My niece Julia got married this past Friday, in her hometown of Brooklyn.
It was a lovely wedding ceremony, and a beautiful reception. (Also a rockin’ reception… I danced more at Julia’s shindig than I did at my own wedding… actually I think I danced more than I had in my entire life, cumulatively.)
But the highlight of the trip was catching up with the whole Morris family:
And meeting Julia’s husband, Tommy:
But it isn’t just the union of Julia and Tommy, it’s the union of the two families:
Julia’s from Brooklyn. Tommy’s from Washington. That’s about as bi-coastal as you can get. It’s not like the two families will become instant “besties”… but now they’re inextricably linked.
I know the Morris crew is good people. And after meeting many members of the Thorpe clan, I could tell that they’re good people too.
We tend to think about a wedding as “from this day forward” but the truth is the building blocks started decades ago. And I know this marriage has a super-strong foundation. One that Julia and Tommy will carry with them back to South Carolina, as they build their life together.
I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love.
WENDELL BERRY
Photograph by Guy Mendes
Good ol’ Wendell. He’s just a Kentucky farmer who loves the land… and the people on it. Because the land and the people are like peas in a pod… or should be.
Seems like a lot of folks these days are trying to rule the world with greed, venom, hatred. That ain’t gonna work. Love wins. Always.
Speaking of love, the Wendell Berry quote above came from the Gratefulness.org “Word for the Day” email. I love getting a new inspirational quote in my inbox every day. You will too. You can sign up here.
I’ve gotten into vinyl albums of late, and have done a lot of crate digging at the local thrift stores and flea markets trying to add to my collection without spending an arm and a leg.
Most times it’s a waste of time… a lot of sifting through the oeuvre of Andy Williams, Engelbert Humperdinck, “Sing along with Mitch” and the Ray Conniff Singers.
Me? Not so much in love with this…
The selection certainly fits the age bracket of the folks whose closets are being cleaned out by their offspring after they pass away.
Occasionally I’ll find a decent album or three as I mine the stacks. But today I struck gold. Check out this mother lode:
I’m most excited about the two Elvis Costello albums, the Clash’s London Calling (a two-LP set), Joe Jackson (an oft-overlooked gem) and Born to Run. But the Pete Townshend solo ones are pretty cool too… I’ve always like The Call….can’t go wrong with The Byrds… you get the idea.
Not bad for a whopping $4.63. (Albums were half-priced today.)
Kinda makes all that time starting at Andy Williams albums worthwhile. Almost.
I’ve never been a fan of the two week gap between the NFL’s conference championship games and the Super Bowl. It was two long weeks of seeing and hearing every sports journalist lionize Tom Brady (he’s the G.O.A.T., not a lion!)… and seeing Patrick Mahomes ad infinitum (a Latin term meaninng “an endless number of State Farm commercials).
Sneaker-selling season started earlier this year…
But this year, the Cincinnati Bengals are in the Super Bowl. (Spell-check just underlined the last sentence… even computers can’t believe it happened.) And I’m really digging the two-week gap. It’s an extra week for the citizens of this city to bask in the warm orange glow of a long-awaited Super Bowl appearance.
Photo credit: Personal work of Jeffrey Dean.
An extra week to hope, to dream… to believe.
An extra week to rally around a common cause, rather than dwelling on the differences that seem to divide us. There’s no red vs. blue… just orange and black. Instead of yelling at strangers on the internet, we yell “Who Dey!” together.
Not all heroes wear capes, and not all sports Trailblazers live in Portland.
WYFF News 4’s Julia Morris has been named South Carolina Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). She is the first woman to win the award in the state of South Carolina.
Julia’s my niece. I’m so proud of her for winning this award. After she graduated from Boston College (following in the footsteps of her mom), she worked in the corporate world for a bit. But it wasn’t her cup of tea. So she decided to attend grad school at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University to launch her communications career. (Communications? That was the degree of her favorite uncle!)
It wasn’t easy starting over, and being older than most of her classmates. But Julia worked hard, stuck with it, graduated, and landed a weekend sports anchor gig in Myrtle Beach before moving to WYFF, the NBC affiliate in the much larger Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson/Asheville market.
Julia’s glamorous (like her mom), but the gig isn’t. She spends her weekends hauling camera gear to high school and college football games. She has to set her work schedule around the schedule of some guy named “Dabo.”
A Yankee to the core (and a Yankees fan… perhaps her only flaw), she’s had to learn the lingo of NASCAR. But for her, the racetrack beats the corporate track any day of the week.
“Whether it’s high school sports coverage, traveling to college national championship games for both Georgia and Clemson, or covering the Carolina Panthers, Julia is up to any challenge. She’s a true asset to our newsroom and to sports fans throughout our area.”
Akili Franklin, WYFF 4 News Director.
It’s easy for the self-help gurus to say “do what you love” or “follow your passion”… but it’s a lot easier said than done. Julia didn’t win the South Carolina Sportscaster of the Year award… she earned it. And now she’s got the Palmetto State in the palm of her hand.
“I am so honored to be the first woman to be named NSMA SC Sportscaster of the Year,” said Morris. “Being in South Carolina for six years now, I have met so many amazing and talented people while covering sports. It’s a true blessing to live here and do what I love!”
Kevin Sullivan on Life advice from a man who lived it: “A good one Damian. Bring our lens into focus after the long weekend or our long life journey.” Jul 7, 09:38
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