Running the Gamut
Lately I've found myself on a slight kick to get back in touch with things and people and even emotions to some degree - call it a reclamation project if you will, but it's helping me to tap back into the bare core of what makes this goofy little clock of mine tick. I've also been able to be a part of some rather moving situations of late, most pointedly today.
Today was my day to visit the Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center with a handful of the hosts at the station. Part of the trip was to go there and record interviews with doctors and families of patients there because, well, to be able to take a weekend out of regular programming to ask people to donate their money to help out sick and dying children, you have to go right to the source - not just to get the soundbytes that will honestly break your heart and make you want to empty out your bank accounts but also to get that first-hand view of the operations going on there and what all that money goes to provide.
Even though I've worked on the Radiothon now for a few years, this was the first time I've been over there to see things myself. Getting to meet the staff and seeing some of the beautiful little kids there who are getting the help they really need to get well. One family we met and interviewed with today that really struck us was the mother and grandmother of a two-month old little girl who is stricken with infant botulism. This poor little darling was so knocked out and exhausted and pale because she'd just received a dose of drugs that will help to cleanse her system of the toxins. Apparently she receives a six cc dose of this vaccine which apparently costs - hang on to your seats - $45,000 per 6 cc's.
Now I'm not about to go and make a pitch for you guys to tune in at all in a few weeks, but holy crap. As they say, "If you can find it in your heart..."
Another thing that I've gone and done here lately is take advantage of the weekends with bright sunshine and do some driving, even in spite of the rise in gasoline again. Now mind you I didn't go gallavanting everywhere over hill and dale, just taking some of the local backroads I never travel and stopping by places I've wanted to but never did. One such place I visited was an Irish gift store out on Route 2 - but I was going there on a mission of sorts.
Many years ago, way back when during the days in North Adams there was a gift seller who would visit campus occasionally. A kind and very nice Irish man who would sell semi-cheaply built but pricey woolen coats and sweaters as well as a hearty collection of flags and odds and ends jewelry. One such piece I'd bought from this guy as I was feeling more in the mode to garnish myself up was a hearty yet ultimately not long-lasting Irish cross. Being someone who's not really much for jewelry so much (shocking, I know) this Irish cross on a cord served as a permanent fixture on me until the cord snapped and the cross ended up breaking as it was unable to withstand the wear and tear and the showering. It was made of a softer metal and after all the wear it got, it got bent as well. But I loved this cross.
While I'm not exactly what you'd call a religious person anymore, I am someone who's very proud of where he's come from and where my predecessors rose up from. In particular, I'm most proud of my more immediate heritages I can trace, those being from the McClintock and Dooley clans from Scotland and Ireland respectively. The image of this cross in my mind stayed with me and while I learned that there are hundreds of variations across Ireland of the cross (and learned that it's not meant so much to be celebratory but mournful - it's known as the 'funeral cross') I scanned throughout this quaint little gift shop looking for something close to what I once had and also preferrably on a cord as a big lummox like me is likely to snap a chain no matter how strong the silver is rather easily.
I saw a great many varieties of the crosses that do exist in Ireland and others that were designed just to be what they are and unfortunately in this shop, the keeper wasn't a fan of putting beautiful gold and silver crosses on a cord because, as I learned, they break easily. So if I was to find something I liked or evoked that memory of what I used to have, chances are I was going to have to suck it up and get it on a chain. That, however, was unimportant to me - it was what the Irish Cross stood for to me and what it represents to me now.
For me, its a reminder of where I've come from, the things that have gotten me to here, the situations that have shaped who I am now and most importantly...the people who have gotten me here. For the people from back then in those days in North Adams, to everyone from Oswego, to everyone here at home past and present.
My spirituality doesn't so much reside in an old big book but more in where I've come from, the things I've experienced and the highs and lows in my life and it's for that that I'll wear this Irish Cross from now on. Since it's impossible for me to keep a picture of everyone I love and hold dear who live on now and who have passed on from my life and left that indelible mark on me - it's for you I carry this Cross.
With all that said, and with being on this personal mission to find something to be my daily reminder to stay grounded and remember my roots and remember everything I've learned to prepare me for the next day...I was able to find one such cross amongst all the rest that stood out:
The same cross I had some nearly 10 years ago now.
Today was my day to visit the Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center with a handful of the hosts at the station. Part of the trip was to go there and record interviews with doctors and families of patients there because, well, to be able to take a weekend out of regular programming to ask people to donate their money to help out sick and dying children, you have to go right to the source - not just to get the soundbytes that will honestly break your heart and make you want to empty out your bank accounts but also to get that first-hand view of the operations going on there and what all that money goes to provide.
Even though I've worked on the Radiothon now for a few years, this was the first time I've been over there to see things myself. Getting to meet the staff and seeing some of the beautiful little kids there who are getting the help they really need to get well. One family we met and interviewed with today that really struck us was the mother and grandmother of a two-month old little girl who is stricken with infant botulism. This poor little darling was so knocked out and exhausted and pale because she'd just received a dose of drugs that will help to cleanse her system of the toxins. Apparently she receives a six cc dose of this vaccine which apparently costs - hang on to your seats - $45,000 per 6 cc's.
Now I'm not about to go and make a pitch for you guys to tune in at all in a few weeks, but holy crap. As they say, "If you can find it in your heart..."
Another thing that I've gone and done here lately is take advantage of the weekends with bright sunshine and do some driving, even in spite of the rise in gasoline again. Now mind you I didn't go gallavanting everywhere over hill and dale, just taking some of the local backroads I never travel and stopping by places I've wanted to but never did. One such place I visited was an Irish gift store out on Route 2 - but I was going there on a mission of sorts.
Many years ago, way back when during the days in North Adams there was a gift seller who would visit campus occasionally. A kind and very nice Irish man who would sell semi-cheaply built but pricey woolen coats and sweaters as well as a hearty collection of flags and odds and ends jewelry. One such piece I'd bought from this guy as I was feeling more in the mode to garnish myself up was a hearty yet ultimately not long-lasting Irish cross. Being someone who's not really much for jewelry so much (shocking, I know) this Irish cross on a cord served as a permanent fixture on me until the cord snapped and the cross ended up breaking as it was unable to withstand the wear and tear and the showering. It was made of a softer metal and after all the wear it got, it got bent as well. But I loved this cross.
While I'm not exactly what you'd call a religious person anymore, I am someone who's very proud of where he's come from and where my predecessors rose up from. In particular, I'm most proud of my more immediate heritages I can trace, those being from the McClintock and Dooley clans from Scotland and Ireland respectively. The image of this cross in my mind stayed with me and while I learned that there are hundreds of variations across Ireland of the cross (and learned that it's not meant so much to be celebratory but mournful - it's known as the 'funeral cross') I scanned throughout this quaint little gift shop looking for something close to what I once had and also preferrably on a cord as a big lummox like me is likely to snap a chain no matter how strong the silver is rather easily.
I saw a great many varieties of the crosses that do exist in Ireland and others that were designed just to be what they are and unfortunately in this shop, the keeper wasn't a fan of putting beautiful gold and silver crosses on a cord because, as I learned, they break easily. So if I was to find something I liked or evoked that memory of what I used to have, chances are I was going to have to suck it up and get it on a chain. That, however, was unimportant to me - it was what the Irish Cross stood for to me and what it represents to me now.
For me, its a reminder of where I've come from, the things that have gotten me to here, the situations that have shaped who I am now and most importantly...the people who have gotten me here. For the people from back then in those days in North Adams, to everyone from Oswego, to everyone here at home past and present.
My spirituality doesn't so much reside in an old big book but more in where I've come from, the things I've experienced and the highs and lows in my life and it's for that that I'll wear this Irish Cross from now on. Since it's impossible for me to keep a picture of everyone I love and hold dear who live on now and who have passed on from my life and left that indelible mark on me - it's for you I carry this Cross.
With all that said, and with being on this personal mission to find something to be my daily reminder to stay grounded and remember my roots and remember everything I've learned to prepare me for the next day...I was able to find one such cross amongst all the rest that stood out:
The same cross I had some nearly 10 years ago now.