Most fans of Taylor Swift who get the iconic “22” hat during the Eras Tour are chosen at random, but for Eloise Childs, the moment she received the fedora in Indianapolis on November 2 had been seven years in the making.

“It’s incredible to think about how everything came together,” Cindy Childs shared during a Zoom call. She has been a fan of Swift for many years.

“I’ve been listening to her music since it first came out,” Cindy recalled. “I’ve had the good fortune to meet Taylor multiple times at various points in my life.”

Cindy is a devoted original Swiftie who felt a connection with the multi-talented artist from the start. In the early days, Swift was quite active on social media, particularly Instagram and Tumblr, engaging with fan accounts by commenting and liking posts or participating in livestreams.

Just three months after Eloise was born, Cindy went live on Instagram to catch up with friends and family. Unexpectedly, it turned into a Q&A session with Swift, who greeted her in the comments just moments after the stream started.

“It was such a fun interaction because Taylor was like, ‘Don’t wake her up,’ and all my friends were saying, ‘Wake her up!'” she chuckled. Swift ended up chatting for 45 minutes and mentioned wanting to meet Eloise someday.

Fast forward to a week before the last U.S. show of the Eras Tour, where Cindy had tickets.

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Cindy shared screenshots of Swift’s comments on social media, along with news that she and her daughter would be at the same concert. The Swiftie community rallied and tagged Taylor in hopes that her team would notice them, and they did.

“Everyone was telling me, ‘This is gaining so much attention, you have to share your seat location,'” Cindy noted. “I tweeted that we were in Section 112, Row 1, in case anyone wanted to exchange friendship bracelets.”

A Long-Awaited Moment

Childs had an intuition that something significant was about to happen on the concert day.

“I kept noticing the number 13,” she shares. “Our entrance was Gate 13. Our seats were numbered 13. Even my Dunkin’ Donuts order was 1313.”

In the world of Taylor Swift, the number 13 is considered lucky, as it’s her favorite number throughout her Eras Tour. Regardless of whether the 13s were a sign of good fortune, a special moment unfolded during the song “Love Story”.

As the song neared its conclusion, a female member of Swift’s team approached the 7-year-old, who was wearing a shiny “1989” bomber jacket, along with security. She asked the girl if she was named Eloise and took her hand. Childs, her sister, and her niece followed closely behind all the way to the edge of the stage runway.

While performing “22,” Swift made her way down the long stage to where the young girl stood and remarked, “The last time I saw you, you were just a baby.” She placed a hat on Eloise’s head, which had “Eras Tour Indy” and her signature written in gold Sharpie on the inside of the brim, also infused with her perfume scent.

“From where we were, everything is a blur,” Childs recalls. “I sort of zoned out. I handed my phone to someone behind me. My sister and I were ecstatic, jumping up and down. I didn’t hear [Swift] say, ‘Hi, Eloise’ or ‘The last time I saw you, you were just a baby.’ I was immensely grateful that her team recognized my niece. Swift gave her a high five and pointed at me.”

After “Red (Taylor’s Version)” concluded, Childs exclaimed, “Did that really just happen?”

“I looked at my daughter and thought she doesn’t grasp how monumental this moment is,” Childs reflects.

Days later, Eloise brought the hat to her show and tell, but Childs intends to keep it safely displayed in a case, hoping that the scent of perfume will endure for years to come.

A devoted fan for twenty years, she expresses the significance of Miss Americana in her life with a quote from her friend, Gena Baillis: “I came for Taylor’s music, but I stayed for her personality.”

With nine more fortunate fans waiting to be honored in Toronto and Vancouver, Swift is set to wrap up her remarkable Eras Tour on December 8.

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