my vows.
The Wedding Party consisted of me, Lance, Justin, J.C., Joey, Chris, my best friend Crystal, my niece and nephew and God Daughter Genesis. My brother told me that he wasn’t able to make it because he was really busy, but of course, 30 minutes before we were to start there came a knock at the door. It was J.C.
“Lizet, there are two people here to see you and no, none of them is Lance.”
“Let them in.”
It was my brother and sister-in-law. I was so happy to see them that I almost started to cry. They hugged me and went to take their seats. As they were leaving, I asked my brother if he would walk me down the isle with dad and he said that he would.
It’s show time!! My flower girls and ring bearer walk in as cute as can be. The bridesmaids and best men walk in. Then lastly I walk in with my brother and father on each arm. I have light pink, light blue and white flowers in my hair. My dress is long with lace and it is strapless and is opened backed. I looked very beautiful. The flowers that I carried were light pink and red roses.
The song that Lance picked for me to walk down the isle to was “Thank God I Found You” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. When we finished saying our vows, together we said, “I couldn’t put a price on how much I love you, and the price didn’t matter. This is the best way that I knew how to prove just how much my love is true to you.” Then we kissed.
The wedding Ceremony lasted 2 hours with Joey, J.C., Justin and Chris singing, “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You”. The reception lasted well into the night but Lance and I only stayed 3 hours then we were off to Hawaii for 4 days and 5 nights.
When we got back from Hawaii, Lance bought a ranch in Mississippi a few miles from where Lance’s parents live. I moved my things from the apartment that I had in Florida into Lance’s much bigger apartment. As a wedding gift from my parents, they gave Lance and me complete furnishing for our new house. They even gave us baby furnishing just in case we decide to have our own children someday. We wanted a family, but we also wanted to travel the world and do everything that we possibly could. Lance’s career was sky high with *N SYNC and with his other business ventures that we were too busy to start a family, we wanted to wait a few years.
Speaking of traveling the world, we wanted to go to as many European countries as we could, we also wanted to go to Australia. The one place that we both really wanted to go to was Africa. He had been once before, but I had never been. I wanted to see all of the animals roaming free and all of the beautiful sunsets.
After being married for 3 years, we got wonderful news…
Working with children has always been a passion of mine, so I went back to school to get my BA Degree to become a teacher for special needs children. While Lance was off working with *N SYNC and his production companies, I was going to school and taking care of the horses.
After being away from the school/university community for almost 3 years, I thought that I would have a hard time getting in the swing of going to classes 5 days a week, but I was wrong! I finished a 2-year program in 1 year because of the credits that I had from my other college. In the Spring of 2004 I graduated with honors from Mississippi State University. Everybody was there to help me celebrate my big day. Lance and his parents, some of my Aunts and Uncles from my mom’s side of the family came and so did J.C., Justin, Chris and Joey. I was so happy that I was finally going to be able to do something that I really enjoyed doing – other than being Lance’s wife that is.
After graduation I did some traveling. I stayed in Florida with Lance for a couple of months. While in Florida, we went to various photo shoots, interviews, T.V. tapings and other events. After Florida, I went to California to see my immediate family because I hadn’t seen them since my wedding. I was only able to stay there for 1 month because I had to get back to Mississippi to start looking for a job.
When I returned home, Diane told me that the local Special Education school was looking for a part-time teacher and that I should apply for the job. The next day, I applied and 2 weeks later they wanted me to start working the following Monday. I was so excited that I called everybody that I knew to tell them the news. Lance was even more excited than I was because he knew that I was going to make a great teacher and really make a difference in the children’s life.
My birthday was now quickly approaching and Lance was able to take some time off. During his time off we were never out of each other’s sight for more than a day. When my birthday came Lance tried as hard as he could to get me to go shopping with Stacy but I really didn’t want to go. But when Stacy asked me to go and just to humor Lance I reluctantly agreed.
“Have fun and spend as much money as you want, honey.” Lance said.
“Don’t worry, I will.” I said.
When I got home about six p.m. there were candles and roses all over the place. As I made my way up stairs, there was soft music playing and champagne on a small table covered with rose petals. Lance appeared from behind a large stuffed bear and took my bags in one hand and with his other hand he led me to the table. He pulled out the chair cueing me to sit down…so I did.
“Did you have fun shopping with Stacy?”
“Yes, it was so much fun.”
As I started to tell him about all that I did, he picked up my hand, led me to the bed and – well, lets just say that not very much talking was done. But it was fun.
3 months passed and our anniversary came. I wasn’t feeling too well that day, so Lance convinced me to make a doctor’s appointment to get a physical. I procrastinated for about 2 weeks then right before Christmas I made the appointment and went to the doctor. My doctor informed me that the reason that I hadn’t been feeling to good was because I was 3 months pregnant…with twins. She caught me so off guard with the fact of me being pregnant with twins that I started to cry and she thought that I was crying because I was sad, but I managed to convince her that I was very very ecstatic. I wanted to keep my news secret until Christmas dinner, but I just had to tell my parents. I called them right when I got home from the doctor’s office. They were very happy for me…especially my sister because she isn’t an aunt and really wants to be one. I had them promise me that they would let Lance or his parents know anything about it because I wanted it to be a surprise.
When Christmas dinner came, I had special gifts to give to Lance and his parents. Lance’s gift was a shirt that said, “I am the proud father of twin boys” his parents’ shirts said, “I am the proud Grandma/Grandpa of twin boys”. They were shocked and couldn’t believe it. Stacy said that she knew that I was pregnant but she didn’t think I was pregnant with twins.
“Honey, are you serious? You’re pregnant?” Lance said with a tear in his eye.
“Yes, I’m 3 months pregnant and you’re going to be a daddy!”
Everybody was so happy for me. Lance still couldn’t believe it. He just sat there with his hands on my stomach and a big smile on his face.
He called J.C., Justin, Chris and Joey to tell them to get over to his place as soon as possible because he had big news. They all thought that something was wrong and they were scared. They arrived at the house the next day. When they saw me coming down the stairs and they just knew that I was pregnant. Don’t ask me how they did but they did. They all congratulated Lance and gave me hugs.
“We’re going to be uncles!” J.C. said
“Woo hoo!” Chris and Joey said
“Way to go!” Justin said and smiled at Lance.
The next 3 months, I was getting the babies room all set up, but of course I couldn’t do all by myself. Lance really wanted to help, but he had to get back to Florida and finish recording. Everything that was done was video tapped and sent to Lance so that he could see. I had a feeling that when the boys were born that they were going to be spoiled – by everybody.
Diane and Stacy went with me for my monthly check ups. The doctor was a little concerned that the babies didn’t have enough room to grow and move and she wanted to do a C-Section, but when she did more tests, she saw that they were perfectly fine. The C-Section wasn’t needed after all.
I was six months pregnant and everything was going great. The babies’ room was done and I was really getting in the mothering mood. Lance was even more excited than I was. He was going to be a DADDY! 3 more months – June 18th, 2005 - they are going to be here. We already have names picked out. The first one is Michael David Bass and the second one is Timothy Allen Bass. Lance picked the first names and I picked the middle names – they sound so cute.
The last 2 months of the pregnancy I had 3 false labors and all three times I was sent back home with in one hour of arriving. I really wanted to have my babies at the ranch, but my mom wanted me to go to the hospital. Needless to say that on Father’s Day – June 18, 2005 at 3 a.m. they were born and Lance was right by my side in our bedroom. Michael David Bass was born first at 3 a.m. exactly. Then 2 minutes later at 3:02 a.m., Timothy Allen Bass was born. They were 6 pounds 7 ounces each and 191/2 inches long.
“This is the best Father’s Day gift that I could ever ask for!” Lance said as he kissed my forehead.
Originally we had the boys’ bassinettes in the room right across from ours, but I wanted then to be closer to me so they were moved. Lance had already been home for 5 months traveling back and forth from Florida to Mississippi, and he was really starting to miss being home with me and the boys, so one day he left Florida and drove a few days to get us and take us back to Florida with him.
When we arrived in our apartment in Florida, the babies’ room was decorated with Mickey Mouse. I had no problem with that because both Lance and I love Mickey Mouse. Their room at the ranch is also decorated the same way.
The boys are now six months old and they are starting to scoot around on the floor…it is so cute. Of course we get it all on tape to send to both their Grandparents. We videotape them doing lots of things, like Christmas when they were opening gifts from Nana and Papa (Lance’s Parents) and from my parents. Now they sleep through the night so they were moved into their own room. The first night that they weren’t with us was the first time since they were born that we got a full night’s sleep. It was so refreshing.
When they were 8 months old is when I decided that I would give up working with the special needs children to spend more time with my children and husband. I started to work at Freelance Productions and A Happy Place Productions to ease some of the stress that Lance was having. I was really starting to enjoy what I was doing.
For Tim and Michael’s 1st Birthday we had a party at the ranch. Kids from the area were invited over for cake and ice cream and to ride the horses and bounced in the bouncer. We even arranged for Mickey Mouse to come and take pictures with the boys and the other kids that came. My parents flew in and took almost 17 rolls worth of pictures. There were pictures of them eating cake, feeding caking to Fergie and trying to feed cake to Mommy and Daddy. It was so cute. The picture that I loved the most is the one with Lance, Jim, my dad, Tim and Michael together. It was around Father’s Day so they made perfect gifts for them too. I had pictures of the boys with Mickey Mouse blown up and now they are on the wall in their room.
As they got older, Lance took them everywhere he went. With J.C., Chris, Joey, and Justin around, there was never a need to worry who would watch them when Lance had to do something. Some days I would wake up and they would be gone. I would walk through the house there were clothes and toys all over the place. I made my way to the kitchen – which was even more messy – I saw a note that a said, “Mommy, we went to work with daddy. Love Timmy and Michael.” It was always written by Lance though. It was cute that I keep all of the notes.
2 years after the boys were born I decided that Lance and I should take a little vacation for his 27th birthday. I made arrangements for Tim and Michael to stay with their grandparents for the weekend. Then while they were away, we spent the time together at the ranch with the phone turned off so that there were no distractions. I tried to get Lance to relax, but Lance and the word relax don’t go together. The first night that we were alone, all Lance did was think about work. I decided that if we had a little fun, that would get his mind off of work. And I was right.
We started talking about have more children. We wanted one more. I wanted a girl, and Lance wanted another healthy child and I couldn’t agree more.
“Let’s start tonight!” he said. I wasn’t going to argue with that.
The next day we went to his parents’ house for a party. There was lots of food and all of his friends were there. Everything was video tapped so that we could remember all of the fun that we had that day.
In June, we went to The Red Lobster for the annual Father’s Day and Birthday Celebration for Tim and Michael. There were 12 of us in the group so we ordered large portions of different foods and picked from that. This was the first time that Tim and Michael were going to have seafood so I took pictures of them tasting…fish, crab, and lobster, the faces that they made were so funny, but they seemed to like it.
The next day, I wasn’t feeling too well. I thought that it was food poisoning from the night before, but I wanted to make sure. I made a doctors appointment and I found out that I was almost 2 months pregnant. She told me that the due date was somewhere around the 12th of February in 2007. When I found out, I called right from the office to tell the rest of the family. They were very happy and they wanted to get started of the new baby’s room. First Lance and I had to start preparing Tim and Michael for the new sister or brother that they were going to have.
The other guys of the group were very excited that they were going to be uncles again that they were arguing which one of them was going to be the first to hold the new baby.
“I’m going to be first because I’m the youngest!” Justin said, sounding like a little kid.
“No, I am because I’m the oldest and the most mature,” Chris said.
“Actually,” J.C. said, “Lance will be the first because he’s the daddy!”
It was so funny hearing them argue, that they didn’t even hear Lance ask them if they wanted to whether it was a girl or boy. When they finally calmed down, Lance asked again.
“Do you want to know what the sex of the baby is or not?”
“YES!” everybody shouted – the whole family came, except for my parents who were off traveling the world because they won the Lotto and didn’t even care to tell me…but that’s an entirely different story.
Lance came back in the examine room he said, “They all want to know.”
“It’s going to be a girl.” The doctor said.
“Bust out the pink things and hair bows guys…it’s a GIRL!”
“I knew it…they’ll name her after me!” Justin yelled.
“Shut up foo, we’re in a waiting room.” Joey said.
“That only applies to a library, but you wouldn’t know anything about that cuz you would never be caught dead in a place like that!” Chris said punching Joey in the arm.
They didn’t even realize that Lance had gone back into the room until J.C. looked up to ask a question… “Have you picked a…hey, where did Lance go?”
The other guys looked up and shrugged their shoulders. They ended their argument by deciding that we would tell them who was going to be the first to hold her.
A few days later, Lance and I decided that we would name the baby either Valentina Marie Bass or Elie Valentina Bass. The guys came up with the name Orlanda, but we decided to stick with the names that we had. The guys were crushed that we didn’t even consider the name. I felt bad and Lance told them that if we had any other children, they could each pick the name. Don’t ask me what we were thinking when we decided that, but they weren’t as crushed as before.
By the time my 24th birthday came, I was already 4 months pregnant and I was feeling very unwanted, say it was my hormones going wacky but I really felt horrible and Lance tried the best that he could to make me feel wanted. When it was actually my birthday no one was around. I didn’t gat a card from anybody, nor did I get a phone call. By 6 p.m. I was feeling super bad. Then I got a phone call and I started to perk up.
“Honey, come quick. It’s Tim!” Lance said, and I didn’t even let him finish his sentence. I hung up the phone and I was out the door.
When I got to Jim and Diane’s, there were no cars around. I didn’t care; the only thing was getting to my baby. When I got in the house it was completely dark.
“Lance where are you!” I yelled
Then the lights came on…
“SURPRIZE!!!” Everybody yelled. All the people that I loved in life were there. Friends, family, extended family and most importantly my husband and our sons.
“I thought that everybody forgot.” I said half crying and half laughing.
We all – or as many that could fit in there – went into the family room. “I have a special gift for you that is from me and the other guys.” Lance said as he put in the videotape from on top of the VCR.
On the video were pictures of me all throughout life. The background music was a mix of some of the songs that I really liked. There was “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlyle, “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith, “Thank God I Found You” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, lastly “God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You” by my other favorite guys. It was the best gift that I had ever gotten until Tim and Michael gave me their gift.
When I opened the gift, there was frame. Inside the frame there were family pictures and there were 3 extra spaces.
“What are the other spaces for?”
“They are for when the new baby comes.” Lance said.
5 months later – in February – I was cleaning some dishes and like usual it was time for the next member of the Bass Family to be born. I had Diane call Lance in Florida to tell him to get home. He and the other guys were on the next flight from Florida to Mississippi. 2 days later on February 14, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. We named her Valentina Marie Bass. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and light brown skin – just like her brothers. She was born very healthy. She weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces and was 17.5 inches long.
“She’s so pretty!” Justin said.
“Before you ask if you can be the first to hold her, we have made up a way to be fair. I know it sounds childish, but all of your names are in this hat,” Lance pointed to the hat at the end of the bed, “I will pull your name out of the hat and you get to hold her for 5 minutes.”
20 minutes later Valentina was back in the arms of her loving father. Lance looked so happy holding his little girl. Her eyes were open and fixed on him. Just when Lance thought that she was asleep, he was going to put her down, and then she started to cry, so he held her all through the night.
Over the next few months, I really wanted Tim and Michael to bond with their little sister so whenever Lance or I had to give her a bath the boys helped out. They even helped when it was feeding time by holding the bottle.
Months and years went by and my children were as healthy as could be. Birthdays and Anniversaries went by too. Everybody growing older, life was good. It September 5th, 2010 the boys are going to start preschool. They couldn’t wait to go to school and learn about different things.
Michael and Tim were enrolled at a school that is from preschool to 5th grade. On the first day of school, Lance and I took Tim and Michael to school. When Lance got out the car, a little 5th grade girl saw Lance.
“Mommy, Mommy,” the girl said, “Look, it’s Lance from *N SYNC!”
“Shhh, Cindy,” she mother said, “I’m sure that you are mistaken.”
Then the mother turned around and saw Lance holding Michael’s hand. She was about to go up to him, when she saw me carrying Valentina and holding Tim’s hand. She didn't bother to come over to us thinking that we were going to be rude to her. When we got inside the gates of the school, we went to the front office to find out what room the boys class was in. The Principal looked up from the desk when the door opened and light flooded into the room.
“My gosh, Mr. And Mrs. Bass, I had no idea that your children were to be going here.” She said, “My name is Mrs. Kay, I’m the Principal.”
“Please,” I said, “Call me Lizet that sounds too formal.”
“Yes, and call me Lance, my Grandfather only likes to be called Mr. Bass.” Lance said trying to lighten the tense feeling.
“Well, ok. Your children are both enrolled in room P-1” she told us, “The teacher’s name is Ms. Carlson, she is a really nice lady and all the children love her.”
She showed us where the class was and introduced us to Ms. Carlson. Ms. Carlson then introduced Tim and Michael to the class. The class was more interested in Lance. Ms. Carlson asks if Lance wouldn’t mind signing a few autographs.
“I’ll do something better,” he said, “How many people are at this school?”
“About 750, including staff.” Mrs. Kay said.
“Ok, then by the end of the day, you will have autographed *N SYNC pictures. You can tell the other staff members, but please, let it be a surprise for the students. I will be here at noon to deliver them myself when I come to pick up the boys.” With that he said good-bye to Tim and Michael, the rest of the class and we left.
It took a few weeks for the children at the school to get used to seeing Lance come around every so often. The press was never really around. They let us do our thing and didn’t bother the school or us. Timothy, Michael, and Valentina are aware that their Daddy and Uncles’ are famous, but they didn’t care. They still love them. Lance and I tried very hard to give our children as normal a life as we could.
One day, the boys were dropped off by our neighbor, and came running and crying saying that they didn’t want to go back to school.
“Why, Honey?”
“A picnic is coming for the Daddies and little boys. Daddy isn’t here to go with us.” Tim said through the tears.
“Well, why don’t we give Daddy a call and see if he can get away from work and go on the picnic.”
We called Lance at the studio in Florida, but just like I knew, he wouldn’t be able to come, but he told them that Papa would go in his place. The boys were still sad, but they loved spending time with their Grandfather. When they went to school the next day, I found out through Karri, my neighbor that picks up the kids, that the teasing had been going on for months. When I told Lance what was going on, he flew from Florida and we both went and talked to Mrs. Kay and Ms. Carlson, about that teasing.
“Well, children will be children. Your sons will get over it as all children do.” Mrs. Kay said.
I didn’t like the way that the conversation was going.
“My sons will stay at this school,” I said, “until the end of the term, and then they won’t be coming back here.”
“Honey, think about what you are saying.” Lance told me.
“I know exactly what I am doing; I am protecting my sons from people who don’t…” I caught myself before I finished, “I’m sorry, it’s just that I went through that same thing while I was growing up and I didn’t want my sons to go through the same heart ache that I went through.”
They both assured me that they would put an end to the teasing. 2 months later in December, I found out that the teasing in fact was still continuing. This time I stood my ground and informed the school that Tim and Michael would not be coming back after Christmas break.
When Christmas break came. I took my boys out of that school and began to home school them. I even included Valentina in the work that we were doing. They all excelled at what they did. They were going through the material very fast and learning so much. Tim and Michael were doing 3rd grade work in the 2nd grade and Tina was doing 1st grade work in kindergarten. Lance and I both agreed that our children are very smart and could do anything that they put their minds to. But all parents think that their children are smart, but how often to they tell their children that. Lance and I say it all the time.
Problems were starting to come up since Lance was away so much. He missed many birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions, and our family was really feeling the effects of not having him around. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I married him, but I had no idea it would affect our children in such a bad way.
Tim and Michael at the age of 10 were rebelling against me and not listening to their grandparents. Valentina was beginning to spend more time in her room and the only time she would come out of the room was to eat, go to her grandparents’ house and to go to the mall with her Aunt Stacy. She really missed Lance and he had only been to 4 of her 8 birthday parties, but he always called and wrote – a lot of times just to her.
It was time for *N SYNC to take a break from their work and spend time with their families. I contacted the other wives and we were all in agreement that we needed to do something before our families fell apart. In May of 2015, all of us wives flew to Florida to talk to *N SYNC’s management to see if there was any way for the guys to take a couple of years off to spend with their family. They agreed and we were on our way back to our different homes.
**Years Later**
As the years went on, our children grew up. Tim and Michael finished their high school classes a few years a head of everybody else their age. Since they were home schooled, the missed out on a lot of school activities like Prom, Graduation and other formal dances. We were getting ready to go to their friends’ graduation, they told me that they wouldn’t change anything that they have gone through for the world. They decided that they wanted to go into the family business – working at one of Lance’s production companies. Tim went to work at Freelance Productions and Michael went to work at A Happy Place Productions.
Tina really liked designing clothes, so we went into to business for ourselves. She named her clothing line Simply Valentina. It was a big hit with her friends in the neighborhood; even some of the female artists from Freelance wear her clothing. She has been compared to Vera Wang and other up and coming designers.
You may be wondering what has happened to *N SYNC. Well, they are doing just fine. They took 2 years off and then went back to the recording studios and put out 3 new albums in 3 years. They mostly do hosting events and they hardly do tours because of their commitment to their family, and other obligations.
Lance is busy with his production companies; Chris’s clothing line – FuMan Skeeto is doing fabulous; J.C. is managing a few up and coming singers; Justin is working with some children foundations; Joey does a little of everything, but he mostly stays at home with his family. They all have wonderful families and we are all very close.
Lance, Valentina, Tim, Michael, and I have moved to Florida. Most of the other guys live in Florida, too. We get together for everything…birthdays, anniversaries, all holidays, and other things.
Lance and I also adopted 3 other children. We now have 3 boys and 3 girls. The 3 children that we adopted are triplets. We received them when they were 3 days old. Now we have Tim and Michael, Valentina, Peter, Jesica and Naomi. The triplets are now six years old. Tim and Michael are 22, Valentina is 20, I am 43, and Lance is 46.
Well, Granny Daisy, That’s how my life is. Sorry I haven’t written to you in a long time, but as you can see I have been really busy. I am so sorry that you didn’t get to see my children, that I know that you saw them in heaven when you sent them to be apart of Lance and my life. I’ll keep you posted on all that is going on in our life. Be sure to watch over us in our daily life. Know that I have and always will love you. I miss you so much, and I hope that I have made you proud.
Love Always,
Lizet Elaine Bass
R.I.P.
Daisy Mae Elliott
1919-1999ÓLEE 2001
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