My high school band director was born on this day in 1935. He was a mentor and a friend. He was one of the most important influences in my life both in high school and after.
I have told this story before, but for new readers it is worth repeating. My junior year was a rough one for me and Mr. Shaner was always there with an ear to listen. He offered support, direction and advice. So when they planned the band banquet for that year, they wanted someone to do a speech about him. I volunteered.
I said that after you spend enough time with him, he begins to grow on you. I went behind the podium and put on a bald cap. (laughter) I then went behind the podium and came back with a baton and then imitated the way he’d look at it and such. (more laughter) I then went into a tirade of phrases and such that he often said in class like, “There is no way that you practiced this!” “The trumpets are way too loud again.” etc… (out of control laughter)
I had no idea how I was going to end the speech. I think I had just planned to say some nice things on behalf of our band. I ended up thanking him for all he did for me. It was an emotional and unscripted moment.
Afterward, he came up and wrapped me in a hug. He said to me, “That was the worst impression I have ever seen!” This brought more laughter and wound up being one of my favorite photos.
The following year, he got me back by doing a spot on impression of me which brought down the house! It was absolutely amazing!
After graduation, I approached him about getting the alumni together to march in the homecoming parade. They used to have an alumni band, but it hadn’t performed for a while. He was totally open to the idea and even ran rehearsals for us.
We started out with a bunch of us old folks and had a blast!
The above picture is from the first year. The band was back together! Eventually, we even got sweatshirts printed up and we actually looked like we had a “uniform.”
The group continued to perform up until the year after Mr. Shaner retired. I remained in touch with him up until his passing in 2020. I think of him often and he is always on my mind on August 1st.
It seems like the last 7 days have been nonstop for our family, but in between doctor appointments, work, and school, we’ve managed to find time to enjoy some fun moments.
First Photo
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that my children are no stranger to a camera! My daughter has had her share of photo sessions, too. However, this week, we received her first “official” school photo.
There is something poignant about getting this picture. It is the first of many that we will receive over the next 13 years. This one will go in a frame the kindergarten photo going on top of it next year, first grade the following year, etc… Each year, we’ll compare the older photos and stand in awe of how much she has grown and all of the little changes that take place. It is hard for me to comprehend this, even though I have been through it twice before with my older boys.
As if my daughter’s picture wasn’t enough, my youngest son went and had his third birthday photos taken. Our photographer always captures our kids in beautiful photos. Instead of a full session, we took advantage of her “Fall Mini Sessions”. It was 15 minutes and we got plenty of poses.
She had some fall scenes set up outside and my son just rolled with the flow. There were pictures by a teepee. There was a nice fall set up with hay, pumpkins, corn and a wagon. She has a big backyard with a pond and fountain, an area with a porch, and various photo “stations.” One of those is an old pick up truck. My son made himself at home and she caught photos that look like senior pictures!
Old Friends
On Friday I went into work early so that I could leave early. My buddy, and old DJ partner, turned 60 and had a little party just down the road from where I work. By the time I got there, the party was in full swing. He had some guys running karaoke and there was plenty of singing. I had forgotten how many people really think that they can sing. I had flashbacks while I was there. I recall those days when I was out with the gang and we were all drinking. You start out singing fine, but as the night goes on your words and singing become … pretty obnoxious.
Based on the responses that he got back from the invites, two of my oldest friends were supposed to be there. Joe, Steve K, and I all graduated together. We were kind of inseparable in school. We were all band nerds and we were like brothers. Steve M (the birthday boy) was also in band, and we all played together in alumni band.
Steve K had some medical issues awhile back, and he was unable to be there. But it was nice to get some time to hang out with Joe and Steve M. There were a couple other folks who graduated from our school there, too. It was a bit crazy though, especially after this picture was taken.
Joe and I are younger than Steve, but Steve looks younger than us! Our grey beards make us look like the older dudes.
Trunk or Treat
A lot of people complain about the Trunk or Treat stops. For whatever reason, they feel that it takes away from the trick or treaters on Halloween night. Personally, I wish they had had those when I was growing up, because a kid can never get enough free candy!
None of us really felt great over the weekend. Lots of sniffles and coughing. It is probably the weather change and allergies. So we’ve kind of been staying indoors. However, my daughter has been dying to wear her Halloween costume and the weather was perfect on Sunday. It was almost 80!
Sam’s parents called to tell us that their church was having a Trunk or Treat and that the cousins were going with them. My kids couldn’t wait to go!
There were about 50 cars there with plenty of treats. It didn’t take long to get through the line and afterward, the kids wanted to go play on the playground with the other kids.
Fall Fun
As soon as the trunk or treat was done, we came back home to rest. But it was still daylight and the kids wanted to ride on their scooters. So I let them go outside for a few. As the rode on their scooters, I raked up some of the leaves. That was all it took to get the kids’ attention.
They saw me making a pile on the front lawn and this became their obsession. They had to jump in the leaf pile! They were actually walking with handfuls of leaves over to the pile and adding them to it.
And once I told them to have fun, they were in the pile!
They must have asked me to re-rake the leaves about 25 times so they could jump in them again. They were tossing leaves in the air and laughing like crazy. It was exactly what all kids should be doing on a beautiful fall evening!
There is nothing better than flopping in a big pile of leaves! Ah, fall!
Of course, being outside just set all of our allergies off and there was plenty of nose blowing that night. It was worth it!
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
In 1992, I turned 22 and would land a radio gig at WHND, Honey Radio. It was through my old radio partner that I would become all too familiar with karaoke bars. We spent a lot of time pretending to be singers at them. Believe it or not, it was listening to people try to sing that introduced me to many songs. Many of those songs, were ones I normally would have been unfamiliar with.
Let’s jump right into 1992!
The Spin Doctors are often referred to as an alternative band. I tend to think of them as a rock band, though. Two Princes sounds more like a rock song to me. I could easily hear the Stones covering it.
A buddy of mine used to sing this song all the time. From the opening drum kick and guitar lick, I was hooked. The content of the song was influenced by some classic literature. Chris Barron, said:
“I loved The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I was really into fantasy fiction and stuff like that. I wrote that song when I was 19, so I was still coming out of childhood, and as a child I loved wizards and kings and queens and princess and princesses and stuff like that. And I loved Shakespeare – I already was way into Shakespeare. So I gravitated towards that kind of imagery just because I liked books and poems from that period of time.”
Drummer Aaron Comess said that the song was almost a lot faster. “There are certain songs when you find the right tempo, all of a sudden the lyrics come out, it feels right and I think with ‘Two Princes’ we really lucked out. It’s one of those things, we got in the studio, found a good tempo, we recorded it, everything just really came together. It’s very simple, there’s not a lot of stuff on it, somehow the sound and feel we got, we just lucked out and found the perfect thing.”
Songfacts pointed out that it was songs like this one that were in high demand on radio in 1992-1993. There was an onslaught of hip-hop songs at the time and it was this “sound” that began pushing it back a bit.
Two Princes
Here is another example of how I came to learn of the original because of a parody. I was familiar with the cover of their Nevermind album, but unfamiliar with a lot of their songs. Enter once again, Weird Al.
When Al first heard Nirvana, he was very impressed but thought they wouldn’t catch on. He was thrilled when “Teen Spirit” became a huge hit, since that made the group a parody target.
Al is famous for asking for permission before doing any type of parody. He got permission from Nirvana’s lead singer Kurt Cobain while he was doing an episode of Saturday Night Live. Kurt initially thought the song would be about food. Instead, it was poking fun at how hard it was to understand their lyrics.
The video is a very close parody of Nirvana’s, and got almost as much airplay. For example, the same janitor used in Nirvana’s video also makes an appearance in Weird Al’s. This time donning a tutu and playing a tuba. Al dresses just as Cobain did, complete with wig. He plays a fake blowup guitar and makes fun of the hard-to-understand lyrics by gargling water and singing with marbles in his mouth.
FYI – Dick Van Patten was not in the Nirvana video.
This song is probably the one that really solidified my opinion of Weird Al as a musical genius!
Smells Like Nirvana
For comparison – the original video:
Ok, I admit that the next song was far from a hit. It only peaked at #92 in the US, however in the UK it hit #27. The original, of course, was a number one hit for Elvis Presley in 1957. Personally, I really like Billy Joel’s version of All Shook Up. I think it should have done better on the charts.
The song is one of many Elvis covers from the soundtrack to Honeymoon in Vegas. The movie starred Nicolas Cage, James Caan, and Sarah Jessica Parker. It also featured a whole lot of Elvis impersonators.
What I love about Billy’s version is that it retains the feel of the original, but there is enough “Billy” to make it his song. When I was DJing, I used to put on a cape, an Elvis Wig, Elvis glasses, and grab some random gal out of the audience and “lip synch” this to her. It was ridiculous, but it always got a laugh from the crowd (along with a lot of photos).
All Shook Up
Next, we have the only song that I will fast dance to. I say this, because I believe there is no real dancing necessary. Songfacts explains this perfectly:
House of Pain’s Jump Around earned relentless airplay on MTV and pop radio, and became a huge crowd pleaser in bars and dance clubs. It was great for getting people on the dance floor, as no real dancing is involved – just jumping around.
Exactly. I jump like a fool when this one is on! It’s hard to look bad. It brings the bounce with a steady, throbbing rhythm along with explicit instructions on when to jump. You can’t mess this one up!
Erik “Everlast” Schrody wrote the song. Songfacts explains that the lyrics on this track are very aggressive. It contains lines like “I bust him in the eye, and then I’ll take the punk’s ho.” Everlast was surprised when the song crossed over to a pop audience. He thought it was “too hardcore” to do so. The “pugnacious” lyrics, however, are tempered with comic relief. Listen for lines like “I got more rhymes than there’s cops at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop. ” They make it a lot less threatening.
If the horn flourish that opens this song sounds familiar, it is because it comes from Bob and Earl’s song, “Harlem Shuffle”.
Jump Around
Next a movie song that never made the movie’s soundtrack. In A League of Their Own, Madonna starred with Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Rosie O’Donnell. The film was based on the true story of an all-women baseball team that was popular during World War II.
The song is about a woman who can’t and let go of her past, with the implication that her present circumstances aren’t so good. The lyrics fit well with the film’s premise, as the now-elderly women reunite and recall their glory days as baseball stars.
To a degree, I can relate to this as I tend to live in my nostalgia and memories, however, my present circumstances are actually good. I find myself thinking of those summers playing ball at our old elementary when I hear this song.
This made me laugh: The video for this song, which shows Madonna singing from the pages of a photo album, bears a strong resemblance to Boy George’s video for his 1987 song “To Be Reborn.” The similarities were not lost on the Culture Club singer, who angrily dubbed it “This Used to Be My Video” in his autobiography.
This Used To Be My Playground
What I love about country music is the honesty of it. There are a handful of songs that I can say really hit home for me. One of them is from Travis Tritt’s third album. For me, I could relate to the lyrics of Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man. After all, I was working on a DJ’s salary!
Truth be told, it doesn’t matter what job you hold, these lyrics hit home. While primarily focusing on the economical injustice to blue collar workers, it fits anyone who struggles financially.
Uncle Sam’s got his hands in my pockets And he helps himself each time he needs a dime
Why’s the rich man busy dancing While the poor man pays the band Oh they’re billing me for killing me Lord have mercy on the working man
The final verse features Tritt’s friends joining in. Listen for Brooks and Dunn, George Jones, Little Texas, Tanya Tucker, T. Graham Brown and Porter Wagoner.
Lord Have Mercy On The Workin’ Man
MTV’s Unplugged had been around since 1989. It featured Joe Walsh, The Cure, Paul McCartney, Sting, and Mariah Carey. Eric Clapton recorded an Unplugged performance at Bray Studios in London. He rearranged many of his classic songs for the acoustic context.
The resulting Unplugged album went on to become the best selling Unplugged album in the U.S. and worldwide with sales of 10 million in the U.S. and 26 million worldwide. He earned six Grammy Awards for the album. He earned Grammys for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Rock Male Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song.
I have been a fan of acoustic shows for a long time. I loved when artists came in and played acoustically for us. It is raw and you really feel the song. When I heard the Unplugged version of Layla, I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved the entirely different feel to the song! It was so much more bluesy.
The Unplugged version also helped Eric do his vocal. According to Songfacts, “playing the “Layla” riff while singing is like juggling on a unicycle, so Clapton tries to avoid it. When he does the rock version live, he’ll play the riff until his vocals come in, then let one of his band members take over the riff.” With the slower version, it was a lot easier for him.
Layla (Unplugged)
When it comes to Disney, you cannot deny the amazing songs that have been featured in their films. It is truly hard to picture anyone other than Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin. He was just perfect. There were hours of audio that were not used in the film from Robin. If it were ever released to the public, I’d buy it in a heartbeat!
Prior to having children, I was not one to run out and watch a Disney movie. However, knowing that Williams was the Genie in this one, I had to go see it. I was not disappointed.
The Genie’s song, Friend Like Me was written by the amazing composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman. Menken and Ashman didn’t write this with Robin Williams in mind, but the actor would make the number his own. Menken told Entertainment Weekly:
“We didn’t know who was going to play the genie when we wrote the song. We were looking at the character as black, a hipster, and I suggested a Fats Waller, Harlem stride-piano style from the ’40s. When Robin Williams was suggested, my first thought was, ‘Can he sing like Fats Waller?’ Robin learned every note. He was working on Hook at the time, and he would come in after being stuck in a harness all day and sit at the piano and learn. When we went into the studio, we got exactly the Fats Waller performance we wanted, and then everyone said, ‘Okay, but now can we let Robin do his thing?’ He was amazing. That trumpet wah-wah-wah was supposed to be from an instrument, and he made it vocal. He took ahold of the creative process, both on that and ‘Prince Ali’ especially. My God, he went crazy on ‘Prince Ali.’ He was doing the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Arab-style.”
One source says that the song was originally written as a Cab Calloway style big band number. Some elements of this concept remain (for instance, when the Genie scats, in typical Calloway moves), but after Robin Williams was cast it was expanded as a more comedic, pop-culture-filled song.
I miss Robin Williams. He could do comedy and drama and do them both well. This is what makes a great actor, in my opinion. He was truly one of the best ad-libbers and I always loved watching him on late night shows.
When we were picking songs for our alumni band one year, I picked this song for us. Not the best song to march to in a parade, but it was fun to play.
Friend Like Me
I was disappointed in the soundtrack version, as it seems like Robin’s vocals are a bit buried.
I just realized that my list has two Elvis covers on it. Technically, they are both movie songs, too.
When ZZ Top released their Greatest Hits album, they included a remake of Viva Las Vegas. ZZ Top took it up a notch. They took Elvis’ song and modernized it and gave it a real driving rock sound.
I remember my dad bringing home the 12 inch single of it and saying, “Keith, you’ve got to hear this!” He put it on the turntable and there was a downward swishy sound effect followed by Elvis saying, “Y’all still want me to come with ya?” Once the guitars kick in, it just jams!
It’s one of my guilty pleasure songs.
Viva Las Vegas
I had a meeting with a bride and groom once. We were going over songs for their wedding. When I asked them what their wedding song was, they told me “If I Had $1,000,000 by Barenaked Ladies.” I must have looked like an idiot. I thought they were joking. “Barenaked Ladies?! Really?!” I had never heard of them.
I had no idea what to expect when I went searching for the song. I’ve had my share of weird songs to play for the bridal dance, so I was ready for anything. I was finally able to get a copy of it, but it wasn’t easy. The couple enjoyed their dance and the crowd loved every second of it.
Even though it’s one of the group’s most popular songs, it was never a hit single in America. It wasn’t a hit in the UK either. A lot of it was timing: The group didn’t break through outside of their native Canada until their 1998 album Stunt. The song was even re-released in 1996, but didn’t chart then either.
This is a very important song for Barenaked Ladies. They have performed it at nearly every live show since 1988. Frontman Ed Robertson told Songfacts:
“It has become its own thing and people sing along and it represents a time and a place for so many people. It’s oddly a song I don’t get bored of. It brings such joy to the room that it’s hard to not enjoy it.”
He goes on to say, “That song, it was about being in love and being maybe a little bit extravagant but not losing hold of what’s important.” Ultimately it’s just about celebrating your good fortune with someone else, and I think I’ve stayed pretty true to that.”
The song was my introduction to the group. I have come to enjoy many of their future songs, too. Perhaps one or two may show up in the years to come.
If I Had $1,000,000
That’s a wrap on 1992. Did I miss one of your favorites? Drop it in the comments.
Next week, as we head to 1993, a few ballads with a lot of personal meaning to me, a couple fun dance songs, a spelling lesson, and more stories behind the songs.
It is no secret to anyone who follows my blog that I am a Band Nerd through and through! I have many wonderful memories of playing in band when I was in school. Many memories surround the high school Homecomings.
Homecoming was always on a Saturday. We’d start the day in the morning by marching in the parade. There would be an hour or so break between the end of the parade and the actual homecoming game. After the game, we’d all go home to shower and get ready for the dance that would take place that evening. It was an all day event.
Sam had mentioned earlier in the week that the homecoming parade for our local high school was tonight. We talked about taking the kids to watch it. The route is a short distance from our house, so we all dressed and loaded up the stroller and walked to get a good spot.
From where we stood, we could look down the street to see where the parade would be starting from. At 5pm on the dot, I could see the drum major leading the band out onto the main drag. Local police and fire trucks were usually at the head of our homecoming parades, but this one had the band front and center.
As the band approached, I awaited the “roll off” which would ultimately prompt the band to play the school song. The school song was always a song played on parade routes for us. There was usually one or two other songs we’d rotate through as we marched. If we were marching in a holiday parade, we might have a Christmas song in there.
The band kept coming closer and there was still no music. I figured they were waiting for a spot full of spectators before playing. Our drum majors often did this. If there was a stretch with just a few people, we marched without playing. However, if there was a big line of people along the route, you could rest assured we were playing.
Then I noticed why there was no music – the band members didn’t even have their instruments! The only ones who did were the drummers. I was floored (and disappointed) by this. It was a beautiful day – sunny and about 65 degrees at parade time – why were they not playing? I couldn’t even fathom this.
The band walked by and were all chanting or yelling something. It was probably “Go Mustangs” or “Hurray for Clio” or something like that. Why wouldn’t you want to belt out the school fight song along the route? I don’t get it. You are at the front of the parade – it’s your time to shine. You have that golden opportunity to set the stage for everything else that follows, and you just walk on by. Heck, they may as well have been throwing candy into the crowd like everyone else did in my opinion. They were no different than the boy scouts sitting on a flatbed …
When I think of a band in a parade, I think of brass players right out in front with their notes piercing through the air and letting everyone along the parade route know they are coming! They are belting out the school fight song that alumni along the road can sing along with and little kids can clap along with. Maybe it’s just a great march from John Phillip Sousa to fire up the crowd before they all file into the stands to watch the grid iron competition. The band is such an important part of a parade.
When they plan the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, they choose 10-12 high school or university bands from across the country to perform. That, in itself, tells you of the importance of the presence of a marching band in a parade. Last year in the Detroit Thanksgiving parade, there were 5 bands that performed. Even in the Mickey Mouse photo above, the characters are playing musical instruments. To me, this says that a band is vital to a good parade.
I remember vividly that our band director, Tom Shaner, would take us out at least once during homecoming week to march around the neighborhood in preparation for the parade. It was always neat to see people standing on their front porches to watch us go by. The kids who were too young to be in school would watch us and jump around and dance to the school song. Marching bands and music make people smile!
By definition, Homecoming is a long-standing American tradition where colleges and high schools would welcome alumni back to campus and the community. So when I graduated, we got some of the old band gang back together to march in the homecoming parade. Mr. Shaner was more than happy to have us back. A highlight of getting ready for the parade was meeting together a few weeks before hand to rehearse music. With all of us sitting around in the band room, it was like old times.
That first year we gathered up quite a group with good instrumentation and we marched. We used to joke that we’d need oxygen at the end of the parade! For many, we hadn’t picked up our horns in months or years! We always counted on the newly graduated to sort of carry the older folks.
A buddy’s brother designed our logo to put it on sweatshirts so we could all sort of be in uniform. What a blast we’d have getting together every year. Once Mr. Shaner retired, the interest to get together started to fade. I sure do miss playing my trumpet in those parades.
I’m not 100% sure why the local band didn’t play in the parade. Perhaps there is a specific reason. I don’t know. As a former band student, I was disappointed – not only for me, but for my kids (and all the kids on the parade route). I wanted them to hear the sounds of the band! I’m also disappointed for the band members. What is there to remember about your homecoming parade if you weren’t playing a special piece of music? Even if all you played was the school fight song 5-10 times along the route – play something! What kind of memory is just walking along? What is a marching band without music? I guess it’s just a bunch of people walking ….
If my memory serves me correct, our high school band played three concerts. The first was the Fall concert, usually in early November, which featured both Concert Band and Marching Band songs. The Spring Concert happened in mid-May, and usually featured some of the more “fun” songs. In between those, we had a holiday concert in December.
This concert featured both the Concert Band and the various choir groups. The band almost always opened the concert and would play every 5th or 6th song. I think the band may have played a total of 4 or 5 songs during the entire concert. My grandparents, who were at every band concert, disliked the Christmas concert. They didn’t like having to wait so long to hear the band play.
It wasn’t easy for us band kids to sit on the stage throughout the entire concert either. I want to say that the area of the stage that the band was on was darkened while the choirs sang. It didn’t stop some of the goofing off in the brass and percussion sections. I can recall the drummers dropping things more than one time while the choirs were singing. They would get the “evil eye” from our band director which basically said, “Cut it out!”
The concert always ended with Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah. Our choir director would invite any alumni up to the stage to join in and sing. It was a perfect way to end the concert. The stage was already packed with the band and all the choir people, but we always made room for the various alumni singers.
The holiday concert my senior year was pretty special for me. I can’t recall if it was the entire trumpet section, but we all got to go up on the roof of the auditorium a half hour before the concert and play Christmas carols. They were arranged in 4 part harmony and it sounded so cool. I was lucky enough to direct the players. I can only imagine how cool it must have been for folks walking into the concert and hearing us from the roof.
As a kid, I stumbled on a Boston Pops Christmas album. It had many of the songs that would play over the PA system as you walked through K-Mart or Hudson’s during the holiday season. The first song on the album was an almost 9 minute medley of Christmas songs by Leroy Anderson called A Christmas Festival.
The song remains one of my favorites to this day. I used to grab a stick and crank this up in my headphones and “conduct” the orchestra in my room. For the holiday concert my senior year, we actually got to play it, which made it even cooler for me. I was so familiar with it already, but playing it was challenging. It was a tough piece. There were plenty of time signature changes and key changes, and some high notes. We also played the “band” version of it, which was a little different from the “orchestra” version. It was such a neat piece to play. One of the things I did after the concert was grab a copy of the conductor’s score so I could watch it as I listened to the record from home.
Give it a listen:
After we graduated, there were a few times that some of the alumni band got together to play Christmas carols in the lobby prior to the school’s holiday concert. I miss those days and miss playing my horn.
I’m still trying to process the loss of my friend, Tom Shaner. He passed away just before Christmas. He was my high school band director. He was more than just a friend to me (and many others). He was a mentor, a leader, a counselor, a cheerleader, a boss, a role model, an advisor, and at times, was like a second father to me.
I received word that he was in the hospital the week before Christmas. Due to Covid, no visitors were allowed. I found out afterward that he had been in ICU. Then his family announced that he was coming home to hospice care. Word came very quickly after that he had passed away. I am still in shock, as are many of his former students.
I had been watching the mailbox for a letter from him. He and I had exchanged e-mails recently and he said he was going to drop a note in the mail. I assumed that the note might be stuffed in the annual Christmas card from him. It never arrived.
My Facebook was filled with other band students remembering him. There were pictures of him and many stories, some I had heard before, some I had been in band to witness, and some I had never heard before. Those various memories from band students younger and older than me, were proof that we all shared many of the same wonderful experiences with him. They also were illustrations of the great impact that this one man had on students throughout his teaching career and far beyond.
From a previous blog:
One of the first blogs I wrote here was about the impact of teachers. I listed some of mine. Here is what I wrote about Mr. Shaner almost 3 years ago:
Mr. Shaner was my band director. If you are looking for my stance on Music Education in schools – here it is. “I LEARNED MORE TO PREPARE ME FOR LIFE FROM BAND CLASS THAN ANY OTHER CLASS IN SCHOOL”. There. I said it. I learned the importance of preparation. I learned the importance of punctuality. I learned the importance of practice. I learned the importance of team work. I learned the importance of organization. I learned the importance of patience. All of my time management skills came directly from band class. I learned about discipline and work ethic. I learned the importance of cooperation and respect. The list goes on and on. The lessons that I took from band class in itself can be an entire blog. (I can also add the importance of dedication, responsibility, self worth, dignity, and honor to this list!)
I recall one day in 9th grade, I was running late for school. I grabbed a pair of khaki pants from a basket that was in the laundry room. I walked into school and TS said “Hey, man, you know an iron can get those wrinkles out of your slacks”. Now some people might think this was mean. I didn’t take it that way. Instead, it made me aware of little things like looking good. It was a simple nudge to take an extra minute to dress right.
It was not odd for him to call someone in the office and ask if everything was ok if they looked like something was bothering them. Sometimes he would get wind of a situation someone was dealing with and he would be aware that there was a lesson in it for everyone. He would just tell some story in class with the lesson at the end and it did two things – it helped the person in the situation AND it helped the rest of us in case that situation ever popped up in our lives.
I remember one time Steve and I were goofing off during a rehearsal. It was the day before festival, so it was not the time to be fooling around. He stopped the band and asked us what was so funny. Because we did not have an answer he pointed to the door and said “Bye. I’ll see you after rehearsal”. We sat at the end of the hall and pondered how much trouble we were going to get into not only with him but with our folks. He sent Kelly, the band president down to the end of the hall to get us. He looked at us dead in the eye and said “I did not want you to go with us to festival tomorrow, but the band as a whole voted and said you should come”. He proceeded with the rehearsal. The following day, I was the first to arrive in the band room. He greeted me with a smile and I was completely confused. He was SO angry the day before. I asked if he had a second and he said to follow him to his office. He sat down and looked at me, like he had no idea why I was there. I apologized for my behavior the previous day and told him it would never happen again. He stared at me for a few seconds and got up quickly (which scared the hell out of me). He extended his hand and said, “It takes a lot of guts to admit when you are wrong. It takes a real man to apologize. Thank you for taking responsibility for your actions. I have a lot of respect for you.” He took it a step further and made sure the entire band knew what happened. He said he thought that they should know that I cared enough about them to apologize for my actions. Talk about respect? I have the utmost respect for that man and all of the lessons I still carry with me to this day. I am glad that we have remained in contact all these years later. He was a major influence in my life and in the lives of many students.
His Own Hashtag!
The one thing that showed up in almost every post about him on Facebook was how strict he was about being punctual. “If you’re on time – you’re late!” He always told us that! In other words, if rehearsal started at 4pm, you had better be in your seat with your instrument ready to play at 3:59pm (or earlier!). SO many people mentioned this in their posts. I chuckled and thought he would think it was great that the hashtag #ifyoureontimeyourelate was in almost all of these posts!
The Band Room
The band room represented a safe haven for most of us. It was like a family gathering place. Almost everyone hung out there before and after school. Most of us ate lunch there, too. We did homework there, we talked about life there, we laughed there, and we cried there. Many of us never used our lockers because we kept most of our stuff in the band room!
Mr. Shaner always had something playing over the speakers in the band room in the morning. Sometimes it was just the classical music station, while other times it was an album featuring artists like Maynard Ferguson and Doc Severinsen. I was introduced to so many great albums by hearing them in the band room.
Many student’s first stop was the band room every day. We’d drop our instruments off in the instrument storage room and walk over the the white grease board where Mr. Shaner wrote all the announcements. At the bottom of that board, he always had some quote. The one I remember most hits me a bit hard with his passing: “Live every day as if it were your last – someday, you’ll be right.”
In my senior year, I was the Band President. All the officers had mailboxes in his office. He would often write notes for all of us on Post It notes and stick them in our mailbox. Mine often read simply “See me”. Sometimes, the sticky note was stuck to some flyer or something and it would read “See me on this!” Every now and then, an officer would find a page from the Far Side calendar in their mailbox, just because.
I had a typing class my senior year. I hated it. I would get my work done early and I would sit there for the rest of the hour doing nothing. Eventually I’d as the teacher for a pass to go to the band room to work on stuff I needed to get done. This became a habit and one day I walked to his desk and before I could ask he said, “No. You may not have a pass to the band room.” I looked at him and said, “I was hoping you could give me a pass to the IMRC.” The teacher looked at me puzzled and I continued, “The Instrumental Music Rehearsal Center” (which was something Mr. Shaner had said in class that week). He wrote the pass and told me to beat it!
Band Class
While in school, I have many wonderful memories of band class and Mr. Shaner. I remember how he would tell us stories about the little old lady that he went to church with, which always made us laugh. Whenever one of his kids had a baby, he’d announce how his wife, Carol, “became a grandma again.” I remember how if there was a part of a song that didn’t sound right, he’d pull out the grade book and go down the line and make us all play individually – for a test grade. Then there was “the parting of the stands”, when he would step off the podium and go directly to whoever he needed to yell at.
When I was a junior, I wanted to be a band director (until I stumbled into radio). Mr. Shaner ran an after school Conducting Class for whoever wanted to be in it. It was part music theory and part conducting. Each of us in the class got to lead the band in a warm up chorale every day. I really enjoyed that. One class he asked each of us to bring a song to the class and explain why we liked it. I remember there being a lot of different types of music and his reaction to each was always enlightening.
The above picture was taken of him conducting the Jazz Band. We rehearsed after school and we got to play at Pep assemblies. Jazz Band was so much fun. It was just a small group of us, and he seemed to really have more fun with us. I remember one of the songs we played was Delta Dawn (the Tanya Tucker song). The sax section had the melody and the harmonies were just fantastic. I was given the solo on a song called “In a Sentimental Mood”. I was scared to play it but he was so encouraging and I remember not being so nervous after he talked to me.
At Christmas time, he would invite the band officers over for dinner or a movie. I remember how strange it felt to be at his house at first, but we were welcomed as friends and family. I can’t remember how many times we drove by his house honking our horns after graduation.
The “Radio” Preview?
At the end of my sophomore year, he had put an announcement on the grease board asking if someone wanted to help take songs from vinyl and transfer them to cassette so he could listen to them in the car. All the music publishing companies would send out record albums with demos of their music for the upcoming season. Band directors would listen to them and then order whatever songs they wanted. He needed someone to announce the title of the song before it played on the tape. That way, when he heard something he liked, he knew what the song title was. I volunteered to do it.
Naturally, before each song, I played DJ and if I knew something about the artist, I’d ad-lib something. I told jokes, and was just silly on them. He must have enjoyed it, because I did it for him the next two years. If we were recording something in class he’s say something like, “Hey, Golden Tones, why don’t you announce this for me.” I remember announcing Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo by saying, “Here’s a swinging little number called Mood Indigo.” Without missing a beat, he said “Shirley is gonna go around now saying ‘Hi! I’m Mood Indigo!”
He was so encouraging about my radio career. He’d listen when he could. He was always so supportive and interested in my radio job. He often talked about things he’d heard other DJ’s say. In an email he sent last year, he told me: “saw you in front of the microphone on Facebook this morning. I’m always pleased to see you doing what you always do so well.”
Open To All Ideas
He always seemed to want our ideas to come to fruition. It was tradition for the band officers to do a skit in front of the rest of the band. For our sketch, I thought it would be funny to have each officer step into the spotlight and lip sync to songs (this was long before lip sync battles were a thing). He gave the green light and we had a blast!
The skit that year led to us doing a lip sync contest. I asked Mr. Shaner if we could do it as a fund raiser. He was not really sure it would work, and he asked me many questions about it and how we were going to handle things before giving it the go ahead. He was willing to let me throw it together.
He called it Puttin’ On The Hits! We opened it up for everyone, but they had to audition. Someone did Time Warp from Rocky Horror (that won), someone else did Going Back to Cali, and me and my buddy, Steve, did the Ames Brothers Rag Mop. Prior to the show, ticket sales were low. We thought we were gonna cancel it because of that. However, the sales at the door that night sold out the show. We had a full house that night and it was a huge success.
Band Banquet Imitations
My Junior year, the officers were discussing the agenda for the annual Band Banquet. We needed one more speech, so I said I’d get up and do an imitation of Mr. Shaner. That night I was nervous. I got up and started my speech by saying “The longer you’re in band, the more Mr. Shaner starts to grow on you…” with that I ducked under the podium and threw on a bald cap. I then put a baton in the back of my shirt collar like he did. I “yelled” about how nobody practiced, talked about retiring and some other things. As the laughter died down, I realized I hadn’t written an “out”. I went on to thank Mr. Shaner for the many times he opened his office to listen to me talk about life, and issues I was dealing with. I don’t recall all I said, but I got pretty emotional and ended by telling him I loved him. He got up and we hugged. Somewhere I have a picture of that moment.
Remember, that happened my Junior year ….. so when my senior year arrived, he got me back good! I used to have the video of it, but I am not sure what happened to it …. so from memory, here’s what happened:
He always had a spot on the agenda to speak at the Band Banquet. So when it came time for his speech, I introduced him and sat down. He stood up and reached into a paper bag. He pulled out a wig and put it on. The entire hall erupted in laughter. He ran around the hall doing all kinds of gestures that I really hoped I had never done. At one point, he stopped at pointed to the custodian who cleaned our band room and yelled “Get outta here, Bill!” which was something we all yelled at him. By the time he got to the microphone, I was crying from laughing so hard. But he was far from done…..
He began to tell silly stories as me. One of them was “You know, Margaret is always asking me to come over and go to dinner or to the movies, but I tell her I’d rather play pinochle than do that!” (The guys and I would always play cards together, and Margaret was one of my best friends.) As the stories and laughs continued, he paused, said something about a costume change and turned with his back to the audience.
NOTE: Now, if you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you know that we did a lot of TPing when I was in school. We had a group that went out called the TP Bandits……
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of toilet paper that he made into a mask and the laughter became ten times louder!
He looked absolutely ridiculous! It was the funniest thing I have ever sat through! My sides ached from laughing so hard!
The thing about Mr. Shaner was, he could take you from laughing like crazy to crying like a baby. Immediately after he took off the TP mask and wig, he spoke to us about the achievements of the year and offered up wisdom. I remember he mentioned how after graduation, friends will go separate ways. He said that you could go 30 years and when you met back up, could pick right up where you left off. Looking back at that now, I am lucky to have had his friendship 30 years after that night!
After his speech, I told him that was the worst impression of me I had ever seen!
After Graduation
I’m not going to lie, I hated graduating. I didn’t want to head out into the real world! I was comfortable in the band room. There was talk about an Alumni Band, and I was asked to head it up. I gathered all the addresses and we got it up and running. It, in itself, became a great way for all of us band “kids” to come back and hang out with Mr. Shaner. We marched in the homecoming parade every year and even played on the field once or twice. He was very supportive of the group. When he retired, there was an attempt to get folks together, but it was less successful. I truly believe that this had to do with the fact that he was not there to run rehearsals and chat with. There was always so much laughter and fun when we all got together, but without him, it was not the same.
I remember stopping by the band room one summer and he had lost a bunch of weight. He said he had been doing Weight Watchers. I had been struggling with weight for some time and I asked him about it. He was very encouraging and suggested I go. I remember losing 85 pounds and he cheered me all along the way!
One day, my girlfriend at the time and I went to see the Community Band play at one of the colleges. I was surprised to see Mr. Shaner playing his cornet in the band. There were many other concerts I attended and saw him play. It was always a treat for me. We often bumped into each other at shows. I remember seeing him at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra show, and at a Doc Severinsen show (among others).
Don’t Break Anything …
I can’t recall if it was before or after Christmas, but my son was about 1 or 2 years old. We had stopped by his house just to say hello. Their house was full of things on shelves that were breakable. I was so nervous with my son. Mrs. Shaner told my son to pick a gift from under the tree. He picked a book that came with a CD that he listened to often growing up. Mr. Shaner and I sat at his kitchen table talking. I kept wanting to get up because Mrs. Shaner was “entertaining” my son. He kept telling me, “Carol is keeping an eye on him. He’s fine.” Come to find out he was in their room jumping up and down on their bed ….. LOL
Hot Chocolate
I’d always mention getting together for coffee when we’d talk on the phone. He’d always say, I don’t do coffee, but I’ll meet you for hot chocolate. We did that often. In those times we were together, we’d talk about life, family, and the various things going on in our lives. There were so many times I’d walk into his office at school and say, “Do you have a minute?”, and we’d talk just like this. I always enjoyed his insights to things. He was so helpful when I was going through my divorce, offering some sage advice. He always helped me to see things just a bit differently.
Even in his last email to me he offered up encouraging words. He spoke of how much he enjoyed seeing my daughter in pictures on Facebook. He suggested a few books he thought I would enjoy and offered support about my bible classes. He was such a wonderful friend.
Some Closing Thoughts
Every once in a while, you meet someone who makes a huge impression on you. Tom Shaner was that man for me. He was more than just a teacher. As I stated, he was a mentor, a counselor, a leader, and a true friend. He taught me and so many other students life lessons that we have carried with us throughout our lives.
He led by example. He was almost always the first one to arrive to things and the last to leave. He was firm, yet caring. He was serious, yet funny. He showed us the importance of hard work. He showed us the importance of humor. He instilled in us pride for our organization and in our accomplishments. He made music and making music fun! The list goes on and on …
What an influence he was to hundreds of students over the years! I commented on someone’s Facebook post this week by saying that “no matter what year you graduated, no matter what section you played in, no matter what you ended up doing for a living, or where you ended up, we all had one common thread – Tom Shaner.”
He has been such a big part of my life, I am not sure where I would be without his guidance. I am forever grateful for the moments that I shared with him. I don’t know that I could ever put into words what a blessing he was to me. I am so thankful to have had him in my life.
He always said “If you’re on time, you’re late,” so I am going to assume that he was right on time for the heavenly concert that God needed an extra cornet for.
Today I would like to salute three of my closest friends. I guess, in a way, I am taking the easy way out by including all three of them in one blog. I am doing it this way because they all celebrate birthdays this month. So here are some thoughts on three great guys.
Joe – October 15
Joe is my Polish brother. He says that I am his Italian brother. The great Red Buttons used to joke that “there is only one difference between the Polish and the Italians – One year of high school!” We truly are like brothers. Joe and I met in junior high school. We had band 1st hour. It was in this class that I also met Steve K, who you will hear about shortly. We all hit it off immediately, and have been friends ever since.
In high school, I used to pick Joe up and drive him to school. He used to run out of the house with a bowl of cereal in his hand. I remember that cereal was Fruit Islands. They don’t make it anymore, but the commercials had some guy saying “Ayumma yumma”. Not sure why, but I will always remember that.
All of the guys I am talking about were in band. Steve K, Joe, and I all graduated the same year. Steve M, graduated before us. Joe and I were band officers. We were both librarians. That meant we were responsible for all the music. We copied it and made sure the parts were placed in the right folders for band members. Our senior year, Joe was head librarian and I was band president. We spent many hours after school working on music and hanging with the band director and custodian. We were probably more of an annoyance than anything!
Bill, the custodian, was such a cool guy! He invited us to his wedding! We used to pick a day and he would make sure not to bring lunch that day. We’d order a pizza from Sorrento’s and eat it in the band room. We’d sit around telling stories and laughing. Such fun times!
There was a brief period where I switched from trumpet to tuba. Joe was the lone tuba player. I played tuba at the commencement ceremonies for the class of 87, and then played it briefly for marching band. I was asked by the band director to switch back to trumpet. He said we needed more trumpets – but now that I think about it, maybe I was just a real crappy tuba player!
It seems like Joe and I have been golfing and bowling together for as long as I can remember. I remember bowling at this little hole in the wall dump in St. Clair Shores with Joe. It was always such fun there, and we are still friends with many of the folks we met there. Eventually we joined a league at Pastime Lanes. It was there we made more friendships, and I watched him bowl a 300 game. Pastime is long gone, but we still have many memories there.
Steve K, Joe and I all golfed for Senior Skip Day. Steve borrowed our buddy Wayne’s golf clubs. On the first tee, he hit the ball, but the club head broke off the driver. The club head went farther than the damn golf ball! Joe and I laughed like hell! One time Joe and I were golfing in Lapeer and there was an electrical wire that went across the fairway. What are the odds that one of us would hit that? Joe did. He teed off – it hit the wire and dropped like a stone in the fairway.
We used to play pinochle over at Joe’s parents house till all hours of the night. Their house was just one of many houses that hosted pinochle nights. Eventually, he and his sister moved into their own place and the card games moved there. We’d sit around drinking Bud Light listening to 580 CKWW or WCXI and play cards all night. So many nights of crazy conversations about music, movies, and TV.
Steve M – October 19
Steve and I had probably met before, but we really got to know each other because of Alumni Band. I remembered that alumni had played once or twice at homecoming while I was still in school. When I graduated, I wanted to make sure that the tradition continued. So I bugged the band director and we threw it together. The first year was a small group. The second year it was a little bigger. It was a way for us to get together and play and have fun.
Steve and I hit it off immediately. We both were trumpet players. I knew his younger brother, Jeff, because he was my brother’s age. He was also a DJ and did weddings and we loved to talk music. He hosted some alumni band BBQ’s and was a key part in the success of the group.
I am not sure exactly how we ended up DJing together. I think it was because he had a light show and I didn’t. I brought him along and we ended up having so much fun, we kept doing it. Little by little we added things to the gigs we did. We both did this stupid Blues Brothers intro to kick off dancing. I had this bad Elvis wig and would go out and sing to a female wedding guest (story about the wig in a sec). We had blow up instruments and silly cardboard things we’d hold up while we danced. We had a friggin blast!!
One time, Steve had his truck backed into the garage. He had the tailgate glass up and I went inside to comb the Elvis wig down. I used to put it on my head and comb it down before I put it on this stupid Styrofoam head I had. I was in his bathroom combing and I heard the truck start and all of a sudden a huge crash. I walked to the door of the garage and saw that the tailgate glass had caught the garage door and shattered all over the place. I stood there, wearing that dumb wig, and asked what happened. At the time, it wasn’t funny (It was raining, we were running late, when we got the gig, Steve had forgotten his shoes, so I went to Kmart to buy him a pair, it was a mess!). We look back now and Steve will still laugh, “You were standing there wearing the King’s hair!” After weddings, it was tradition to grab White Castle hamburgers! Some of my favorite gigs were DJing for cancer benefits or VFW steak outs. When Steve M was living in his apartment, his crazy neighbor (who we called Fruit Loops) used to always come out when we were loading or unloading for DJ gigs. I wonder what happened to her….LOL
Steve M, Steve K, Joe, and I spent many nights singing karaoke. We used to have so much fun. We’d go to these two dive bars – McGee’s and Grady’s. We’d drink, sing songs and laugh like hell. We all had specific songs we used to do. We used to have these guys who’d get up and sing that we’d make fun of. There was a guy who looked and sounded like Bela Lugosi! He’d sing Let Me Call You Sweetheart with that accent! Then there was “Opera Man”. We called him that because every song he sang, he’d sing it like he was one of the Three Tenors! I would sing harmony for Steve M on Losing My Religion a lot. We’d have such a fun time! Now, he is actually hosting karaoke every week at a few places. I’m over due to get out and sing!
Steve K – October 28
Steve and I became friends in junior high, in the same class as Joe. Here’s the thing – we almost didn’t stay friends. Admittedly, we all kind of picked on Steve. We razzed him – a lot. Steve and I both played trumpet. Now I am not sure why he found my trumpet to be better than his. I do know that he would often switch his with mine. Well, one day he was walking in the band room and he dropped “his” horn and bent the bell. I laughed. We all did. I probably said something like “You idiot! Nice job!” or something like that. He looked at me sheepishly while I laughed and said, “Uh, Keith….this is YOUR trumpet.” My laughter stopped and I grabbed him by the throat! Our band director, Mr. Mest, came running over and pulled us both into the office.
Steve and I were in 2nd hour with each other. After the “incident” we went to the next class. I was still upset about the whole thing and kept egging him on throughout the class. I was calling him names, and just being an ass. He finally got up and walked over to me as I was talking to our buddy Warren. He grabbed the desk I was sitting in and literally flipped it over – with me still in it! It totally took me by surprise! Needless to say, we both were sent to the office. I don’t know if detention was given or not, but I know we both got “yellow slips”. This was bad, I just don’t know or remember how bad.
I think our dad’s ended up having to talk to each other about the incident and arrangements were made to take care of the horn. I think we both got a “talking to” by our dads and we stayed friends. We always seemed to be together. We sat next to each other in band for as long as I can remember. I often call Steve “Norton” because he reminded me so much to Ed Norton on the Honeymooners. He’d say some of the silliest things. We’d laugh all the time. That Senior Skip Day, he even golfed like Norton did in that episode of the Honeymooners!
The only real time I got in trouble in band class was with Steve. The other trumpets always waited for us to bring up our horns. They never seemed to count the rests. So Steve and I were talking and saying “Let’s bring up our horns early and fool those guys.” Well, we were rehearsing for band festival and the band director was in no mood for jokes. He stopped the music and asked what we were talking about. When I told him he simply pointed to the door and said “Bye.” We were told to wait until after rehearsal and then talk to him afterward. We both felt like crap. You just didn’t tick off the band director – not when festival was the next day! We were allowed back to rehearsal shortly afterward, but we both still felt stupid!
We’d spend hours in the car driving around. I would make “driving tapes” and we’d pile in and spend the night driving around the neighborhood. We’d cruise Gratiot and look at girls. We’d drive with the windows down, jamming to our favorite songs and singing at the top of our lungs. We’d harmonize to Huey Lewis & the News, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Ford, and so many other artists. It was what we did!
He was with me when I got my first speeding ticket (on my way to Sam’s Jams) and he was with me when I had my first car accident. I was driving in my ’79 Caprice Classic (ok, my dad’s ’79 Caprice Classic) and it had rained. I was going to his house to drop him off. I made the left turn and the roads were wet. I began to go into a skid (rear wheel drive). I remembered Driver’s Ed class “turn into the skid”, and I did. Too bad I was literally in front of a parked car when I turned into the skid. I slammed into the front of this car! Steve’s mom called my dad. I was in shock. I knew I was a dead man. My dad drove over and walked right past me and looked at the car. I heard him mumble under his breath “There’s about $1500 worth of damage here.” I later said, “You didn’t ask about me at all!” to which my dad replied, “I saw you standing there – I knew you were ok!”
I don’t recall if it was our senior year or not, but we had a band trip to Cedar Point. I am not a ride person. Steve, me and Chris walked around most of the day probably looking at girls. We stumbled on this “You Be the Star” booth. This was LONG before karaoke was a thing. You went into a sound booth, put headphones on and sang to an instrumental track of a song. Then, you got a cassette tape of your recording. I think we did Twist and Shout, Steve did Mack the Knife (which would become his karaoke theme song), and we all did Hip to Be Square by Huey Lewis. The song had just come out and he said he knew it, so he sang lead on it. Chris and I sang the “Hip. Hip. So Hip to be Square” lines in the background. I think I may still have that tape!
At my graduation party, my dad and some of his band buddies set up and played music at the party. My dad had typed up the lyrics to Weird Al’s parody of La Bamba (Lasagna) and his band played it while me, Joe and Steve all sang it. Steve was leaving to go to basic training soon after we graduated. It was sad to know my buddy was going to be leaving. I’m not sure what happened, but he never ended up staying in the navy. He did, however, move to one of the Carolinas for awhile. I’d get in trouble for long distance calls to him talking about stupidity…LOL. He would tell me all about these silly sweepers he’d hear on a station called The Frog out there!
When he moved back to Michigan, Steve also used to DJ with me. He would bring these crazy songs I had never heard before and want me to play them. Sometimes they’d work, sometimes they didn’t. One day, Steve M and I were DJing at the VFW right by Steve K’s house. He came to the event. He was dancing like crazy on the dance floor. I think his wife wanted to go home and he wanted to stay. She left and went home. He had to call her later to come pick him back up because while he was out on the floor dancing he split his pants! Typical Steve. Stuff like that happened to him all the time! That is one of my favorite Steve stories.
He was always my pinochle partner when we played with my grandparents (and when we played with Tonya, Michelle and the gang). You could always count on him having the Ace of Clubs! A trickless is when you and your partner take every possible trick in the hand. Steve and I pulled one against my grandparents once. It pissed my grandpa (who was very competitive) off! The next hand, we pulled another one! That was the end of the card playing that night! Grandpa was done! Somewhere, I still have the yellow legal pad with those back to back trickless hands written on it!
One day, we were all playing cards at Tonya’s house and the “F You’s” were flying around the table. Steve meant to say, “F You and the horse you rode in on”, but instead said “the horse you rode on in.” I am not sure why that made us all laugh so hard, but it did. To this day, I say it wrong – because of Steve! I am sure I could devote an entire blog to some of the silly things Steve has said.
He recently had a stroke. That being said, he is recovering well. I have to tell you though, when I heard the news I was scared! This is my buddy and I can’t imagine not having him around. When I went to the hospital to see him, I was like all emotional. I hid it very well, but here is a guy, one of my closest friends, who was my age (not even 50!) and this happened to him. I was happy that he was ok, and that the prognosis was good, but just knowing that it could have been a very different outcome freaked me out. It was an eye opening experience. I guess that’s why I am writing this blog.
I want these three guys to know how glad I am to have their friendship. We all share a love of music. We all have the same taste in movies. We all love a funny joke or pun. We have all shared silly conversations, as well as deep serious conversations. I have one blood brother, but I am blessed to have these guys as brothers and friends. In 30+ years, I have been lucky enough to share laughter and tears with these guys. All of them stood up in my first wedding and I stood up in Joe’s and Steve K’s weddings. We can go months without chatting and then pick right up where we left off. Conversations always include laughter, movie quotes, and a whole lot of love.
Even though two of them have already celebrated theirs, and one is a few days away – Happy Birthday, Boys. I love you guys! Thank you for being such amazing friends for so many years!
Joe, my brother Chris, Me, Steve M. Jeff, and Steve K at my first wedding.
I once heard someone say, “In a world of darkness – be the light.” If I may alter that quote just a bit … “In a world of negativity – be the positive.” You wouldn’t know it, but it has been a very challenging couple weeks for me. I just have to keep reminding myself that “some people are just not happy unless they are trying to make others unhappy.”
Here are some things that made me happy this week:
Bless You Boys!
I was reminded that 35 years ago this week, the Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres in the 1984 World Series. Remembering that amazing season always brings a smile to my face. In the final game, Kirk Gibson faced Goose Gossage. There was some chatting at the mound because they couldn’t decide whether or not to walk him or pitch to him. Gibby launched an amazing homerun off him! I can still remember Vin Scully calling it by saying, “And there it goes!!!!” Pandemonium! I rewatched that video more than once this week!
Autumn Leaves
The leaves are changing. Fall is probably my favorite season. It makes me think of high school homecoming parades and football games. It makes me think of Alumni Band. It makes me think of sitting around bonfires in hooded sweatshirts. It makes me think of those last few weekends up north closing up the trailer for winter. I love the beauty of autumn. Here in Michigan, we have such wonderful fall colors. I love to walk outside in the fall and just get lost in thought. Fall makes me happy.
Here’s Johnny!
This month Sirius XM Radio has a Johnny Carson channel (105) and they are playing old episodes of The Tonight Show. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I am loving these! Johnny was the best. These dated monologues are still funny today! Today, I laughed a little bit harder than I should have at one of the jokes. He was talking about a previous joke he did about McDonalds. He then asked “Have you ever been to the Beverly Hills (California) McDonalds? They serve escargot there. They call them, McSlugs!”
Listening to his reactions to when a joke bombs is just hilarious! His banter with Ed and Doc is also very funny. It’s been great to hear classic interviews with Mel Brooks, Eli Wallach, Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles and more! It’s also been neat to hear some of the early stand up from Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Garry Shandling, and others. He was a master – and he still makes me laugh.
Baby Kicks
I have saved the best thing for last. My wife is 22 weeks along now and she has been feeling our baby move. Earlier in the week, she started to feel baby kicks. We were lying in bed this week and she said the baby was kicking. She placed my hand exactly where she was feeling them, and I felt her kick! It was light, but it was there!
I don’t care how many times I feel it, it still amazes me! My wife feels her move a whole lot more than me, so to feel this little “bump” against my palm makes me more and more excited for her arrival! It gets more and more real as we get closer. I get emotional thinking about it. She’s going to be here soon! We’ll be able to hold her and kiss her. I’ve been creating my “Bedtime Song List” for her. There are some favorites that I sang with my boys when they were babies, and I will be singing them for her too. I probably need to start working on “Daddy’s Little Girl” and “My Special Angel” – songs that I obviously couldn’t sing to my boys!
February will be here before we know it – and I am sure there will be many stories to be shared about her here!
Final Thought
It really isn’t hard to find things that make you happy. Look around – they are right there! Find the happy & SMILE!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 