Four-year-old Caitlin and her mother, Jeanne, became huge fans of Ace during his time on the fifth season of American Idol.   When they did some research on Ace on the internet, they found that they had another bond with him – his interest in the welfare of sick children. 

Her parents suspected something might be wrong with Caitlin when she was about 14 months old, when they noticed her knee was swelling just as she was starting to walk.  It wasn’t until about four months later that a definitive diagnosis was made….Caitlin had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

The months between the first symptoms and the diagnosis were the hardest, seeing her suffer and not knowing what was causing her to wake up in the  mornings  in so much  pain.     Once  she  was


diagnosed, she quickly responded to medication and is lucky that her form of the disease is considered mild, affecting her knees and wrists.   Now, unless she has a particularly bad flare-up, her pain is minimal and she doesn’t really complain.  She has to be careful, though, to take her medication and to get plenty of rest, but she is a very active pre-schooler who even plays soccer.

Caitlin was the first in her family to become a fan of Ace while watching American Idol, and she even named her Malibu Ken doll after Ace!   Her mother attended the American Idol concert in St. Louis, though Caitlin was unable to attend, and received backstage passes.   Once backstage Jeanne met Ace and told him about Caitlin.  Ace started asking her questions about Caitlin, so Jeanne decided to take Caitlin to the Dallas concert so Caitlin could meet Ace as well.   Ace surprised the family with backstage passes for the Dallas show, and also met them outside the venue when he arrived before the concert.   Backstage after the show, Ace made sure she met the other idols (and Caitlin even got her picture taken with them) and he talked to her for a long time.   Both of Caitlin’s parents were quite impressed with Ace, and found him to be as admirable off stage as he was on.  Caitlin was really dressed for the occasion!  She wore a special t-shirt with Ace’s name on the front, painted “Ace Young” on her fingernails, and even brought along her teddy bear dressed like Ace.   The bear also had a recorded message to Ace from Caitlin:  “Thanks for being my idol, Ace.  I love you.”  


















Ace really made this young highroller’s dream come true.  What does Caitlin love about Ace?   She says it’s the way he sings, the way he helps sick kids, and that he has curly hair just like her!



Photo Credit:  Kimberlee Long