We Must NEVER Forget
Twenty years ago our world changed and not for the good. A cowardly group of 19 Islamic terrorists took over four airplanes. Two were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, a third hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and the finally plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Before 11 a.m. (ET) almost 3,000 innocent people were dead.
If you are old enough to remember that day you remember where you were, what you were doing and the shock, anger and fear you felt. America was under attack.
Enjoying Life’s Bumpy ride
“Let me tell you a tale and a good one I hope,” Chris LeDoux sings in the background as I contemplate my past, present, and future.
Chris battled cancer and hearing him sing a version of my dad’s favorite song, “Strawberry Roan,” brings my memory back. I lost my dad to cancer a few years ago.
Though I don’t think the song was ever meant to be a metaphor for life, he says a lot about the ride we are all on.
“I was hangin’ ‘round town, just spendin’ my time,” when someone offered a challenge, a job, ride the horse called Old Strawberry.
We all have an Old Strawberry to ride. Dad had his and he rode it with honor. He was a hardworking, honest cowboy, United States Marine, a man of unquestionable integrity. His word was gold and he would give the shirt off his back if you were in need.
Traveling for Christmas
For more than 10 years my wife and I have spent Christmas in sunny Arizona. This year, it became very questionable as to whether the trip from Scottsbluff to Peoria would happen.
We had tickets in hand, bags packed, a dog sitter lined up, everything ready to go, but it almost didn’t happen this year.
Our flight was to fly out of Scottsbluff at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22 and arrived at Sky Harbor in Phoenix at about 10:30 p.m. But record low temperatures decided to throw a monkey wrench into our plans.
Saying Goodbye to 2022
This has been quit the year.
I started 2022 as the editor of a daily newspaper in western Nebraska. We had lost our publisher a couple months earlier and a those of us on the leadership team were trying to keep everything moving forward. A publisher came in and I was introducing him around and trying to make his transition as smooth as possible. Then, on a Sunday night, I got a call from the HR director and one of the company big wigs informing me that my job had been eliminated.
Take a chance on the B Side
Sometimes, what you think you will like turns out to be on the B side, instead of the A. However, it requires flipping the record.
Back before music downloads, CDs, even cassette and 8-track tapes, there were records. There were records with a whole album and others with singles. A single would have the song that was expected to be the hit on the A side. Flip the record and you would find a song few thought would be very popular.
Learning from life stories
I remember sitting in Yutaka Yamamoto’s living room with a number of my friends. We were waiting our turn in Yutaka’s darkroom.
Yutaka, a Japanese-American, was my first mentor in photography. My folks were concerned about their oldest boy. Every year at fair time he could never compete with his younger brother.
I tried showing lambs, my younger brother, Bryan, was better. I tried swine, he was better. Finally, my folks came across photography. Something their oldest boy could focus on and not have to compete with his younger brother. It would be his thing.
My dad asked if I was interested.
Too many are killed by bullying
Many of us grew up hearing the lie, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
The lie made us feel OK as we teased others. We tried to convince ourselves the teasing others did of us was no big deal, but it was.
It was all seen as, “just a part of being a kid,” but it is not.
Bullying is defined by stopbullying.gov as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involve a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.”
They are just words, but words are powerful.
Story of change and loss
Pete took over his dad’s restaurant a number of years back. It had been in the family for the last three generations and was the best place in town to eat: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Truth be told, it was the only sit-down restaurant in town. There was a small burger joint down the road, but it was hamburgers and fries, nothing more. If you wanted a good meal, it was Pete’s place or you ate at home.
George was one of Pete’s best customers. He was there first thing every morning for pancakes, cup of hot coffee and talk with the boys. There were a group of five or six guys who came in for breakfast and to talk about what was happening in the community. They also did their share of complaining and, of course, they had their ideas on what should be done to solve the problems facing their community, their state, the country and the world. Then there was the bragging about their kids.
Newspapers’ role in America
Newspapers have never been without their critics, but newspapers have played an important role in America and in the very formation of this great nation.
During this country’s Revolutionary War, newspapers played a vital rule, for both sides.
Today, we tend to see the war as black and white. You have America versus England, the good guys versus the bad, however, back then it was not so cut and dry. On one side, you had the Patriot Press and on the other, there was the Loyalist Press.
The cry for freedom was reported and championed through the Patriot Press and it started long before the first battle was fought. At the same time, the cry for peace and loyalty to the crown could be found in the Loyalist Press. The reporters and publishers were not always popular with their readers.
One Day Without Agriculture
Most days they are up before the sun breaks the eastern horizon and they don’t get off work until it has dropped below the western horizon.
They don’t protest, riot or burn the local businesses if their candidate isn’t elected. There is little likelihood they will walk off their job in any attempt to show how the country would move on without them.
Though you will not find them striking, I would challenge you to go one day without being impacted by something they did, directly or indirectly.
Who are they?
They are the American farmers and ranchers.
Will I Tell the Truth
“Are you with the media?” the gentlemen asked me as I took pictures of Bengazhi survivor, Kris “Tanto” Paranto, signing books a few years ago after his speech in Gering.
“Yes,” I answered him.
“Are you going to tell the truth?”
The question caught me off guard. I had never had anyone question my journalist integrity like that before.
Most of those attending the book signing were conservatives.
Yes, many of those in the media are liberals, but not all. Also, just because many may not share your views of the world doesn’t mean they are liars.
Killing Time
Sitting in the Phoenix airport a few years ago, listening to The Clash, an old favorite band, and trying to make two hours somehow speed up.
It is 6:32 p.m., Gate 9 is packed, and our flight has been delayed.
“I’m all lost in this supermarket, I can no longer shop happily,”
Topper Haedon’s drumbeat keeps my foot moving but my mind has raced past boredom.
Waiting is hard
It hasn’t been a typical Tuesday morning. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, instead of dress shirt and tie, waiting.
Not fun!
The only typical thing this morning is the five shot Americano with caramel.
Tom Petty’s “Waiting” plays in https://bradstaman.com/waiting-is-hard/my ears. It’s a fitting song.
“It’s the hardest part.”
“Surgery will take three to six hours,” the doctor said.
Life’s unwanted surprises
There are two kinds of surprises. One puts a smile on your face and brings positive excitement. That wasn’t the one my wife, Linda, and I got.
We had traveled to Denver’s University of Colorado Hospital for a check-up two weeks to the day after Linda’s surgery.
The past two weeks had been stressful. When your super strong beautiful bride is hurting it is tough on her and me.
Like many husbands, I’m the family whimp. Linda is the strong one. She had two kids, runs a business and then she puts up with me, that is tough.
Start of a long journey
The alarm went off only 20 minutes earlier than normal, but it felt much earlier. I wanted so bad to hit the snooze, but today is the day. Ready or not, this (June 23) is day one of chemo treatments for my beautiful bride.
After a three hour drive to Denver, a three minute blood draw, we now are waiting for a 10 a.m. Doctor’s appointment. It is, 9:04 a.m.
The waiting room at the University of Colorado Hospital’s Cancer Center is full. A young man in a wheelchair, an older man in a Chicago Cubs hat, three younger women set in the front row with an empty seat in between.
When reality hits home
I fought back tears as we pulled up in front of the hair salon Friday afternoon. All of a sudden the reality of what my beautiful bride was going through hit and hit hard.
Linda had been in the hospital since Monday and was able to come home yesterday.
The week after Linda’s chemotherapy treatment on June 24 she began running a fever. A call to her doctor resulted in a trip to the ER at Regional West Medical Center.
“We want you to spend the night.”
The night turned into four.
She was feeling much better, smiling, but it was time.
Waiting for the final word
Waiting. That has become a common.
Wait for this test. Wait for that test. Wait for labs to be taken. Wait for lab results. Wait to see the doctor.
While I wait, I’ve been traveling down memory lane through YouTube and the songs that helped form my views on life. Dire Straits, U2, the Alarm, John Cougar Mellancamp and today, it’s Tom Petty and the the Heartbreakers.
If you have been following me in the Gering Courier you have heard me ramble in past columns. If not, let me bring you up to speed.
Six months ago, my wife and I got an unwelcome surprise.
It Is Back
It is back and it is back with a fury.
Seven years ago, the cancer was gone, and it stayed gone all that time, but it is back.
My beautiful bride went in for a routine procedure. A tumor was found, but it was removable. After a tough surgery, the tumor was gone. However, when the test results came back, the ovarian cancer was back.
We Need to Learn to Do More Than Talk
Communication is something we all have trouble with, but it is what we desperately need today.
We tend to believe communication is simply talking, and that we do a good job of it. The louder we talk, the better we do at communicating. So, we yell at one another.
Brad Staman 