VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach's Kellan Walsh may be only 9 years old, but she keeps up with Swifties of all generations.
The fourth-grader's favorite songs span across all albums, and she's in on the fandom's secrets. After all, she started listening when she was 4 or 5 years old.
That's why, for Kellan and her mom, Kristin, waiting out the 4-hour rain delay for the Eras Tour in Nashville this past May was non-negotiable. But the reason she refused to take off her concert wristband until just last weekend goes deeper.
The mother-daughter duo got tickets to see the iconic show almost a year ago. But a week before the concert, the Eras Tour was the last thing on their minds.
On Sunday, April 30, an EF-3 tornado ripped through Virginia Beach's Great Neck neighborhood. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Wakefield, Virginia reported that at least 115 buildings in the neighborhood were damaged, but nobody was injured.
The Walsh family was home when the tornado warning appeared on the TV screen. Kellan narrated the thoughts of many in that situation: "you don't think there's going to be a tornado here."
Until there was.
"I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a thing, like a funnel... the fence and trees just got lifted up. And it smashed down," Kellan told 13News Now.
Kristin said the twister touched down in their backyard. Miraculously, their house was untouched; the damage was just in the yard.
For many of their neighbors, though, the blow was much bigger.
"Our recovery wasn't too bad compared to others... unlike our neighbor, who had a tree go through the whole side, and they still aren't in their house," Kristin said. "And then of course, across the street, where there's just complete destruction."
Many of their neighbors are still displaced, she said.
Taylor Swift took a back seat in the family's mind as recovery began. Despite the Walsh family's luck, the storm's fallout still weighed on them. For about a week, neighbors came together to try and navigate the damage.
"All our friends helped everyone. We were trying to pull branches out, fences out," Kellan said.
Kristin and Kellan's flight to Nashville was also on Saturday — less than a week later. The thought of flying to Nashville for a concert so soon was hard, Kristin said, but she knew they were in need of a distraction.
On May 7, the girls found themselves at Nashville's Nissan Stadium. Kellan was decked out in a pink dress and friendship bracelets, plus a bright orange wristband for ticketholders with floor seats.
Storms brewed overhead as fans anticipated Swift's entrance to the stage. But lightning eventually struck, prompting the stadium to issue a shelter-in-place warning for all attendees. The show was delayed.
Kellan and Kristin found themselves sitting against a cinderblock wall for hours, surrounded by hundreds waiting out the storm.
"All I kept thinking about was, 'I hope there's not another tornado, 'cause we just went through this,'" Kristin said. "But we got through it."
Hours later, "Miss Americana" took the stage. Through wind, rain and some more lightning, the show went on. Kellan fell asleep at the night's end with her bright orange wristband on her arm... and it stayed there for months.
The wristband joined the fourth grader everywhere — from the beach to summer camp to nice outings. Her family begged her to take it off as it fell apart. But Kellan refused.
"She got super glue out at one point," Kristin said. "That little orange bracelet just has so many memories. It means so much to her."
Kristin said it gave her daughter something positive to talk about, despite the destruction that greeted them upon their return.
It wasn't until her cheerleading competition season drew closer that she made the decision to remove it. The young athletes are told not to wear any accessories — no earrings, bracelets or frail concert wristbands.
Through tears, Kellan slipped off her wristband after five months.
She admitted to having difficult memories of that time period, and listening to Taylor Swift helped lift her spirits. The faded wristband wasn't just a souvenir, but a reminder of her strength.
"I kept this bracelet because I thought Taylor would never give up," Kellan said in reference to the superstar's commitment to sing through the rain.
Her mom also credited the wristband with Kellan's perseverance.
"She said it showed her how to be strong and brave," Kristin said. "The timing was not ideal, but when you look back, it all worked out. It gave Kellan something to hold on to, something happy and good memories to hold on to."
While it's no longer an everyday accessory, Kellan is still hanging onto her keepsake. They plan to frame it — perhaps next to the Taylor Swift posters hanging up on her bedroom wall.