This past January 24th, the Chicago Media, his hometown of Crystal Lake, IL, and most importantly his family and friends lost a one of a kind in longtime news anchor Randy Salerno. While I had only met Randy one time, and frankly did not watch him very much on the television, his death has impacted me more than I would have thought it would. There were some similarities between Randy and myself. We are close in age, started at Illinois Wesleyan University and ended up graduating from Illinois State University, have children that are close in age, and even have one child with the same name.
What struck me the most, though, is how much life is a gift that we all eventually will have to give back. We never know how long we get to keep that gift, and when it is time to give it back. The amount of people that it affects directly or indirectly is amazing.
I've been a bit melancholy this past week. At the same time, I have a much deeper appreciation for my wife, my children, my friends, and all the relationships that I have. I truly feel gifted more now than in the past for every day that I wake up and am alive. I also realize that I have to work even harder and make that one extra family event, one extra hug from my kids, one extra kiss from my wife, one extra toast with my friends the highest priority in my life.
From what I heard about Randy Salerno, he did this from the beginning. I've done it some, but from his inspiration, I will do more.
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I didn't know Randy, and I just recently heard about his accidental death. It hit home since we are a family of snowmobiliers and have encountered many riders who have been under the influence. It's really at that time you pray those people will make it back to their destinations safely, while in the back of your mind you're hoping they don't stop at another bar for that "one more drink". I assume we've all done it, having that last one and driving home (car, snowmobile, etc...), feeling invincible, but we don't think about the people who surround us everyday, how that will affect THEM. Too many times I've pushed my kids away, telling them I'm too busy or I'll do it in a minute, getting angrier everytime they bug me about it. SO, I too, am going to make a choce to be a little different to those in my life - Get Ready!
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