In a sea full of cowboy hats and cutoff jeans on Sunday night, Cassidy Huff was rocking a bald head and contagious joy.
After missing out on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival last year due to it being sold out, Cassidy’s mother, Kelley, surprised her in April with tickets to the country event.
“For her birthday this year and as something to look forward to for her as she went through a grueling year of chemo, I bought tickets back in April for her and me to attend,” Kelley wrote on Facebook. “We were worried she would not be able to go as it was so close to her last treatment. But, she gained enough strength and 5 weeks post chemo we went!”
As we now know, the festival wound up being the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But before the terror and destruction, before evil slithered its way in, there was joy.
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Kelley, who was reluctant to post anything about their experience at the concert this past weekend, decided to focus on the good. She opened up on social media with gratitude and praise for the incredible people who made their three days at the festival memorable in the best ways.
“I am so thankful for every concert goer, perfect strangers, who came up to Cassidy and gave her a high-five, or a fist bump, or a hug, offered words of encouragement or shared their stories of a loved one who is fighting or fought cancer. It was so heartwarming to feel the love from people we didn’t even know and it made me so happy.” She continues, “I reflected on the last year and how far we had come and how happy my daughter was and I savored that moment having her alive and standing next to me at a fun event.”
One stranger in particular stood out in Kelley’s mind as someone who needed to know how grateful she was.
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“I am so thankful for that unknown, shirtless cowboy who came up to Cassidy and said, ‘I want to dance with you…just follow my steps.’ He shuffled his feet a bit, twirled her around, dipped her and set her down leaving her with a big kiss on the top of her bald head. She had the biggest smile. It brought her joy. Good, great, awesome people were at that festival.”
The Nevada-based mother-daughter duo navigated the busy concert venue for three days. On the last night, rather than standing at the front near the stage like they had, Kelley and Cassidy opted to sit near the back. They watched the people, and absorbed the beauty that surrounded them.