Taylor Swift gifts 7-year-old '22' hat after promising to meet her when she was a baby

Most of the Taylor Swift fans who receive the coveted "22" hat at the Eras Tour are randomly chosen, but on Nov. 2 in Indianapolis, the story of Eloise Childs getting the fedora was seven years in the making.

"It gives me goose bumps thinking of how this all played out," says Cindy Childs over Zoom. The mom has been a Swift fan for decades.

"I have been listening to her music since it was first conceived, if you will," she says. "I have been lucky enough to meet Taylor many times in my life at different stages."

Perfect Christmas gift for Swifties:Celebrate Taylor Swift's unprecedented Eras Tour with USA TODAY's enchanting book

Childs is a proud OG Swiftie who developed a connection with the multiple-genre artist early in her career. Years ago, Swift was very active on social media, especially Instagram and Tumblr, and would pop on to fan accounts to comment and like posts or attend livestreams.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Three months after having Eloise, Childs put her daughter down for the night and went live on Instagram. The hope was to catch up with family and friends, but it quickly turned into a Q&A with Swift, who said "hi" in the comments moments after the stream began.

"It was a really fun chat because Taylor was like, 'Don't wake her up,' and all my friends were like, 'Wake her up,'" she says, laughing. Swift stayed on for 45 minutes mentioning that she wanted to meet Eloise one day.

Fast-forward to a week before the Eras Tour's final U.S. show, where Childs had tickets.

Shop Taylor Swift tickets

The mother shared screenshots of Swift's comments on social media and said her daughter and the singer would be in the same room at the same time. Swifties rallied behind the story and tagged the singer hoping her team would see it. They did.

"All my friends were like, 'This is getting so much traction, you have to post where you’re sitting,'" Childs says. "So I tweeted that we were sitting in Section 112, Row 1 if anyone wants to trade bracelets."

It's been a lifetime coming

Childs had a hunch the morning of the concert.

"I saw so many 13s," she says. "Our gate was 13. Our seat was 13. My Dunkin’ Donuts order was No. 1313."

In Swift lore, the prime number of 13 is good luck, because it's the Eras Tour ringleader's favorite number. Whether the 13s served as fortuitous harbingers, the "22" hat encounter unfolded when Swift sang "Love Story".

Before the end of the song, a woman on the singer's team appeared with security guards and knelt down to the 7-year-old in a "1989" iridescent bomber jacket. She asked the girl if she was Eloise and took her hand. Childs, her sister and her niece trailed behind all the way to the end of the stage catwalk.

During "22," Swift skipped down the lengthy stage to the elementary school girl's position and said, "The last time I saw you, you were a little baby." She placed the hat on Eloise's head. Inside the brim, in gold Sharpie, were the words "Eras Tour Indy" and the superstar's signature. The brim was coated in her perfume.

"Down there, you can't actually see," Childs says. "I kind of blacked out. I handed my phone to the person behind me. My sister and I were jumping up and down. I didn't see [Swift] say, 'Hi, Eloise' or 'The last time I saw you, you were a little baby.' I was so thankful her team allowed my niece to be included. [Swift] gave her a high five and then pointed to me."

When the "Red (Taylor's Version)" song finished, Childs yelled, "Did that just happen?"

"I remember looking at my daughter and thinking she does not understand the gravity of this moment," Childs says.

Eloise brought the hat to show and tell days after the Indy show, but Childs says it's going to be preserved in a case and maybe years from now, the smell of perfume will still linger.

The fan of two decades explains what Miss Americana means to her with a quote by her friend, Gena Baillis: "I came for Taylor's music, but I stayed for her character."

Nine more lucky fans have yet to be crowned in Toronto and Vancouver. Swift will end her epic Eras Tour on Dec. 8.

Shop Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets

Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.

Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.