While the fan's original intent was to have the ashes scattered at his estate, it didn't make sense logistically and logically.
Being a superfan has levels. Maybe you've seen your favorite artist multiple times in a year, you have all their vinyls (even the deluxe versions) or you have a full face tattoo of them on your body. While the second one may or may not be true but superfan Mary Ann "Marie" Gallant has actually done all of the above when it came to Alan Jackson. She took it far enough to comment that she would like to have her ashes spread across his estate too.
First reported on Central Maine, the story focussed on what a big fan Gallant was of Jackson. Recounting a time when the famed fan had told a publication that, "When I die, I want my ashes spread over Alan Jackson’s house." While this may sound like a tall order but Gallant was a dedicated fan, so much so that her daughter Sue Castle was actually serious about undertaking the challenge of spreading her mother's ashes. She had a vague plan of taking a helicopter, winging them over a fence, “throwing them out the window as I‘m driving by” or, best of all, securing Jackson's blessing to spread them in a chosen spot.
While this is concerning, it shouldn't be because she saw Jackson in concert two dozen times, had two license plates touting her love for the singer, put framed posters of the singer on her walls, and kept a life-size cutout of him in her room for years, hauling it around hospitals during her final years as she battled cancer of her tonsils. Suffice to say that the level of investment in the parasocial attachment definitely made it understandable for her to expect a treatment like such. "She was so obsessed with him," Castle said. So she took a trip to Nashville, carrying the difficultly obtained ashes with her.
At that point, Gallant and Castle's story had already reached the ears of the people there. "They already knew I was going to show up," Castle said, according to Sun Journal. When she reached the area, she was contacted by a native Maine music producer who offered to help her out. Then she headed to a four-story bar that Jackson has in Nashville, which also serves as a mini-museum of Jackson's accolades and memorabilia. Castle went there to request a spot for her mother, at least if not to scatter her ashes. In a conversation with the bartender, she pitched this little idea and the bartender was immediately enthused. "Oh, my God, are you the one?" she asked with excitement. Turns out people were invested in her story.
The manager at the bar had also told Castle that they were aware of the story and that Jackson had also come across the story, remembering that time when Gallant was invited onstage because of her tattoo of the artist. She also danced with the man to the song Remember When. In tribute to her mom, the manager at the bar took Castle to see everything at the museum and offered her free service at the bar whenever she came over. “It was awesome,” she said. Sensing a time to sober up, she mentioned to the manager, "You know why I’m here." She then told the manager about the display involving her mother’s favorite car, a 1965 Mustang, with a tiny figure of Gallant behind the wheel, surrounded by pictures of Jackson and the like. Probably relieved that there was no talk of ashes, the manager promised to set it up. "It was amazing," Castle said of the whole ordeal. "We had a really good time." Sue Castle may have brought back her mother's ashes back home, but her spirit resides with Alan Jackson's achievements.
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