Some of the best moments of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour have come during the Red era, when the artist chooses one fan to receive her “22” hat. The lucky Swiftie gets to spend a few seconds face-to-face with Swift before leaving with a souvenir — and a memory — to last a lifetime. As the tour wraps up its U.S. dates in Indianapolis, concertgoers got to see something pretty special Saturday between the “Fortnight” singer and 7-year-old Eloise, who Swift promised years ago that she would meet.
This “22” hat moment was seven years in the making, as Taylor Swift first connected with Cindy Childs parasocially when Eloise was just an infant. The singer at the time promised to meet the then-napping baby at a later date, and November 2, 2024, turned out to be that date, when the two shared this special (and now-viral) interaction:
shut up taylor finally met eloise and gave her the 22 hat 🥹pic.twitter.com/svkcaQEkvINovember 3, 2024
Many fans were aware of Eloise’s story and therefore understood the significance of this “22” hat gift. After giving the 7-year-old a hug, Taylor Swift did a baby-rocking motion with her arms and appeared to say she’d first seen her when she was a baby. Swift also waved at Cindy Childs — shouting, “Hi Cindy!” — before leaning forward to quickly grab the mother’s hand. She then high-fived Eloise one last time and returned to her dancers to finish the song.
It’s possible that Eloise’s life to up to this point had been building to this fulfilled prophecy, and nobody was more thrilled than Cindy Childs, who seemingly couldn’t believe the full-circle moment that had come to pass. She wrote on X (Twitter):
The way I’m still crying happy tears! I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Taylor Swift & Taylor Nation, for the most magical evening! Dreaming instead of sleeping over here, forever and ever.
This whole thing started back in 2017, and plenty of Swifties were posting screenshots of the magical beginning of Taylor Swift’s connection to Eloise. One fan shared a pic from Cindy Childs’ Instagram Live on that fateful day, where the singer seemed to be trying to keep the mom from waking up the infant. Swift commented:
She's a tiny baby and I will totally meet her and A when they're not 3 months old and jus tryna GET SOME REST.
Fans have been obsessed with this fan interaction ever since, especially with the other comments on the live video — one where Taylor Swift just wrote, “ELOISE” in all caps and another screenshot where she further playfully implored the mother to:
LET HER SLEEP CINDY
I guess Cindy Childs did let her sleep at the time, and it’s so cool that Taylor Swift made good on her promise when Eloise was old enough (and awake enough) to appreciate it.
This just goes to show you can never predict all of the surprises Taylor Swift has in the works. Fans can still catch Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie with a Disney+ subscription, featuring the artist gifting the “22” hat to Kobe Bryant’s daughter in a tear-inducing scene, as well as all of the other moments you can’t stop rewatching.
