Pep Talk: "If We Look Close Enough"

“That was a horrible night,” joked the handsome dude who works and lives in New York City. He’s my son, Kyle. He works on the writing team for NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Myers.”  Please tolerate an old man exalting the hardworking 26-year-old. It was recently announced the network renewed the show till 2021. Bravo!

He and his beautiful girlfriend were recently visiting the Mile High City.  I brought up the source of consternation. About a decade ago, my late father, older brother, featured teenage son and yours truly were crammed into a hotel room in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhusker Inn was packed with fans on Thanksgiving night in preparation for the next day’s battle between the visiting Buffs and the hometown Huskers. At the time, I was a sportscaster at Denver’s CBS4 and assigned to follow the Colorado Buffaloes wherever they roamed. I loved every minute of it.

It had become a family tradition for the Kansas City-based McIntosh sports’ nuts to make the modest drive to Nebraska’s state capitol city the day after Thanksgiving. There to unite with Kyle and yours truly. It was a family foursome’s job to cheer on the Buffs in the sea of red that is Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium. On football days, with almost 90,000 in attendance, it’s the third-largest city in our nation’s 37th state, admitted in 1867.

Memory begins to fade with age, but I’ll never forget waking up on game day and having Kyle complain of a restless night. “Dad, I didn’t sleep worth a darn,” he groaned. “It sounded and smelled like a bunch of farm animals in here!”

I guess that’s what happens when hunkering down with a Grandpa past 70, an Uncle pushing 55 and an old man nearing the half-century mark. We make noises while sleeping. Few are melodious and some singe nostrils. Oh well. It’s the price paid for an all-expense paid trip - lodging, meals and ticket - to the big game. This was back in the early 2000‘s when CU head coach Gary Barnett’s Buffs were winning often. At the time, the program’s spirit oozed, “The games to remember are played in November.”

I’ll quit taking a pleasant trip down memory lane and get back to the story. Fast forward to 2016. Son is visiting from New York City. Family has gathered for dinner, having fun and his old man brought up the story of his sleepless night. Most important, the lesson Kyle’s father took from it.

I had no clue of the adverse noise or aroma permeating Kyle’s domain. I’m deaf in one ear and prone - must negate audible distractions - to sleep on the good one. Like a baby, I had completely snorted and snoozed through the tortuous overnight.

What a blessing!

It reminds me of something heard recently: “Beware of going back to what you once were, when life wants you to be something you’ve never been.” Is it just me, or do we sometimes focus too much on the negative aspects of this roller coaster we call life? I’m lucky. Deaf in one ear from a freak head injury? I’ll keep it. I can sleep anywhere. Anytime.

This week, try like heck to find some magic from life’s misfortune! Often, it’s there if we look close enough.