..a product of my raisin'

I’m a product of small town America, a product of learning the value of hard work and a dollar, a product of skinned knees and hard falls in order to learn a lesson, a product of the public school system, a product of drinking skim milk at dinner every night....and I am a product of National Public Radio.

I can remember being 4 years old, in my Dad's Oldsmobile riding to Country Day School. I only went twice a week to give my mom a break and he'd drop me off on his way to his office in Atlanta...even then I could hum the intro music to "Morning Edition" on NPR.

Summer of 7th Grade. For three weeks my Dad took me and 3 other girls to a science & math camp at GA Tech everyday. In the mornings we begrudgingly listened to the news and in the afternoons on our way home, the evening opera selection obnoxiously blared through the speakers. I was humiliated and my best friend Nikki still talks about it today. Dad claimed he was "culturing" us. But we were pre-teens and smarter than he'd ever be, right?

Every Saturday night, he secretly liked when dinner didn't interfere with "Thistle & the Shamrock" or if we were all in the car listening to it together. Every Sunday, an afternoon local bluegrass show followed by Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" soared through the downstairs of our home. My whole life, he has ended most nights in his rocking chair with a short glass of bourbon and water, a file folder in his lap and the sounds of NPR floating over his left shoulder from the stereo in the corner.

Naturally, I’ve come to appreciate the value of public radio...it’s the first station setting on the radio on my car, I listen most mornings, enjoy it especially on Sunday afternoon drives and I have the website link handy.

Recently, NPR launched an incredible national project called “This I Believe”. This project encourages different people from different walks of life, to write a short essay revealing thoughts and lessons learned but conveyed in one’s own style and in own words. My Dad is a fan and fondly remembers the original series in the 1950's. At one of our "Pay-It Forward Christmases", for my Dad I committed to produce our own “This I Believe” series; a collection of essays from some of our dearest friends and family members. Unbeknownst to me, a friend submitted one of my "TIB" essays and I got a call back from NPR interested in airing it as part of their series. The whole deal hasn't come to fruition yet (and may never) but it's a cool accolade, nonetheless. So, you can imagine the pride that swelled up in my Dad; not only did I write something that someone thought was worthwhile, but there was a possibility it would also be aired on NPR...I'd surely get jewels in my crown for this one.

Each of my siblings also has a relationship with NPR and I think I can speak for us all that we now greatly appreciate being exposed to this form of media growing up. This past week I did several media appearances and interviews for the Tour de Nash, but after I did a 15 minute phone interview with WPLN (Nashville's public radio station), it was my Dad who I had to call immediately. He wasn't at his office, he wouldn't answer his cell phone and his secretary said he went home to harrow a field and was probably on a tractor. I couldn't stand it...it was as if I couldn't complete another task until I shared this with him.

He finally called me back a short time later and the conversation went something like this:

LD: Dad, I just have to tell you. I might be a struggling new business owner, I might be broke as a joke and I might fall flat on my face in the end....but in the midst of this all I might have just done the one thing to make you the proudest...
Dock: Oh no...and what's that? (anticipating something that involved needing money or a lawyer, I'm sure)
LD: I just did a phone interview with the public radio station here in Nashville for the Tour de Nash. It was a 15 minute interview that will air during "Morning Edition" on Friday morning.
Dock: OH MY! that's wonderful!
LD: Yep, I'm especially excited they found interest in the TdN and pursued it as a worthwhile story to cover.
Dock: Scooter, that is WONDERFUL...thanks so much for calling to share this with me.
LD: No problem, I had to tell you of all people first. After all, I know this will make me go up a few notches in your book. (wink,wink)
Dock: hahahahaha, well you're right about that! -- actually, you're wrong.
LD: Oh, what do you mean?
Dock: You're wrong because you have no more notches to fill...I'm already so proud of you. Now make sure you call and tell your mom, too.
I felt my heart literally fill, bulge and overflow...no more notches. wow.
Each day as an adult, I come to appreciate something my parents offered or created in my childhood; things I surely hated then. Thanks to being forced to eat whatever was on my plate, I am not a picky eater. Thanks to having to split logs, fix fences, move cows and pick up 2,483,294 rocks, I understand the value of hard work. And thanks to NPR, I am more cultured, more educated and the stage was set for one of the most special conversations ever with my dad.
go thank your parents today...