This little tradition started on MySpace, was transitioned to Facebook, and from here on will find a home on the ol’ blog. The first year I did this I was 33 years old, so I wrote 33 things for which I was thankful.
Since I wrote the original list of 33 I have lost a parent and all of my grandparents have passed away. I have added a nephew. And each year, I add one more item. This year’s is at the bottom, and it’s a little longer than usual because…well, 2019 has been a complicated year.
THINGS DR. J IS THANKFUL FOR:
1. The Children’s Hospital, Buffalo, NY
2. Dr. Seuss
3. Charlie Brown paperback books
4. Mom and Dad
5. Jeremy and Johanna Mary
6. Grandma and Grandpa (Mason and Wentworth)
7. The Muppets
8. the Advair asthma discus
9. extra-strength Tylenol
10. Tivo
11. The Main Street Players
12. Koz
13. the Adirondack Red Wings
14. the little Christmas ball that made bird noises when you plugged it in, that scared my brother Jeremy out of his wits
15. every good friend I have ever had
16. Doug Abbott (sorry friends…he deserves his own line)
17. Kentucky Fried Chicken
18. bonding with my year-old baby brother Jeremy by feeding him Pop-Tarts and Life Savers before Mom or Dad were awake, then stuffing the wrappers down the furnace grate to hide the evidence
19. the years 1994-1998
20. Michelle Graham (another old friend who gets her own line, for a similar reason as 16)
21. Marconi, the inventor of radio
22. my brother’s wife and kids…they have deprogrammed the bird noises and Pop-Tart feedings that corrupted him for many years
23. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” seasons 1 through 5 on DVD
24. radiation therapy
25. aunts and uncles and cousins by the dozens
26. game shows
27. frozen dinners
28. Cool Edit Pro
29. Ron Pesha
30. a job that I love….most of the time
31. The Simpsons
32. vacations!!!
33. Coming back from vacations
UPDATES:
34. (2006) Drew Carey as host of The Price is Right. I think he’s doing an awesome job, and I’m watching the show more now than I did in the later Barker years. (But of course Barker in his 70’s & 80’s prime mops the floor with ANY host.)
35. (2007) My unique talents. That sounds really bad, but I have to explain. I make my living with my brain, my imagination, my unique way of seeing the world…and I gotta be thankful for the strange mix inside my body of DNA, Twinkies and Gilligan’s Island reruns.
36. (2008) I Still Love Radio. The past year here at the radio station has seen its fair share of turmoil. But that has shown me that no matter how frustrating the business/office/corporate side of it can sometimes be…I still feel so amazingly blessed to do a 3-hour live radio broadcast every day. And I still love the tradition, the history of radio. I remember sitting in bed one Christmas Eve…1979 or 1980…and listening to Christmas music on 62 WHEN-AM out of Syracuse, NY. Then, the music stopped and some voices started coming out of the box…it was a rebroadcast of the Campbell Playhouse presentation of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” from 1939. I was spellbound, and nearly 30 years later, I still am.
37. (2009) Dad’s walking. And tending to the house fulla schnauzers. : )
38. (2010) Friends Who Have Changed My Life. 99% of my Facebook friends don’t know who Scott Reside was. But I have to mention him again, because he taught me Disc Jockey 101 when I was a squeaky-voiced wanna-be at WGFR, the Adirondack Community College student radio station. He was only a year older than I, but well-versed in the vocabulary and presentation of music radio.
When I was moved to KCOW morning show duties in 1999, I dug through my box of old papers to find the blurry photocopy I had made of Scott’s hourly format clock for “Power 92.” I didn’t follow it to the letter (for one thing, Scott’s clock didn’t have room for Paul Harvey)…but having it in front of me helped me remember the importance of timing and consistency.I guess the best thing I learned from Scott was that structure generates creativity. In those first tentative hours on air my happiest moments were when I could come up with a quick joke, a funny way to lead into a break, etc. Nearly 20 years later I still use a playlist, still have a consistent schedule, still play the same jingles at the same time very day. Because having that structure in place gives my brain room to think funny (or as Professor Dustin Harris would say, “think semi-humorous”).
39. (2011) I Still Have A Job. There is a Simpsons episode where Marge and Homer are enjoying a night out at the Springfield Squidport, a fancy outdoor food court. (This is going somewhere.) Marge and Homer each order a unique foreign cuisine, but then we are taken below street level, where a conveyor belt is sending the same slab of meat to each of the different eateries.
Clear Channel, the nation’s largest radio station owner, has decided to serve local radio the way the Springfield Squidport serves foreign entrees. Hundreds–HUNDREDS of talented local broadcasters lost their jobs in one day of truly heinous decision-making. And the sad thing is, they might get away with it. I have seen firsthand how two guys in Kansas have become the most popular morning show in Chadron, Nebraska (60 miles from here). In that case nobody’s job was lost–but nobody got a chance to be the hometown morning guy (or gal) either.13 years ago I got that chance. If I was getting out of college today–with hundreds of large market talent looking for work–I’d be living in A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER! Or some equally depressing place. So, I’m thankful I have a job. A job that keeps me knee-deep in Mr. Magoo DVDs, and allows me to do my kind of radio on my terms.
40. Unforgettable Experiences. I know I listed “vacations” in the main list but this is kind of seperate. Because, let’s face it, unforgettable experiences can happen anywhere–and some vacations are pretty darn forgettable. So, the (partial) roll call for 2012: Being surrounded by a semi-unruly 40th birthday flash mob in the middle of my KCOW morning show; seeing the amazing musical “Jersey Boys” at Paris Las Vegas; attending The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Concert Tour at Red Rocks with Mr. Kite and Cousin Mitch; receiving my 3rd Gold Award from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association; surviving one more night as “Chuckie Baby” at the Heritage Days Gong Show; and spending some quality time with Mom and Dad in Branson.
That’s on top of stagebound shenanigans with the Main Street Players, time spent with good friends, and four hours a day doing my Phil Markert impersonation. It’s truly a wonderful life.
41. People Who Do Something. That vague enough for you? Details to follow.If you’re reading this you likely heard that while I was on vacation in Anaheim California last summer, I tripped over a bench and landed face first on concrete–resulting in a fat lip, bumped noggin, bruised nose, scraped knees, cuts, abrasions and worst of all–broken eyeglasses. This happened in plain view of about 150 people..and ONE of them did something. Well, first the guy yelled “Oooh!” and put his hands up to his mouth. Then he sought out someone who could get me to some medical help..he stayed with me until he was certain somebody was taking care of me.
As much as I sometimes feel alone in my stumbles and bumbles, the fact is that here are a lot of klutzes in the world…and thank God there are people who feel the empathy and responsibility to help them pick up the bag they dropped, or open the door, or give them room to get through a crowd. Or, to get someone to help them after they trip over a bench.As for my good samaritan…I never got his name. I’ll never see him again. And he could have been like the other 149 people and figured, “Someone will tend to that klutz.” But nope..he tended to the klutz. And for that I’m thankful.
42. My Health. At the radio station where I work, we have seen many visits from an engineer named Tony. Tony was incredibly gifted technically. He basically built (and rebuilt) radio stations for a living. He was boisterous, friendly, and just a fun presence whenever he was here. I had been known to do a pretty decent impersonation of Tony, which went a little like this: “ONCE I SET THIS YOU CAN’T MOVE IT OR WE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS.” We lost Tony very recently. The word is that he passed away from pneumonia. It seems impossible, but then, I have some experience with pneumonia.
During Christmas break in my senior year of high school, when the remedy for a wheezing Wenty was to take a pill and just fight through it, my asthma spiraled out of control. On a cold, nasty winter night my Mom and next-door neighbor Sue drove me to the hospital, half an hour away. I remember laying on a gurney and wanting for all the world to go to sleep. “Stay with us, Jason….stay with us.” I spent some quality time in the hospital with tubes up my nose. On the plus side, the hospital cable TV had Nick at Nite. (Footnote: I can still remember the exact episode of “Make Room For Daddy” that I watched late into my first night of hospitalization. This is the true sickness.)
Anyway, we’re taking a slow, meandering road to a point here. Which is, I am thankful for every day of my life that’s free of the wheeze. Thanks to #8 on my original list, my Christmases are wheezeless. Thanks to my rescue inhaler, I know the wheeze (on those rare occasions when it does pop up) can be vanquished. And most important, I have figured out in my older years that if I’m sick, I should go to the doctor. That’s a big one for a shameless coward such as myself. If it ever seems like the cowardice is talking me out of seeing the doctor, all I have to do is call Mom. For some reason, hearing her say “you should go to the doctor” always seems to push me in the right direction. : )
43. Somebody To Lean On. The write-up I did one year ago this week talked about pneumonia–mine in 1990 and the pneumonia leading to the death of an engineer we’d worked with for years at the radio station. At the time I hadn’t thought to mention Mom’s frequent bouts with it. But she generally underplayed them. She didn’t like people to worry. I remember once calling Mom for the first time in several days to check in, and her telling me she’d just gotten out of the hospital. So….yeah. Irony, or something. The last time I spoke with my Mom on the phone was nothing memorable. I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and in the wake of what followed shortly thereafter, I can’t remember for the life of me what she said. I think that’s fairly common. The nature of life (and death) is that you rarely get a chance to make a big farewell speech to someone you care about.
What I can do is be thankful for all of the people who helped me get through the three most difficult weeks of my adult life. My co-workers at KCOW are my family, and I can’t effectively communicate to you how compassionate, caring and generous they all have been. Kalin Krohe and I are, as the kids like to say, “brothers from another mother”, and he used humor to get me past some days that might otherwise have been spent wallowing in sadness. KCOW listeners and clients were also incredibly kind, as were my friends in the Main Street Players. And this is all in addition to my Dad, brother, sister, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, former teachers, folks from our church, and basically anyone reading this. I’m still working through losing Mom…but in this moment the emotion I feel more than any other is gratitude. I’m one lucky disc jockey.
44. Seeing Things In A New Way. I got my first pair of no-line bi focals on Monday November 7th. On Tuesday November 8th, after a regular workday, I stayed at the radio station to cover Election Night, helping Kalin deliver local results and engineering our broadcast of ABC News Radio’s coverage of the presidential race. It ended up being a 19-hour day. Once the presidential call was made by ABC at 1:30am, I slept in a chair in the lobby so I wouldn’t miss the morning show at 6am the next day. The headache from my eyes getting used to the new glasses started at 4:00pm Election Day, and was so hideous by the next morning that I actually went home in the middle of the day to wallow in my own headachiness. Sleeping in a chair probably didn’t help. All of this will be a chapter in my forthcoming book, “I’m Really Kind Of A Moron Sometimes.” I should have put the bi-focals on my desk and got through the election, then started fresh with them after all that was over. But hindsight is 20/20. My hindsight is 20/8. That’s why I wear glasses. Anyway–the bi-focals are helpful, even if they do occasionally remind me that I am exactly 44 years and 10 months old.
45. Friendships Old And New. It really is pretty remarkable that someone as anti-social and hermit-like as me has any lasting friendships. That I have more than my share of good friends is some kind of miracle. This past week I turned a Facebook friend into a three-dimensional friend when photographer James Dean (no relation to the brooding actor or sausage magnate) came to Alliance. James did some amazing photos of those hillbilly rapscallions The Riverfront Boys on their last trip to Lincoln, and I’m anxious to see more of the pics he took in our neck of the woods. Whether it’s radio hijinks with Kalin and Jeremy, movie nights with the Obershaws and Dangerous Dave, sharing grief over dead celebrities with Katie : D , getting a ride on the public transit from Ebenezer Scrooge, or seeing my college chum Ryan in Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room…all of these interactions remind me how blessed I am.So whether I know you from Otselic Valley, Sherburne-Earlville, Adirondack Community College, SUNY Brockport, KCOW, Main Street Players, or if you have a son named after me : )…please know I am so very glad to call you a friend.
46. Challenges And Opportunities
2018 has been my 20th anniversary year at KCOW. And it’s been a year full of surprises! A few months back I was extended the opportunity to take on production assignments for an additional market–essentially doubling my workload. To have that kind of thing happen at age 46 is…well, it’s something! Some days are a whole new kind of crazy, but the folks in North Platte have been very nice and encouraging. And a little bump is pay is also very motivational. : D
Then, a little more than a month ago, we found out that KCOW was going “all-Christmas” starting November 15th. This allowed for two weeks of stomach-churning anxiety as I pictured (and actually had nightmares of) angry holiday traditionalists storming the building. You see, after 20 years I feel like I hold the mantle of insuring KCOW and its listeners from dramatic changes. I take it waaaaaaay more seriously than I should. (On the other hand, I had a call Wednesday morning from a lady who was upset because the 6am news was on 90 seconds later than usual.) KCOW is a very special radio station, and our listeners feel ownership in what we do . However! When November 15th brought the Christmas format…very few complaints. I have taken none personally, except on Facebook where complaining is almost mandatory. Sometimes it feels great to be 100% wrong about something. : D Thanksgiving 2018 is only the 324th day of the year that I have felt thankful for my job, and a wonderful boss who puts up with occasional (okay, semi-frequent) moments of anxiety. I am also thankful for others in our company who put up with me.
So, yes. Challenges and opportunities. I know at least one of my managerial-type Facebook friends would say, “Why, young Wentworth, sometimes challenges ARE opportunities!” To which I would say “Nooooooope, nope nope nope nope nope.” Challenges are challenging. OPPORTUNITIES are what make 2018 the year I saw Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith, The Turtles, The Association, The Cowsills, Mark Lindsay, Chuck Negron, Gary Puckett, Kansas, Starship and Wayne Newton in concert! Woo-Hoo!
47. Health (And Health Insurance). Or Maybe Health Insurance And Health.
Yesterday Kalin and I hosted our Beatles radio special with Jeremy Fifield phoning in to complete the trifecta of radio geeks. Then we popped open a bottle of chardonnay gifted to me by a listener. Then we drank chardonnay and ate crackers, cheese, salami, pepperoni and chocolate silk pie. Then I went home, turned on my Christmas tree and watched “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” (My friend in the TV business sent me a pic of ABC Master Control so I could see that the show was all racked up and ready to go.).
It was a great day. I felt great all day (save for some mental sweats over getting all of the actual work-work done). 2019 is the year that has taught me to appreciate and treasure good days. Because I’ve had bad ones. 2019 had more bad days than any year before it that I can recall. I spent about 12 days in the hospital. I had more MRIs, catscans, X-rays and blood tests than you can shake a bedpan at. I had to start taking several prescriptions every day. I am now one of those people who have a tin case for all their pills.. I saw doctors in Alliance, Scottsbluff and Denver.
None of this is meant to be self-pity or griping. It is just to establish that my bad-day percentage 2018 to 2019 went up about 40%. So I try to be more cognizant of the good days. Good days are days without headaches. Good days are days when my facial twitching doesn’t make me sound like a zombie on-air. Good days are days when I feel like life is worth living.
Sure, 2019 was the year that I had to cancel a mostly-paid-for vacation to Los Angeles because I was still recovering from hospitalization. And 2019 had week-long stretches where I felt like jumping off the overpass just because it would make my head stop hurting.
But 2019 also proved to me how incredibly lucky I am to work with people who support me, and keep me honest, and make me laugh, and drive me crazy. In a good way. : ) And 2019 was the year that introduced me to the magic and wonder of being 100% on Blue Cross-Blue Shield. (I think I met my deductible for the year in March.)
And 2019 was a year that, against all odds, included concert trips to see Phil Collins, Bob Seger and the Goo Goo Dolls. And 2019 is going to end. And 2020 is going to be better.
Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to the holiday season!