Seasons Of My Father
December 27, 2010
One year ago today my father lost his battle with cancer. He was seventy-five years old. This video is for him.
For more about my father you can read "Earl Dann, Rest In Peace - A Eulogy".
December 2010
Red Carpets, Champagne, and No Worries!
December 16, 2010
There are few times in this life when we can share a singular commonality, a shared experience, an extraordinary moment, that in ways that you never expect, fills you with awe, joins you together and humbles you and all around you. Only a small number of events have occurred in my life that have given me this feeling. Watching an African-American being sworn in as president, something that I thought I would never see in my lifetime, seeing the U.S hockey team defeat the Russians in the 1980 Olympics, watching our country come together as one after the tragedy of 9/11, all of these things collectively filled us with a feeling that extraordinary things are possible. An experience that goes way beyond the generous gift I was given, way beyond the sights and sound that we all were fortunate enough to share, way beyond anything I could ever imagine, has taught me lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I was with 301 individuals who were handpicked by the queen of daytime talk herself, Oprah Winfrey, to receive the trip of a life time to Australia. My wife and I were lucky enough to be In the studio audience for her 25th season premier and while that experience of being in that audience and seeing the collective explosion of emotions, people hugging, and women crying, was amazing in its own right, it is nothing compared to the collective experiences and emotions that we all came to experience while actually being in the country of Australia not just as guests of Harpo, but as guests of this amazing country. The one word that I have heard over and over by the people on this trip in regards to the way we have been treated and the things we have done, is Humbling, humbling because we are all just ordinary people. We are all mothers and fathers, teachers and students, business owners and workers. But somehow we all were given this gift, and when you talk to people in this group you start to realize why each person was chosen for this adventure. Each person has a different story that makes them stand out, that makes them one of one hundred and fifty one who were picked to come and each bring someone special. Then when you hear why that person they brought is their someone special you start to understand that good things really do happen to good people. We all knew that this trip was going to be something special. We all knew that even if we could afford to come to Australia ourselves we would never be able to experience it on the level that we would on this trip. But what we never expected was how we would be treated as true guests of not just Oprah, but of the land down under. These ordinary people whose only dream was to get tickets to just one Oprah show before her show ends this season, became instant celebrities. They had been greeted by press and paparazzi, had the literal Red Carpet rolled out upon arrival to the hotel, only to be greeted with more press and paparazzi, appeared on the front page of papers, featured on news channels all over he world, had dinners hosted on the scale that would rival international celebrities and heads of state, and that was just in the first day. Collectively we experienced a country that was so grateful to have us and so thrilled to share with us there culture, and we are the ones who should be grateful, and we are. We are grateful for this experience, grateful to have been picked, and that is why we are humbled, because we should be grateful to them. We are all just ordinary people being treated extraordinary. We are humbled, collectively humbled.
We were given a gift but the gift we were given goes way beyond the obvious of the things we received and the places we went. The gift was the message that Oprah herself expressed to us numerous time while on this odyssey, that great things can happen to all of us, that miracles can happen, that we did not make it to Australia by accident, that we were all picked for a reason, that there is a divine power that brought this together, that if a little girl who could never find her name on a pen or a plate could one day see an entire regatta of twenty one sail boats with her name as big as life flying from each of the sails, sailing under Sydney Harbor Bridge with a giant O lighted up for the world to see, then it is possible for each one of us to achieve whatever it is that we can dream.
It’s not every day that these ordinary people are greeted on white sand beaches, only accessible by boat, by celebrity chef Curtis Stone, fed unbelievable food and given free drinks while being serenaded by Australian singing groups, as Oprah herself flies in on Helicopter to join us all for the party. It’s not every day that we are taken to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world to snorkel with Gayle King. It’s not every day the these ordinary people are interviewed by press and appear in papers or walk red carpets usually reserved for celebrities, get stopped on the street and have people excited to see us just because it’s us, dine with celebrities and treated with such kindness and hospitality that you start to wonder why. If I take back with me anything from this adventure it is that we don’t need red carpets and champagne to make us feel that we are extraordinary because it is not about what we receive it is about what we give. It is not about where we work or how much we make, it is about how we live, not living to work, but working to live. It is about our family, our friends and knowing that, in the words of Paul McCartney,” the love you take is equal to the love you make.” And in the words of Miss O, “everything is better when you share it with others.” This trip, this experience, this moment, is one that I will never forget and not because of where I went or what I did, but because of who it was shared with, the collective experience, the extraordinary moments that filled us with awe and changed us forever. Thank you to my 300 new friends. Thank you Oprah. Thank you Australia. Thank you.