Oh, I come from Alabama…
Sorry for the delay folks. We’ve been otherwise entertained. 
Okay, so Dad and family made it up from Alabama about 1030 Sunday night. I believe the final tally was 1100 miles over 2 days. 2/3rds of the drive is Missouri and Iowa, so I bet it seems longer. Totally awesome to see them!
So after the introductions, and a quick game of “hot baby” (like hot potato, but with a newborn), we all settled in for the night. I couldn’t tell you who was the most excited to hold dd. Monday morning, the house slowly awakened to coffee, cigarettes, cereal, and crying. More “hot baby”, complete with the oogling, ahhing, and awwing that seem to accompany us everywhere. Cruised uptown to take her to the doc, accompanied by our niece, “jj”, who did an awesome job helping push dd in her stroller. Got there late because we ran into the Mayor (though, I think we might have been running a touch late anyways). Doc made sure we knew we were “tardy”. Yep, she used that word. Funny.
After the doc, went to Mobilize to see how Kolacky Days planning was coming, and to see Grandmom Oz. More oogling, ahhing, and awwing1. Then to the bank for $50 in quarters, in preparation for our “swear jar”, and so dd could meet the bank president. I’m on the fence here folks. We’re penalizing ourselves for swearing, by putting a quarter in the piggy bank for dd. This money will go towards her college fund. So, in the essence of protecting and supporting my daughter, wouldn’t it be beneficial for me to cuss like a sailor?
After the visit uptown, we had a surprise for dad. You see, for the past 2 years, C and I have donated to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. We became “partners in hope”. Makes us feel good. Well, when K102 does their yearly radio-a-thon, they tend to give things away for signing up. “For the next 20 callers, we will throw in tickets to X” or “your name in a drawing for a trip here to see this band” kinda deals. Last year, we tried the drawing. This year, we got in on a special concert with a fella most everyone knows, that just happened to occur on July 21st. Last week, when the radio station called to confirm, I figured I would try some of that infamous Meadows Charm, and see if I could score a couple of extra tickets to the event. I ended up getting one.
So dad had no idea why we were going up to the city. He just knew it was a surprise. We got to the station, and met in the lobby. They asked me directly “are you guys here to meet (the guys name)”. I said yep, and we got our snazzy wristbands. When I asked dad if he now knows, he missed her saying who. Cool. So we went over to the bathroom area, on the other side of the elevators. For some reason, we didn’t make it back to where everyone else hung out. C and I started to wonder how they’ll get him in the building. Back door? Secret underground parking? Helicopter? She and dad had their backs to the door when he walked in behind them. He passed dad by no more than 5 feet. So when I asked if dad saw who it was, he only saw his back. Once again, cool. And as we walked into the studio about 45 minutes later, the scrolling LED sign above the door going in said his name… just as dad passed under it.
Yep, he kept missing who it was by seconds at best. So we’re sitting in the “road house” at K102, awaiting his arrival. This is a room about 60 by 40, with 4 rows of chairs arranged around a 15 or 20 foot round stage that stands only a foot off the ground. Its dark with selective lighting. Amy St. James was the one who let the cat out of the bag for us when she asked if we were ready to meet Randy Owen (Lead singer to the multi-platinum selling band Alabama). At that point, the surprise became apparent.
See, when I was growing up2, dad was in a band. Not just any band. No sir/ma’am. He was the bassist in “The Band Called Choyce”. The #1 country cover band in Lake County IL at the time. Now, in the late 70s, early 80s, one of the top country artists was Alabama. So of course, he knew their music pretty darn good. Plus, being from Alabama helped too.
The stage was just Randy, a guitar, and his pianist Steve. They did a handful of songs I knew, and some I didn’t. Story-telling in between songs. Explaining why this song was written, or what was going on in his life when that song was recorded. A couple times, right in the middle of a song, he’d stop to tell a story, or point something out (like his security guard falling asleep). Some Q&A. Some requests. Just fun. It was like that VH1 Story Tellers series, only live and in 3D.
Dad got to introduce himself, and of course announce his reason for being here. Asked him to play “My home’s in Alabama”. After the song, Randy asked where abouts in Alabama. Dad told him where, and that it was near where they played a few years back, at the baseball field of the high school in the next town over, which Randy recalled. So that was really neat.
C asked him later what his favorite song is to perform. He said “Mountain Music“, so she asked if he would play it. He responded with “I thought you’d never ask” or “It’s about time”. Something like that. The girl ahead of us turned around and said to us “didn’t you guys ask him to play that earlier?”. We did. But it was neat getting that dialog between C and Randy.
The last song was “Angels Among Us”. Now that is one tough song. Superbly written and performed, the chorus is used as the backdrop during the radio-a-thon to tell the stories of the children. So hearing the song live was amazing. 3
At the end of the show, we got to line up for autographs, and get our pics taken with Randy. I let him know that the first concert I ever went to was theirs back in the early 80s at Rosemount Horizon (now Allstate Arena). He told me that when they played there, they were told to keep the volume a bit low due to the collapse of the arena during construction. Never really put that together before he said that.
Made it home in time for dinner and see our little bundle of joy all cleaned up and ready for bed. Grandmom Oz cooked up some Sloppy Joes and brought them over for us. Yum! After dinner, we worked out some more comfortable sleeping arrangements, and spend some quality time with dd. This is our first time (but surely not our last) hosting more than 1 couple for more than one night, so we’re still figuring out how to be hosts and that kinda stuff. I tell you what, though. I’m glad our hot water heater worked so well!
So that’s what’s happened thus far. Monday was just a super cool day.