Boise woman wants to help brother meet Bon Jovi

BOISE - Susan Mitton knows so much about Bon Jovi, she feels like the rock band is a member of her family. The group's music has been the soundtrack of her son's life.

Justin Mitton, who was born with the genetic disorder Down syndrome, took a shine to Bon Jovi when its first album debuted in the early 1980s. The 39-year-old, who never let his hair grow wildly long like his idols, has played their music every day since.

Every day? Even now?

"Yeah," he said with little hesitation.

He listens to music on his iPod now. But sometimes he can't help singing out loud, and he finds meaning in the lyrics - all of which he knows by heart.

Mitton, whose family calls him "Bergie," spoke seriously and with sincerity about his favorite band on a recent night at his sister's house in Boise. Then someone turned the music on.

His face lit up, and he smiled broadly. Pure joy.

"Every time I hear that song, I just melt," he said when the guitar strains of "Wanted Dead or Alive" whispered, then wailed, from the living room stereo.

With some encouragement, he showed off his mean air guitar.

"Right now I'm doing Richie (Sambora)," he told an audience of adoring family members as he strummed purposefully.

"I'm trying to get a band together," he says matter-of-factly.

Mitton will turn 40 in February, and his family is hoping to make one of his greatest wishes come true: to meet Jon Bon Jovi.

They have purchased tickets to a show in Salt Lake City in March, and they're hoping they can get a backstage pass for Justin.

This effort is hush-hush around the house - they want to surprise him - but they've turned to the public for help in making the dream come true, even starting a Facebook page in December called "Help Justin Meet Bon Jovi" in hopes of finding someone associated with the band or show.

That effort came closer to reality Friday when Justin Mitton's sister, Sarah Mitton Cox, got a telephone call from the rock star's brother, Matt Bongiovi. News of Mitton's dream filtered to Bongiovi and in his call he said Jon Bon Jovi wants to make a meeting happen before the concert.

Justin's mother, Susan Mitton, was in tears Friday.

"I'm just hysterical. I can't believe it," she said. "My sister said, 'This is like winning the lottery. I said, 'This is much more exciting than winning the lottery. It's Jon Bon Jovi."

The challenge now is preserving the secret.

Justin Mitton grew up in the farm country near Castleford, southwest of Twin Falls. As a boy, he would sometimes grab a microphone, get his little sister and head out to the front porch to orchestrate his own tribute concert to Bon Jovi.

"I can't imagine a day going by without it," Susan Mitton said of her son's favorite music.

She thinks her son's passion for music comes from his dad, Terry Mitton, a big fan of '80s rock music. Her son enjoys the music of other bands, including Aerosmith, Loverboy, The Cars, Breaking Benjamin and Nickelback. He's no fan of rap music, and there are a limited number of country singers he likes, including Keith Urban, Toby Keith and Shania Twain.

Mitton said her son's passion for Bon Jovi helped improve his reading skills when he was young. He voraciously read Metal Edge and other magazines, keeping stacks next to his bed. They were always in order, a family member noted.

He doesn't fixate on a song, his sister said. He enjoys listening to albums all the way through.

Mitton's mom gets emotional when she talks about the eldest of her three children - the one who doctors said would never walk or talk. They said he probably wouldn't live past 12.

Soon after he was born, doctors said they would help her find an institution where they could send him, if that's what they wanted.

"I was totally shocked and blown away. There was no way anybody was taking him away," said Susan Mitton, who dropped out of high school to marry her son's father and care for her baby. "He was such a beautiful little baby. I couldn't imagine life without him."

Mitton was in special education at school, and he earned his diploma when he was about 20. He was teased at times, but the small community he grew up in embraced and protected him.

Cox said people who don't know him are sometimes wary.

"People are afraid to talk to him," she said.

Mitton recognized as a teenager that he wasn't able to drive and do the same things his sister and brother, Joshua, could do. That led to questions.

"One day in high school, he said, 'Mom, can I ask you something?'" Susan Mitton recalled. "He said, 'Mom, are you sorry that I have Down syndrome? Were you ever sad?'"

She said she told him, "I've never been sad that I have you."

Mitton's parents were together for 27 years, but they are now divorced. He now divides his time between his mom's house in Buhl and his dad's house in Twin Falls. "We take my dog for walks, watch movies and play games," Susan Mitton said.

He calls his sister, who lives in Boise, a couple of times a week. She says he can be the voice of reason when her life gets overly busy or stressed, as before her wedding in August.

"He said, 'You should sit back and be happy that it's happening. Be happy about your wedding,'" Cox recalled.

"Sometimes he says things that are so wise," she said. "He can see beyond the petty and judgmental things. He's always looking at things in a positive light and loving way."

Mitton has had a job at the Smith's grocery store in Twin Falls for 10 years. He works two days a week as a courtesy clerk, bagging groceries and helping customers.

"He's professional but very personable," said Jim Faulkner, who manages the store and hired Mitton. "Mostly he and I talk a lot about football - he loves Boise State, and so do I."

Mitton has dated and has had a girlfriend. When asked recently what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "A single woman would be fine."

His family has been planning his birthday celebration for a year, including a huge surprise party at Mimi's Event Center in Buhl. They're expecting a large crowd, including former teachers, classmates and church friends.

"My mom and I have been wanting this to happen for so long," Cox said. She and her husband are going to take Mitton to the Bon Jovi concert in Salt Lake; his mom said she might tag along.

It will be the third time he's seen his favorite band in concert. The first time was in Boise in the late 1980s, when he was a teenager; he saw them in Salt Lake City in 2003.

Recently, Mitton told his mother: "I just want to tell Bon Jovi I love him. But Mom, that sounds kind of weird."