If only I had known.

Hindsight is 20/20, but how could I not have seen it. This girl was going to turn into a beautiful woman some day and be world famous. She had a radiant personality and became immediate friends with everyone she ever met. And she could play basketball! Yet, I didn't even try to really get to know her.

You see, I knew Britney Spears. I was a guest in her house, rode in the same car and even went to the movies with her. But after 1992, I never saw her again. I had no idea what she would become. And for that, I will never forgive myself.

I remember thinking she was a nice girl, but I was 13 and she was 9. That's a pretty big age difference when you're starting junior high school and the other person is in the fifth grade. It just didn't seem like we had much in common at the time.

I suppose it is conceivable, but highly unlikely, that I could still get in touch with Britney if I wanted to, but it wouldn't be the same. If I had really gotten to know her back then, who knows how close we would be now?

Britney and I are connected in a convoluted way. Britney was raised in a tiny Louisiana town named Kentwood, the same place where my mother, Rebecca, grew up. My mom and Britney's parents, Lynn and Jamie Spears, attended Kentwood High School together. That's where it gets confusing. My uncle and mother's brother, David Simmons, married Jamie Spears' cousin, Suzy. Both couples started families, and the Spears' second child was Britney. The Simmons' children, my first cousins, are named Jennifer and Erin. Britney and Erin became good friends as they grew up. And Jennifer and I were close because we were similar in age. So, whenever I went to Kentwood to visit, all four of us would hang out.

We played at Britney's house, went to movies together and rode around town with my uncle as our chauffeur. I even saw her room from the famous Rolling Stone photo shoot several years ago. I vividly remember a night when we all went to see the film "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" at a theater in McComb, Miss. We all sat in the last row, then Jennifer told Erin and Britney to go sit somewhere else. Jennifer had a reputation to maintain and being seen with her younger sister and younger cousin was not cool. So they went to sit closer to the screen. Looking back, I can't believe I allowed Britney Spears to be shooed away so easily. The fact that I didn't speak up and let them stay is one of the great mistakes of my life.

Now, hardly a day goes by that I don't think about Britney. Whenever I see her on television, I wonder what could have been. I still see her as that nice, shy girl I knew back in Kentwood. To think that I could have counted her as one of my friends today would have definitely been cool. Had I only realized who was sitting next to me in the movie theater on that fateful night, my life might be a little different. Had I just made a little more of an effort to befriend her, I could have been a guest at her movie premiere or, even better, hang out backstage at her Saturday night concert at Savvis Center.

If only I had known.

Nathan Young, 23, is a senior at Webster University. Despite his sadness at not maintaining contact with Britney Spears over the years, he has carved out a happy, fulfilling life.

Written by Nathan Young, St. Louis Today
Posted by Ruben