Monday, February 19, 2018
Papa Woodstock
Hey folks,
This past weekend we laid to rest my grandfather Thomas D. Cooney. I was honored to share some remarks about his life at the conclusion of the Funeral Liturgy. If you'd like to hear more about this amazing man, feel free to read my comments below. Please continue to pray for the man I called Papa and my family as well.
Ladies and gentlemen take my and Papa's advice, always say YES to the Lord!
This past weekend we laid to rest my grandfather Thomas D. Cooney. I was honored to share some remarks about his life at the conclusion of the Funeral Liturgy. If you'd like to hear more about this amazing man, feel free to read my comments below. Please continue to pray for the man I called Papa and my family as well.
Ladies and gentlemen take my and Papa's advice, always say YES to the Lord!
Papa
This past Christmas, Papa spent the day at my parent’s house with us as we opened presents with his 5 great grandchildren or as I call it the circus. I had the opportunity to drive him back to his room in Woodstock afterwords for some much needed peace and quiet for everyone. I asked him what Christmas was like in his house growing up with him and his 3 brothers. He said that by the afternoon of Christmas day, his mother would just give them each a nickel and send them to the movies.
It was a pleasure to be able to get him to talk about old stories like that every once in a while. As we dropped him off in his room, I could not help at fear that perhaps this would be one of the last times I got to spend quality time with him. It made me sad as I drove back to my parent’s house in Rockford and i started to reflect on how much he has done for me and my family. I decided I needed to figure out a way to honor his legacy.
To honor Papa’s legacy, we should go back and look at exactly what his life entailed. How do you measure 94 and half years? I know my simple words will not be enough to truly express the fullness of his life. One way is to perhaps examine his life from a statistical historical perspective. Papa lived through 17 US presidents, 8 Roman Catholic Popes, 6 or 7 major wars, the advent of commercial air travel, the beginning of human space flight, 52 Super Bowls and 1 Chicago Cubs World Series Victory.
Of course these events and numbers do nothing to truly define this man that has touched so many lives. What truly stands out to me as his legacy, is his willingness time and time again to say yes.
Papa was born and raised Catholic being baptized right here at St. Mary’s. While his parents and godparents were the ones who said yes for him as a baby, Papa proved throughout his life his willingness to say yes to whatever our Lord would ask of him. Papa’s love of the Lord and concern for other people was clearly influenced by the example of his mother and father. During his time in the nursing home we would frequently try and get old stories out of him. One of these times he described his mother as the finest woman he ever met. According to Tom she took care of him when he got sick a lot from pneumonia to bed wetting. She never made him feel small.
Despite his poor breathing condition Tom and his brothers always said yes to playing baseball, basketball and football all day every summer. Growing up in the Cooney household must have been an adventure with 4 boys. I have 2 of my own and I very much recognize why their mother decided to send them to the movies after Christmas dinner. One story Papa relayed to us was pretending to drive his father’s car in the driveway with his younger brother Leo in the passenger seat. Leo could not have been much more than 3 years old as the story is told. Tom inevitably shifted the car into neutral and it rolled backwards into the street. After coming to a stop, Tom quickly swapped seats with Leo. His parents didn’t really fall for it.
World War II interrupted Tom’s late teens and early 20s. When duty called, Tom said yes to serving his country in the army. As I recall from a high school history project where I had to interview him he was originally sent to an accounting division of the army which he hated. He also was held back from active duty due to his chronic asthma. Despite serving in the accounting field, Tom wanted to do more for his country and eventually made his way into the Army Air Corps where he became a bombardier on the B -17 flying fortress. Before he could serve in battle, the war came to an end. I would say this was fortunate as the only victims of Tom’s bombs were some cows on some practice missions but Tom always felt guilty about not serving actively in the war. As a result Tom said yes to serving for an additional year in post-war Germany.
After returning home, Tom completed his education and returned to Woodstock. He soon re-met Irene Shereda whom he says he met when they were seniors in high school, but Tom had been in love with someone else at that time. Eventually he was ready to say one of the most important yeses in his life. But first he had to to get Irene to say yes. One night Tom and Irene were on the floor watching TV and Tom had brought a ring. He asked her to marry him, She said yes. He did not get down on one knee because they were already on the floor. I asked him if he had asked her father for permission and he told me “that he, as in Tom, was rube and didn’t know about that kind of stuff but that he probably should have.”
Tom and Irene were married on May 26, 1951. They quickly settled into married life in Woodstock buying a home on Lincoln avenue, the same street Tom had been born on and grew up on. In 1959 the Lord led Tom and Irene to start a family of their own and they said yes to the most beautiful baby girl when they adopted Megan in 1959. According to legend, they were bringing the baby home from Rockford and the first person they encountered in Woodstock was Joe Conerty. He tapped on the glass of the car window, but Irene refused to open it because it was November and too cold for the baby. Papa always told Megan he couldn’t wait to walk down the street holding his daughter’s hand. Tom and Irene said yes again 2 years later when they adopted David. This family of 4 was complete. Tom was excited to be a father and to teach his children about saying yes to the Lord.
Tom always wanted the best for his children and always went out of his way to get it. Sometimes to the embarrassment of Irene. The NCAA Final Four was in St. Louis and Tom had acquired tickets a year in advance as was necessary. Tom decided that the trip to Springfield was a good opportunity to drop grandma and her bird and the dog off at the cousins in Springfield’s house. The trip was nearly derailed by a legendary ice storm in Springfield that led to everyone sleeping on Red Cross cots in a small truck stop. The Cooney clan eventually made it to St. Louis. Their seats were of course at the top of the arena so when Tom spotted some open seats closer to the action, he decided to try and sit there. Irene was horrified and would not go. After taking their seats in the new section, the couple next to them gave them a strange look and were overheard saying, “Aren’t the Wooden’s coming this evening”” This was of course referring to legendary NCAA basketball coach John Wooden who if I remember the story right did in fact show up and Tom graciously excused themselves from their seats.
Of course the material things of this world were not what was most important to Tom. He was raised a faithful Catholic and strived to live out his faith personally and in service to others.
If there is anything Tom loved being more than a husband and father, and I could be biased on this point, it would be when he became Papa in December 1984. A joyous day for everyone involved i am sure as I came into the world but a day also filled with sadness as my twin brother Timmy died at birth. I am named Thomas Harold after both of my grandfathers and I have always been proud to be Tommy to his Tom though don’t call me Tom, because that’s always been his name. In 1988 I was joined by my sister Christina and Papa got his little Squirt.
Papa eagerly said yes to being a grandfather and he was everything you could want in a grandparent. He had a sense of adventure taking us on countless hiking trips both here and on our spring break visits with him in Arizona where he spent the winters. He would actively engage with us in our imaginations. I recently saw a home video of him pretending to be Mr. McFeely to my Mister Rogers. Once he got a new refrigerator on Lincoln ave and we kept that box it came in for 5 years. (Though it is fair to point out that throwing things away was not something he eagerly said yes too) He would roll around in it with us as a hamster wheel or chase us down the sidewalk in it much to our delight. He would teach us games, direct us in Christmas plays, take us golfing, take us swimming at Uncle Don’s, take us to the train museum, and let me pour water down his trunks on the beach in Escanaba Michigan where he spent many vacations with our family.
He was always open to being silly, until it was time to be serious. This is probably one of the most important things I have ever learned from him. As a Youth Minister I have had several teens tell me that one of the reasons I am good at my job is because I can be goofy and relatable one minute and then quickly switch to a prayerful or serious teaching mode depending on what the moment calls for. I only recently realized that this was yet another gift from Papa. The most important gift I received from Papa though was the gift of faith. It was always Papa who pushed us to take our faith seriously and to continue growing as disciples of Jesus. Whether it was taking us to Church, or encouraging us to serve other, or ensuring we received a Catholic education, it was Papa who is the most important rock of my faith. So much so that I chose him to be my confirmation sponsor in high school. It was because of Papa’s example and persistence that when I attended my first Kyrios retreat in high school, my eyes were finally opened to the peace and the joy that comes from having a relationship with Jesus Christ. From that time forward I always felt more deeply connected to Papa because I finally understood the role faith played in his life and now I did too. He would always send clippings from religious newspapers or articles that he had come across. I didn’t read everything he sent but what I did always touched my heart. When I left for a year of volunteer missionary work in Wisconsin Papa gave me a book called Praying w/ St. Paul. You could always count on Papa to have a beautiful handwritten message on the inside cover of books he would gift you. This prayer book served me each day of that tough year and drew me closer to Christ and to Papa as he had the same book and we were united in our daily prayer.
In 1992 Papa lost Irene to cancer. I was old enough to recognize she was gone but there’s no way I could realize what an impact her loss might have had on him. I believe that part of why Papa loved marriage was being able to serve someone. Christ commands us to serve others and Papa lives that out in every aspect of his life. After Irene’s death he through himself even more into the charity work he had undertaken. He was known for a lot but one of the most influential in my life was his dedication to the Woodstock Food Pantry. I can’t count the number of Saturdays that were spent in Woodstock helping him stock the shelves. Part of me hated it because I was lazy, but deep down I think we all loved spending time with Papa and began to recognize the importance of serving others. One year at Christmas the pantry was doing one of those projects where you buy gifts for families in need and they get delivered on Christmas eve. I guess one more family came in late after the deadline so Papa said yes to our family buying the gifts on this family's list. And since it was past the deadline we would have to personally deliver the gifts to this family. That was a profound moment in my life to see the gratitude in the eyes of the family we were able to serve. Of course helping others is not always about getting to see the fruits of your labors and this was something Papa understood well as he was involved with Food for the Poor and a series of missions that helped in Haiti where he would never see his own good deeds with his own eyes. But that didn’t matter, Papa was saying yes to Christ’s call to live out the Corporal works of mercy.
In 1997, Papa said yes once again to becoming a husband when he and Jane Conerty were married in Arizona. This was a change in lifestyle for us to have a step-grandmother but it quickly became fun to go visit Papa and Jane. The love and affection the Conerty clan demonstrates towards Tom proves to me that he quickly adapted to life as a step-father and step-grandfather Though I do think everyone on both sides of the families were relieved there never a new half sibling to contend with in their 21 years of marriage. As Papa’s outside service declined with his advancing age, he continued to say yes to service through his love and devotion to Jane. I think that was what was most frustrating for Papa about growing older was his inability to serve others. I also contend that without Jane in his life, there is no way Papa would have lived this long and for that I am eternally grateful.
So after 94 years, what is the legacy of Tom Cooney? He said yes to Jesus. Not just once, but every day of his 94 years. He said yes to serving others. He said yes to giving of himself physically, emotionally, financially to those who were in need of his love and support. He said yes to putting others before himself. He was the most unselfish person I have ever met in world that promotes selfishness.
So how can I and all of us truly honor his legacy? For me when I first posed that question to myself I realized that because of Papa’s influence on my life, I am already doing it. I have said yes to the Lord’s call to be the best husband to Kayln and the best father to Isaiah, Andrew, and Elizabeth that I can be. It is my job to get them to heaven and I have Papa’s tireless example of striving to lead all of us to holiness to inspire me for the rest of my life. I would encourage all of you find a way to say YES to Jesus just as Tom showed us all. Whether that means praying more, going to Church, working on your marriage, spending more time with your kids, giving more money to those in need, giving of your time to charitable causes for those in need, find ways to keep saying Yes. Papa always said yes and I know that he never regretted any of it. So learn from his wisdom as I trust that he is now truly united with the saints and Angels. I had him for 33 years and now it’s time for him to take my brother Timmy for a hike, or to go for a walk with Irene, or drive Leo around on his birthday once again.
Papa, we thank you for saying yes to the Lord, for serving all of us as humbly and unselfishly as you did. As we heard in the second reading today Papa, you have fought the good fight, you have finished the race. Well done good and faithful servant. Come and take your rest. Rest in Peace Papa. Thank you. I love you.
Monday, June 30, 2014
"From the Heart of Broadway and across the nation...it's the Late Show with David Letterman!"
Alternate titles to this post:
Hamming it up with David Letterman
Or
I went to NYC and all I got was this lousy Ham.
Good evening
ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tommy Nelson and you may remember me from my
brief appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on June 25th 2014. And by brief appearance I mean literally the
5 seconds the camera cut to me in the audience.
I don’t want you to think for a second that this somehow changes me, but
really have you ever been on national television? Aaron Morey?
A lot of
people have asked how this all came about so I thought I would share a
reflection on how this happened and what led us to this blog post.
A little
background first:
Hero is a
word that gets thrown around a lot in our culture and I believe many times
misused or inappropriately bestowed upon people. When I think of my heroes I think of St. John
Paul II or even Pope Francis. I would
not call David Letterman my hero.
That being
said, I have always had a fond memory or admiration of David Letterman. Is he a great role model? No.
Has he done things no one should admire, absolutely. But from a pure television performer and
entertainer level David Letterman has been a sort of hero or idol since I was
in 3rd grade.
When I was
in 3rd grade Letterman made the switch from Late Night on NBC to the Late
Show on CBS. This brought him on the
air an hour earlier and every once in a while in the summer months I would occasionally
catch the opening monologue and the Top Ten List. I was hooked.
I read a biography about him and even did a report on that book in 7th
grade. The first time I discovered that
the Top Ten Lists has been collected into a book I bought it instantly! I may not have always gotten some of the
jokes but I found the show intriguing not because of the guests but because of
the gap-toothed spectacle wearing host and his crazy antics on network TV.
I remember
on career day in 7th grade we were supposed to dress up like what we
wanted to do. I came as a talk show
host, even though I was still a shy kid who barely spoke to people let alone
tried to make them laugh. I got a couple
friends hooked on Letterman as well. I
would often pretend to host my own show (called ZAP!!!) and we would frequently
parody Letterman bits in our backyard version of network comedy.
As I got
older I appreciated being able to stay up and watch the show more often. The jokes started to make more sense and I
always found watching the show to be more about watching Letterman and his
interactions/reactions to things more than about the jokes themselves. You may find this silly but this gives you a
bit of background about where I am as a fan of David Letterman.
In recent
months and years I’ve had less time for Dave.
I am old now so staying up that late is harder with a wife and little
one. I may have even strayed over to
Jimmy Kimmel every once in a while. (He’s
a bigger Letterman fan then I am so I thought it was okay.) But then in April Dave
announced he would be retiring from the Late Show. I made sure to watch the show that night and
when I went to bed I realized I had one big thing on my bucket list that was
not time sensitive. I had never been to
a live taping of the Late Show. I
figured with the retirement announcement tickets might start to be hard to come
by so I went online that night to request free tickets.
The online form
asks you to pick a couple days when you’ll be in New York and be available for
an afternoon taping. (SHOCK! THE SHOW ISN’T LIVE!!!) I picked June as I knew I would have some more
free time then during the academic year.
I pushed submit and that was it.
I kind of forgot about it actually.
Fast forward
to June. I get home from work on a
Thursday and had just barely greeted Kayln and Isaiah when my phone rings with
a number I didn’t recognize in the caller ID.
I don’t usually answer numbers I don’t recognize but for some reason I
decided to take the call.
“Hi this is
John from the Late Show, you requested tickets for June. When will you be in New York?”
I couldn’t believe
it. Like I said, I had almost forgotten
about it completely. I told John we didn’t
have a trip planned but we could quickly change those plans if it meant getting
to see Dave! He then asked me the
standard trivia question in order to “qualify” for the tickets. I told him I would call him back on Monday to
confirm that we would be coming to New York.
Kayln and I
discussed it and weighed our budget as well as what to do with Isaiah. We knew he couldn’t handle this long of a
road trip as well as he had when he was 3 months old. Air fare was too expensive at this
point. On a whim I called my sister and
her and my parents were thrilled for the opportunity to spend some quality time
with Isaiah. Kayln and I were a bit
hesitant about leaving him for so long but decided he could handle it and this
was worth it. I Facebook messaged my
college roomates parents who live in New Jersey (just across the river from
Manhattan) about staying with them and quickly got an excited response welcoming
us to their home for a few days. WE WERE
GOING TO NEW YORK!!!!
Monday I
went to work which seemed like it lasted forever because immediately after work
I went home packed up Kayln and Isaiah and headed to Rockford. We stayed at my parents’ house for a couple
hours to get Isaiah used to being there and then we hit the road! We made it to South Bend before my handy
dandy Hotels.com app found us some rudimentary accommodations. (The light was left on for us).
We got up
the next morning and continued our trek East to New Jersey. We made it in on Tuesday night around
11:30. Our plan was to maximize our time
in New York the next day to see as much as possible. We got up early and got dropped off at the
bus stop with instructions on how to get back.
And we were
off to the
city that never sleeps.
Traffic was
crazy but we finally made it to the Port Authority Bus Terminal around
10am. We then got on the Subway to the
World Trade Center. We had hoped to
visit the museum but the lines were long and we were due back in Times Square
between 1 &2pm to pick up the tickets to the Late Show.
We meandered
around the 9/11 Memorial for a bit taking it all in and trying to reflect upon
the tragedy and the hope rising up from this place. It was a unique experience especially after
visiting the United 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania last September on our previous
East Coast road trip.
We got back
to Times Square via the subway and grabbed hot dogs from a food vendor. We need a bathroom so we went to Toys R
Us. Toys R Us in Times Square is 3 or 4
stories tall. It’s like it’s own
mall. Crazy. But they have bathrooms and since we are
parents we could pass as customers.
We then
enjoyed our hot dogs on the bleachers set up in the middle of Times
Square. This was where Spider-Man’s
first battle with Electro took place in The
Amazing Spider-Man 2. It was a nice
meal and delightful people watching experience.
I believe the bleachers are set up specifically for people
watching. It’s a funny sight as hundreds
of people look like they are waiting for a show to start.
We had a
show to catch so we walked up Broadway towards the historic Ed Sullivan
Theater. I was so excited! As we got closer I could start to make out
the familiar blue marquee with gold lettering.
This was it! We had arrived at
the Ed Sullivan Theater home of the Late
Show with David Letterman.
The energy on
the street was palpable! There was
already a line wrapping around the corner to in front of Rupert’s Hello
Deli. THE Hello Deli that I had seen so
often on the show! We got to the front
of the line and identified ourselves as being on John’s Gold list. We were then ushered inside the lobby of the Ed
Sullivan Theatre. We were given tickets
and stamped with an invisible ink stamp (not sure why as that was never
revisited). The interns or pages that
helped guide this process were very energetic and full of enthusiasm and trying to make the
process painless. The then grouped us
with our line buddies after putting a number on the tickets, gave us some more
instructions, did some cheer leading, and tried to get us pumped up! I was already pumped. They told us to be back at 2:20pm but we
could hang out at a bar around the corner called Three Monkies that had restrooms
we could use. We made the pit stop but
then went back around the other corner to the Hello Deli, bought a Late Show T-shirt and a doughnut and got
the obligatory picture with Rupert G. He
really is a nice guy!
We then
stood outside Rupert’s for a bit eating the doughnut and waiting for the time
to line up. This was fun because it was
right next to the staff entrance to the Theater and where Late Show security
was waiting for the celebrity guests to arrive.
We waited for a bit but then it was time to line up. My ticket was numbered 146. I wasn’t sure what this meant but I was
slightly terrified it meant we would be in the balcony because the balcony
sucks.
We ended up
having a nice conversation with a young couple in front of us. (They signed up for tickets in person that
Monday!) The young man was an intern across
the street at Mad Magazine (yes this still exists) which is owned by DC
Comics. I had no idea that my heroes
(Superman and Letterman) were neighbors!
This young man’s father is actually a copyright lawyer for DC Comics so
his dad has already seen scripts for the Justice League movie and a bunch of
other stuff we’re not allowed to know about yet!
The interns
in the lobby did a good job trying to entertain us while also passing on the
rules and guidelines for the show. They
were pretty fun kids but we were crammed into the lobby for about a half an
hour or so. The excitement was
building!!!! “Clap and laugh even if you don’t get the joke yet” was the most
frequent piece of advice.
Then the big
moment, they started leading us into the Theater. We handed off our tickets and it was clear we
were heading for the main floor of the Ed Sullivan Theater. It was amazing! It looked like a toy model of the set we are so used to seeing on
TV. Dave’s desk was w so small. And the whole stage was a lot smaller then
you would think! The lights on the model
city were beautiful and the whole place had a warm inviting feeling to it.
We were
seated smack dap in the middle section of the audience. Pretty prime seating actually. As we were
getting settled many crew members were getting ready. Biff Henderson walked out at one point and
got a round of applause.
As showtime approached
the lights went down and the real host of the theater introduced himself. Alan Kalter!
The announcer! He was actually in
charge of keeping the audience informed with what to expect and when to clap
and stuff. Amazing. He was much more charming in person then he
appears in some of the bits he does on the show from time to time. He then introduced a humorous audience
orientation video host by Alec Baldwin.
Next up Alan
introduced each member of the CBS Orchestra individually and by their
instrument! The band minus their maestro
then did a song to get the audience going and then Alan introduced, the one,
the only Paul Shaffer. Paul came out in
a sparkling silver suit as you would expect and joined the band on a song.
Paul
signaled the band to end the song and Alan took the handheld microphone, and
introduced the big guy himself….DAVID LETTERMANNNNNNNNNNNNN. The band played a light version of the theme song and Dave came sprinting out across the
stage without a jacket on. The audience
went wild!
Dave then
took what appears to be his habitual spot for the pre-show hunched over the
main camera. He took the corded
microphone from Alan and began talking to us.
He pointed out the top of the $200,000 camera being completely dented
and deformed from the nightly beating it takes from his microphone. “Do I care?
No.”
He asked
Paul what kind of show they had tonight and Paul said at least mediocre. Then Dave turned to the audience to see if
anyone had a question.
This was the moment I was prepared for! I knew Dave did nightly Q&A with the audience and often times this could turn into an inside joke on the show that viewers at home might not quite understand. I hesitated but shot my hand up. Dave called on a guy in the front row. He was from Connecticut and asked Dave about being from Connecticut what his favorite spot was. Dave corrected him that he was in fact from Indiana (“but close.”) and then went on about some burger joint that claimed to serve meat so good you don’t need ketchup. This went on to be referenced in the Top Ten List that night.
I could tell
Dave was about ready for another question.
As soon as he opened his mouth inviting the next question I shot my hand
up. “Yes sir?” pointing at me.
I couldn’t
believe it! Dave Letterman was talking
to me! The following is how I best remember
the exchange, though it’s all kind of fuzzy now as it seems like a dream!
“Yes sir,
what’s your name?”
“Tommy.”
“Tommy you have
the privilege of sitting right in the exact center of the theater.”
“Oh I’m
sorry I think it might be one row in front of you. Ma’am whats your name?”
Coming back
to me
“Okay Tommy,
where are you from?”
“Brillion,
Wisconsin.”
“Where is
that in Wisconsin Tommy?”
“About 40
minutes south of Green Bay.”
“Is that
near the Dells?”
“No, pretty
far east of the Dells.”
“Is that
near Madison?”
“No it’s pretty
far north of there.”
“Well that’s
all I know besides Milwaukee.”
“I went to
College in Milwaukee.”
“Well Tommy
I notice your cross there, are you a man of the cloth?”
“I am a lay
campus minister at a small College .”
“What
College?”
“Silver Lake
College.”
“Mhmm, and
what’s the enrollment?”
“About 2,000
or so.”
“Wow, in
Wisconsin, that sounds beautiful. Okay
Tommy what’s your question?”
“I’ve been
watching the show since I was in 3rdgrade and you used to give away
canned hams all the time. I was
wondering if you would be doing that again as you approach retirement?”
(barely had
I finished talking) “Tommy wants a
ham! Can we get him a ham, anything
frozen, whatever!
“You know we
used to give them away all the time, but then we just stopped caring. We had a guy in the audience a few years
ago. He said ehhhh, you gave me a ham
about 8 years ago. I put it on the mantle and then it exploded. As if
that’s my fault! So okay Tom, we’ll get
you your ham! I got start the show
folks!”
As soon as
Dave ran off stage the band started playing the theme and Alan started the
intro we could see rolling on the monitors in front of us. For what happened next you can click on this
link below. It will have a brief commercial
but then you will experience what we did the second Letterman stopped talking
to me. Watch through the 2:20 second
mark at the very least!
Wow. Just
wow. I was the first joke of the
night! I was on David Letterman! Kayln’s smile if you can see her in the clip
sums up the whole experience for me.
Amazing!
Now if you
watch the whole show, you may think Dave didn't keep his promise. Quite the contrary really.
After Mark
Wahlberg’s two segments, this is what the audience in the theater experienced. Right after the commercial:
Dave: “There's
a guy in the audience who wants a ham.
We were supposed to have Mark Wahlberg give it to him, but we
forgot. Do we have the ham? I think that’d
be a good job for you.”
He sends his
Executive Producer into the audience with a freshly purchased 11 pound ham and
they pass it to me in the audience. The
audience is erupting with applause and the cameras are all on me! It was amazing. I can barely remember it as it happened as it
was so fast.
Unfortunately
along with other good material me and my ham made our way to the cutting room
floor. So that part didn't make it to
air. But it doesn't matter. I got my 5 seconds of air time and I walked
away with a $30 ham from David Letterman!
Alan Kalter gave me a big thumbs us and after the show other audience
members were congratulating me. Several
asked if they had set this bit up with me before. Several more took pictures with me and the
ham. We exited right in front of the Hello
Deli and Mrs. Rupert gave us a plastic bag to carry the ham.
I was
ecstatic. It was a dream come true. And ironically enough it was EXACTLY how I
had planned things in my imagination, right down to Mark Wahlberg possibly
giving me the ham. I could not have
known that it would work out this well but God is funny like that
sometimes.
We then purchased a backpack just for the ham as we had some more sight seeing to do. We went on a cruise of New York and the ham was with in a cooler on our 15 hour drive home. It sits safely in the freezer awaiting the right occasion which has been suggested to me to be the last episode of the Late Show with David Letterman.
What does
this all mean? Is it a turning point in
my life? Probably not. Much like the very idea of giving out ham, it
is just as silly as it sounds. And that
my friends is the point. It’s the reason
I have loved David Letterman for 20+ years.
It’s the reason behind this blog.
Sometimes you just need to be silly.
And for that I’m grateful to David Letterman for 31 years of
silliness. Late Night television will
never be the same. My children will be
removed from the Johnny Carson influenced era of Letterman and Leno. It appears they will grow up in a
Jimmy-verse. That’s okay. Because I will always be able to point to
that random week in June where I got to see David Letterman and he gave me a
ham. There is no off position on the genius
switch.
Ladies and
gentlemen take my advice, be flexible.
You never know what dramatically changing your plans could get you. There could still be a ham out there with
your name on it.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Oh Captain My Captain...A Requiem
Those of you that know me know I worked on the Forest City Queen and Trolley Car #36 since I was 16 years old. This week we lost one of our great captains to cancer. Here is a reflective entry about a man I've known since I was 17 years old. RIP Captain Hank
We are going to look into getting a brass bell
donated to the Forest City Queen in honor of Captain Hank. The website I looked up describes the ship’s
bells as being, “the embodiment of the soul of the vessel.” If that doesn’t describe Captain Hank Nance,
then I ‘m not sure what does. Bon Voyage
Captain Hank. Rest in Peace old friend.
Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, live life to the fullest. Try new things. Go new places. Meet new people. Be kind to all those you encounter. You never know how long we have on this voyage before it's time for your ship to return to port.
Captain Hank
Nance set sail from this world on Monday March 17, 2014. Captain Hank as he is so affectionately known
by all who have served with him was probably one of the most fascinating people
you would ever meet.
I have had the privilege of
knowing and working with Hank since I was 17 years old. I met him in the summer of 2002 during my
second season as a First Mate and Conductor with the Rockford Park District
Forest City Queen and Trolley Car #36 program.
I believe I actually met Hank and Reggie at the same time. Hank did not immediately have his Captain’s
License so he frequently served as a Motorman on the Trolley or an additional
First Mate on the Queen.
One of my earliest memories of
Hank was working with him on what was called Evening Rides for Trolley Car
#36. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings
the Trolley would run between the YMCA and the Symbol just back and forth. For $2.00 patrons could jump on and off wherever
they wanted on this route. For a 17 year
old who love the trolley this was easy money.
This was when I would get my first experience driving the Trolley. Hank would gladly allow me to drive the
trolley under his watchful eye. As it
became clear that I was pretty good at it, he would eventually take over the
microphone to help passengers enjoy the ride as well. Having been riding the Trolley since I was 3
years old this was absolutely a dream come true! I was driving the trolley! One night Hank really wanted Vicki to ride
the trolley back to the station but her car was at the Green House. I can tell this story now, but Hank had me
drive the Trolley back SOLO with Vicki as a passenger as he drove her car
back. This was the moment I had graduated
to a motorman, even if technically I wasn’t old enough yet! Another night with Hank’s permission I
invited my friend Jason to come on the Trolley and play guitar for passengers
who chose to ride. Hank enjoyed having
some “folk” music as we rode the rails together.
That first summer with Hank I
was the only high school aged employee.
So once the college kids left in August, I was pretty much all there was
for First Mates or Conductors. Often
times Hank would be the First mate on the boat while I worked the Trolley. We had a lot of dinner cruises that fall that
would end up having Hank and I working together as First Mates. We were a good team and it was always nice to
have him around. One night with Captain
Patrick at the helm, a speed boat came to close and intentionally splashed our
dinner cruise passengers. Our captain
and our passengers were mad so Patrick turned the boat around to get the
registration numbers off the offending boat.
We found them pulling their boat out at the Riverview Boat launch. Patrick navigated the boat so Hank could jump
off the front of the boat and get the numbers.
The offending boaters did not think this was very cool and having had a
few drinks on the river they became verbally abusive and belligerent with Hank
and Patrick. At one time the boater even
picked Hank up and menacingly threatened to throw him in the river. Needless to say Park Police were called. I remember being angry and offended. Hank never blinked. He continued to have that calm demeanor that
always served him so well.
Hank, Captain Patrick, and I
must have been the adventure crew that fall.
On another ride, I invited my family on a pizza Ski Broncs cruise. My family including my uncle from California,
my grandpa and his wife, my 90 year old great aunt, and my other uncle and aunt
were on the boat with about 30 old ladies from a YMCA group. It was a pretty packed boat. Hank and I did our best to serve
everyone. The weather had been menacing
all day but after looking at the radar right before departure time it looked
like we would be all right. We anchored
at Shorewood Park and settled in to enjoy the Ski Broncs performance. I recall the Ski Broncs team must have
gotten one pass in when a giant crack of Thunder shattered the evening. Nothing happened for a while and Patrick used
the bullhorn to ask if they were cancelling their show. They said yes and we quickly began pulling up anchors. For some reason Patrick decided to pull up
the bow anchor first. In the process the
prop severed the stern anchor line and we were free. None too soon as it turned out. The thunderstorm formed almost directly over
us. The entire route south back to
Riverview the sky was dumping buckets of water on us constantly. This was before the Queen received the
upgraded “curtain windows” that now adorn her port and starboard sides. So there was no time to close the antiquated
windows that had previously been on board.
The waves on the Rock River were enormous! I have never again since seen conditions that
horrific. Thunder, lightning, wind, and
waves; it reminded me of the movie the perfect storm. With 40 people on board including 30 old
ladies, my entire family, and my 90 year old aunt. Patrick was a skilled Captain and you never
detected a hint of fear in him or in Hank.
He ordered Hank and I into life jackets and asked the passengers to
settle in the middle of the boat. One
option discussed was anchoring under the Whitman street bridge for shelter but
as we had lost our stern anchor this was not really an option. We made it back to Riverview safely, directed
the passengers back inside for shelter, and got the boat secured. Hank and Patrick never once let on that they
were ever nervous. I was personally
somewhat alarmed by the whole experience.
We offered free passes to the passengers to make up for their cut short
ride. The passengers loved it! They thought it was a terrific ride and were
laughing the whole way home. To this day
every once in a while a First Mate will get a comment from a passenger who
says, “I rode this boat a number of years ago and boy was it the biggest storm
I ever did see!”
That first year with Hank also
saw me and him running the Trolley as a shuttle in October for the Head of the
Rock Regatta. That was a lot of fun as
crew teams lined the tracks. We had a
bit of trouble navigating the trolley up and down Madison Street amongst all
the boat trailers but we had a lot of fun.
I’m fairly certain that was the coldest and latest in the season I’ve
ever run the trolley.
Hank eventually got his
Captain’s license and graduated from the ranks of being a First Mate to being
in charge of the Queen. The relationship
between a Captain and a First Mate or a Motorman and a Conductor is hard to
explain if you’ve never experienced it.
Often times the Captain or Motorman is significantly older than the
typical high school or college student that serves as a First Mate or
conductor. The two typically spend 5-8
hours together giving 45 minute rides to strangers who come and go. It’s not like other jobs where you can walk
away from each other. You are literally
right next to each other on the boat or the trolley in a confined space. Those of us who have served in our younger
years are blessed to have had such great captains to serve with. Whether it was Hank or Reggie you were
guaranteed to have a good day. Each
Captain does things ever so differently than the other and you quickly learn to
adapt. If you’re smart though you will
quickly learn to listen to the life experiences they choose to share.
Boy did Captain Hank have life
experiences! His obituary I believe only
begins to scratch the surface of how much of an adventure he and Vicki have had
together. The other thing that was
unique about the working relationship was that we worked together for 12
years. Hank knew me as an awkward 17
year old First Mate. He saw me leave for
College and come back happily every summer.
He saw me graduate from College and begin my career in Ministry. He got to live through my time as a sometimes
overconfident Assistant Manager at the Trolley Station. He saw me come home to the Trolley with a
special lady friend. He saw me come home
less and less often with my wife.
Captain Hank has been a part of my life for all the important things. It didn’t matter how long the winter was,
jumping back on the Boat or the Trolley always felt like picking things up
where you had last left off.
Captain Hank loved life. He loved people. As I was going through my formational
changes, he was always eager to hear about them and the enthusiasm he had for
what was going on in your life made you feel like the most important person in
the world. He loved helping other people
ENJOY LIFE as was the Park District’s mission statement. Whether it be letting kids or kids at heart
drive the boat, there was nothing Hank wouldn’t do to help people have a good
time. He loved the boat and the
trolley. He loved the Park
District. He loved whoever he was
talking too.
For the last
7 years he has been battling cancer.
Just from looking you would never have been able to tell. Hank maintained his busyness on the Queen and
his upbeat attitude only continued to be upbeat. I never heard him complain about the cards he
had been dealt and he was perpetually optimistic about his condition and about
where life was going. Truly an example of
how to live life to the fullest.
I may not
have been related to Captain Hank but he was always a supportive influence in
your life that you felt would always be there.
The last time I had the pleasure to work with him was Labor Day Weekend
2012. I came home to help work the
Forest City Queen Water Taxi for On the Waterfront. I always liked doing things on the boat or
the trolley that were “out of the normal” routine. I worked all day Saturday and then Sunday
half the day with Captain Hank. It was just
me and him much like the old days on the Trolley. He was very excited to hear about how things
were going for me working at a small Liberal Arts College much as he had done
most of his “real” career. He also
allowed me to drive the boat for most of the evening which was much more
enjoyable for me after 12 years of doing the narrative. We docked the boat at Beatie Park half way
through the day for the next crew to take over for the remainder of the
evening. It was strange for me to walk
away from the Queen still running as you usually worked until it was time to
lock her up for the night.
As Captain Hank and I were
walking across the Jefferson Street Bridge back to the Trolley Station, I
looked back at the Forest City Queen with it’s navigational lights on and
getting ready to set sail once again. I
remember thinking it was appropriate that this was probably the last time I
would work on the Queen that she was still running without me. The Queen continues to rule the Rock River
event though my time on board has come to a near end. If I had known that walk across the bridge
would be the last time I would see Captain Hank, I ‘m not sure how I would
react. So as I look back at the
wonderful experience it has been to be a member of the Forest City Queen staff,
I see the Forest City Queen still sailing.
She sails on and on without one of her favorite captains of all
time. The Queen will still sail. Future generations will ride the boat and the
trolley and may never know who we are. But
the Park District, the Queen, the city of Rockford, and the world are better
places for Captain Hank having been a part of them. Ultimately I am a better person for having
known such a kind, caring, and enthusiastic man.
Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, live life to the fullest. Try new things. Go new places. Meet new people. Be kind to all those you encounter. You never know how long we have on this voyage before it's time for your ship to return to port.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Waiting for Superman
Welcome back
to me to my blog. Seems like a minimum
of once a year post is appropriate. If
you haven’t hear, a lot has been happening in my life. I am eagerly anticipating what is sure to be
one of the most life changing events of my life. That’s right.
Man of Steel comes out
tomorrow at midnight! The early reviews are in and the movie is
already being described as the greatest superhero movie of all time. That is so very appropriate since Superman is
the greatest superhero not to mention the first of all the superheroes. I’m very excited to be attending a midnight
showing with some of my best friends with high expectations which are almost
sure to be met!
Last night I
posted a Facebook status about how I have been waiting for this movie for a
long time. In fact longer than I have
been waiting for the birth of my son.
That’s right! We are having a
baby boy! Woohoo! This is of course the true life changing
event I’m eagerly awaiting for in early July.
This status got me reflecting on how waiting for this movie to come out
has been a lot like waiting for our son to be born. So here goes a comparison to waiting for a
summer blockbuster movie about the last Son of Krypton to the waiting for the
birth of one’s own first born.
Let’s look at the various stages of waiting for both the movie and the child.
Rumor stage:
Superman
This is the
phase of the movie’s development where it hasn’t yet been green lighted but there
are rumors on the internet about who might be involved. For Man
of Steel this phase started almost 3 years ago when it was announced that Christopher
Nolan (Dark Knight Trilogy) would be
producing the next Superman movie. This
was fantastic news to Superman fans like myself. While being completely blown away by Nolan’s
treatment of Batman in the most realistic and genre defining movie series of
all time, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that Superman wasn’t
getting the same respect or treatment. Superman Returns was a bit disappointing
at the time. I remember my roommate
turning to me at the end of the 10pm showing we went to and asking when the
real movie would start. I recognize now
that it was a fine film and a worthy tribute to the Richard Donner and
Christopher Reeves films but it would not be a franchise builder like Batman Begins. So Christopher Nolan and Superman was a match
made in geek heaven.
Baby
This is the
point where you are not aware that your wife is pregnant but things are starting
to get suspicious. For us we had
actually been in the middle of praying and discerning when would be a good time
to start our family. This time was also
marked by bodily symptoms that started to make us think, hmm Kayln might be
pregnant. I won’t go into those unless
you really want me to but be assured the suspicion was there.
Announcement/Confirmation
Stage:
Superman
For a movie
as early awaited as Man of Steel, this
would be when the big announcements come out.
The first I recall was the announcement of Zack Snyder as Director
followed quickly by the announcement of Henry Cavil as the new Superman. This was as always a crazy fun day to be a
fan on the internet. How accurate are
these internet reports? Once you realize
they are accurate you immediately start to look into the past of the actor and
director. What could you expect from a
director like this? What other movies has
this new Superman been in? What will the
suit look like? Who will be the
villain? The speculation truly begins!
Baby
Shortly
after we began detecting some physical signs we purchased some at home pregnancy
tests. Kayln took 3 of them in the
course of 12 hours just to be absolutely sure.
Upon seeing the positive confirmation there was hugging and tears (not
all that different from the reaction comic book geeks everywhere might have
been experiencing with the movie news).
I also immediately got on the internet to research how accurate the at
home tests are. They are pretty accurate
when it comes to being positive it turns out (also learned that from Jack on LOST). We immediately began trying to
figure out when the baby would come out.
The speculation began. Is it a
boy or a girl? Will it look more like me
or Christopher Reeve? What else can I expect
now that we are expecting!?
First peak
stage:
Superman:
This is the
stage where some speculation ends and even more begins. I remember the day they released the official
first look at Henry Cavil as Superman.
He was standing in front of a smashed bank vault of sometime. As usual the internet exploded. Look at what the suit looks like! I like the
cape! The cape is too long! Is he
wearing the red underwear!? Seriously I personally
remember staring at that first image of Cavil’s Superman for way longer than
anyone should stare at another man’s crotch trying to decide if I saw the
underwear or not. Being a traditionalist
Superman costume fan, I was pretty sure I did(I was wrong). I decided I liked what I saw and was getting
even more excited to seeing the finished product.
Baby:
This is the
day you figure out if you haven’t already that this is really happening. I’m of course talking about the first
official image of the baby, the ultrasound.
I believe we got our first ultrasound at 12 weeks into the
pregnancy. Yup. That’s a baby. Even though the baby looked a bit like a
turtle with a human head at the time I stared at it a long time trying to
discern if the baby was a boy or girl. I
was pretty sure it was a boy. (I was
right!) I decided I liked what I saw and
was getting even more excited to seeing the finished product or in this case,
child.
Set Visits
and Media Campaign:
Superman
This is
where things start to get real. You see
the first trailer for the movie. You
suddenly realize if you haven’t already that there is in fact going to be a new
Superman movie and it looks awesome in the trailers. I was the most excited when they released the
trailer with the new score attached to it.
I loved it! Now all of a sudden
everyone is aware that there is a new Superman movie coming whether they follow
the movie news sites or not. You start
to read interviews with the cast and crew about the movie and you begin to
anticipate opening night. You may even
buy your ticket in advance (I did)!
Baby
If things
haven’t gotten real yet when you announce to your friends and family that you
are having a baby things get very real. All
of sudden everyone is aware that this little bundle of joy is coming into your
lives. Friends and family with kids of
their own start to give you a sneak peak at what you might expect. For me hearing my son’s heartbeat at every
doctor appointment was comparable to the excitement I had when the soundtrack
for Man of Steel was released. As you get closer and closer to opening night
(no labor pun entirely intended) you begin to anticipate the big day. You even have to start buying lots of stuff
in preparation. I would be remiss not to
mention all the Superman gear my currently unborn son already owns.
So here we
are one night away from Superman and 3 weeks or so away from the birth of my
son. In the long run the two experiences
really can’t be compared. My son’s birth
will change my life in ways I can’t even begin to fathom and I am so excited
for it. Man of Steel will be an awesome movie as well as a fun fellowship
time with friends but it will not define my life. Fatherhood is now part of my vocation and
there is not a day that goes by that I will be able to not think about that
awesome responsibility.
I guess the
ultimate similarity comes down to if Man
of Steel is received well, it could spawn a sequel as well as a whole new
universe of DC Superhero movies.
If my first
born son is received well I suppose we could start conceiving the idea of
sequels and a whole new universe of tiny Superman fans.
Ladies and
gentlemen take my advice, if you sit next to Mike Gutzwiller at Man of Steel and it is as good as we are
expecting it to be, he may turn to you at the conclusion of the movie and kiss
you, even if his girlfriend were to be sitting on the other side of him.* Aaron
Morey do you want to trade seats with me?
*This
happened at Batman Begins and
nowadays Mike is happily engaged and will be viewing Man of Steel at his bachelor party.
So there is no way he could possibly ignore his fiancée in favor of
kissing a dude.