Trip to CMT awards show a dream come true for Lenox boy

Jaxon Binkley can't help but smile. Jaxon met Taylor Swift on June 16 after she rehearsed her performance for the Country Music Television Awards Show. She gave him four hugs (yes, he was counting) and a kiss on the cheek. Dream Factory of Dyersburg coordinated the encounter-of-a-lifetime. [Click to enlarge]

Country singer Taylor Swift kissed him there.

It was a dream come true.

Ballroom dancer and country singer Julianna Hough spends a moment with cousins Jansea Rhodes and Jaxon Binkley. Jansea and Jaxon sat on the edge of the red carpet and watched people enter the Country Music Television Awards program June 16 in Nashville. [Click to enlarge]

"She kissed me right here and I haven't wiped it off," Jaxon said, pointing to his cheek.

Jaxon said he's been crazy about Swift since before her first song was recorded. He kneeled in the middle of his living room in Lenox and began singing "Picture to Burn." He didn't miss a word of Taylor's lyrics.

"I sing that song every day," he said proudly.

With their sunglasses on, Jon David and Jaxon Binkley are ready for the red carpet. The boys went to the Country Music Television Awards ceremony in Nashville this month. Jaxon, 7, met his favorite country singer of all time: Taylor Swift. [Click to enlarge]

And, he had an opportunity to sing the song to Taylor -- in person -- on June 16 after she rehearsed her performance for the Country Music Television Awards in Nashville. Taylor kissed Jaxon's cheek, gave him four hugs and offered him a handful of guitar picks. Taylor wouldn't allow Jaxon or his family to take photographs since she wasn't wearing makeup. But, she did sign a photograph of herself for him. The inscription said: "I (heart) Jaxon! Love, Taylor."

"She was pretty," Jaxon said, beaming at the memory of his favorite teen-aged country music star.

The encounter with his beloved was made possible by Dream Factory of Dyersburg, a non-profit organization that grants dreams for critically ill children.

Jaxon, the son of Jon and Gayle Binkley of Lenox, has intractable epilepsy, or epilepsy that cannot be controlled by medication. His complex partial seizures alter his consciousness and cause confusion, but they aren't the kind of seizures that make a person fall to the floor in jerking motions. Gayle Binkley said Jaxon may stare, blank out, smack his lips or get blue around the mouth during his seizures. Sometimes, he tries to talk, but he is not able to communicate.

County Music Television personality Katie Cook hugs 7-year-old Jaxon Binkley of Lenox. He met her on the red carpet before the CMT Awards program June 16 in Nashville. [Click to enlarge]

Jaxon was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 22 months old. Doctors have tried seven or eight different medications, but none have controlled the seizures. In September, he met with epileptologists at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis for a week's worth of continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring. The physicians hoped to pinpoint the location of his seizures. They determined, Gayle Binkley said, that he had no brain lesions or tumors and possibly isolated his seizures to Jaxon's right temporal lobe.

In November, Jaxon was admitted to Le Bonheur again. Internal electrodes were inserted into Jaxon's right temporal lobe and frontal lobe. The electrodes isolated the area where the seizures started and surgeons were able to remove that portion of his brain, Gayle Binkley said.

The family hoped that the surgery would cure Jaxon, but he continues to have some seizures. He celebrated three months without a seizure on the day he met Taylor Swift. That was the longest seizure-free period he'd experienced.

Gayle Binkley, Jaxon Binkley, Jon Binkley and Jansea Rhodes are excited to sit on the edge of the red carpet before the County Music Television Awards program in Nashville. It was part of a trip arranged by Dream Factory of Dyersburg.

Jaxon, who will enter second grade later this year, still takes a handful of pills every day: six in the morning and seven and a half at night to control his epilepsy.

Each time he has a seizure, Jaxon loses touch with the world around him. He misses out on conversations and classroom lessons.

Since his surgery, he's been reading better, understanding better, learning better and feeling better, his mother said.

With his seizures under control, Dream Factory volunteers Beth Bell and Dannielle Williams decided to make one of Jaxon's dreams come true. They asked him what he'd like. He asked for an electric razor or a trip to a Ripley water park. Then, he started singing and dancing for them and telling them how much he loved music and Taylor Swift.

The women made arrangements for Jaxon to attend the Country Music Awards, to sit on the bleachers beside the red carpet and to attend Taylor Swift's rehearsal. They even gave him a new MP3 player to enjoy his tunes. They sent his photograph and a sample of his musical talents in advance, and several people recognized him during the festivities.

"People said, 'Oh, there's Jaxon, the star of the day,'" Gayle Binkley said.

Jaxon even had an unexpected television appearance. He was shown talking to Katie Cook, a Country Music Television (CMT) hostess working the red carpet that night. The Binkleys recorded the Country Music Television Awards telecast and watched it when they got home. Jaxon saw himself on the television and announced: "You've got a star here."

Jaxon met several other entertainers as well: Josh Gracin, Dierks Bentley, Kellie Pickler, Julianne Hough, The Carters and the band, Lady Antebellum. He also saw Alan Jackson up close but didn't get to meet him personally.

Jaxon -- accompanied by his parents and his cousin, Jansea Rhodes -- attended the 2.5-hour awards program. He watched as his Taylor Swift accepted two awards: one for Video of the Year and one for Female Video of the Year. Jaxon played air guitar and danced in his seat the whole night.

"I was dancing," he said. "I wish I was there right now."

His brother Jon David, who'll be 3 on Saturday, stayed in the family's Nashville hotel room with his grandmother and watched the program on television.

The following day, the family enjoyed an excursion to Opry Mills Mall, where Jaxon rode a virtual roller coaster; an aquarium where they petted sting rays; and the Adventure Science Center, where Jaxon flipped the plane he was maneuvering in the flight simulator. In the science center, the family also watched a planetarium show about astronauts.

While the trip was meant to be fun, it became an opportunity for career exploration. Jaxon, who'd already expressed an interest in becoming a firefighter, watched intently as backstage crews made sure the lighting and sound equipment was ready for the awards show. He watched the musicians with their guitars and fiddles.

"He loves music and it was really neat for him to see behind the scenes -- the things you don't normally get to see. He wanted to do the different jobs," Gayle Binkley said. She noted that Jaxon already has an assortment of musical instruments, including a guitar, drums, tambourine, accordion and maracas.

Jaxon said he also plans to be an astronaut.

No matter how busy he gets, Jaxon isn't likely to forget the shining moment of his 7-year-old life. The moment when Taylor Swift asked Jaxon: "Can I give you a kiss?"

"I said: 'Well, yeah,'" Jaxon said, his voice barely able to hold the excitement even several days later.

Taylor gave him a kiss.

"Plus she gave me about four hugs," he said. "I sang for her and she joined in. She said, 'You know all the words.'"