I had such a good time the other night!
My buddy Jim texted me Thursday to say that his brother couldn’t make it and he knew it was short notice but would I want to go the Providence Bruins the next night. At first I thought, “It’s been a busy week, maybe I should say ‘no’ and just chill.” However, I immediately thought that a night out could be fun. I am so glad I said yes.
I’m sure I’m not alone that, sometimes, I just think, “Oh I don’t know, I think I’ll just stay home.” It can be the easy choice if you have health issues. But what fun is that?
He picked me up around 6pm and we headed for Providence. I must say, I had a great time even though the PBruins lost. Yes I got my hot pretzel (It’s my favorite), and the time just flew by. We talked about all kinds of things: getting caught up on what our families were up to. We even played “Name That Tune” as they were playing 80’s TV Theme songs in-between the action. I can’t believe I got “Night Rider” correct but could not remember “Magnum PI.” I usually blame the brain injury (stroke). It works.
It was RI Comic Con weekend so we got to see the Batmobile, the Ectomobile from Ghost Buster’s and the Delorean from “Back to the Future.”
Jim is my longtime friend Jim Marshall. We worked together in the 90s at WBSM. For a few years, if you turned on the radio in the morning you either heard me or him. If I was away, he filled in. If he was off, I was there. We talked about his second day at the station, that was the day my son, Doug, was born. That was 29 years ago next week. Jim had no idea how to run the controls in the studio and suddenly he was hosting the whole show. He said that when he finished the show our mutual friend and the business manager said, “Well…it wasn’t THAT bad!”
He later left for other opportunities but we kept in touch. After I left radio he was one of the first people to reach out and offer me a spot at New Bedford Cable Network where he is the station manager.
We talked about old times the other night and some of the interesting people we’ve interviewed. Hulk Hogan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton for him. Yaz, Pedro Martinez and Jason Varitek for me. We talked about the state of radio today and how weird it is to adjust to our children getting older. There was never any awkward silence as we always had something to share.
I guess the reason I bring this up today is to urge others to give it a shot! Get out and do stuff! I know, especially if you have a health issue, how easy it can be to just stay in your own little world. Was it easy for me to negotiate the steps to our seats and the walk from the parking garage? No. But I did it. I will admit, I was a little tired yesterday from all the busyness of Friday but it was definitely worth it.
Push yourself if you must but get out there and enjoy your friends and, if it’s been awhile, get back into life. Do what you can! There’s still good times to be had.
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