A Night Out

It isn't very often that we get all dressed up and go out on the town.  Last night was one of those rare occasions and we got to share it with my parents who drove down for the evening.  Tom Brokaw was the keynote speaker at an event downtown Des Moines honoring the Greater Business Partnership of Des Moines.  We heard he was coming this fall and I called my Dad....Dad and Tom are old friends from South Dakota days, and have a lot of Univ of Iowa friends in common as well.  (Dad went to grad school there)...so Dad emailed Tom and voila we were given VIP invitations to come to the event.

Our official VIP picture...sorry I really wasn't trying to block my husband.

It was a wonderful night out.  We were able to have some private time just the 5 of us to talk with him after  he signed books and chatted with those who actually paid for the VIP tickets.  :)

One thing that amazes me is that here is a man who has met Presidents, Kings and Queens, major world leaders...and yet deep in his heart he is a South Dakota boy who was raised by hard-working parents.  His wife is a South Dakota girl, whose parents' weren't so sure Tom would ever pull it all together in life.  He keeps in touch with his friends, they matter to him.  He asked how Mom was doing with her cancer...and we shared a bit about how we are working on getting her into Mayo for another opinion.  He immediately said, please send me an email with all of the details and what you need and I will be sure to call and get it expedited.  The blessing of being "famous" and also a Mayo patient himself, he said, was that he now can help his friends more.  

His speech was amazing.  I wish it would have been recorded so I could share it here.  No notes, nothing but standing on stage for 45 minutes and talking about our country.  What he feels has made it great, what he feels we are lacking.  How we have so much to grow and learn.  His ending points got me...he talked about in World War II how the parachuters were dropped down in the night..the Invasion of Normandy..and how they had brass clickers.  These small clickers fit into your hand...and you clicked them to find the rest of your unit and anyone who was on your side.  Then he clicked one into the microphone, it sounded like a cricket almost.  That is how you found your allies....and how no one spent time asking "Are you a republican?  Hey are you a democrat? Hey what do you believe about _______ and _______?"  nope no one cared about those things...they were on a mission as brothers for their country.  And how we have lost that through the years, and how we have got to find common ground once again.  So powerful to have him clicking that and sharing those words.  

After he was done Dad went to say goodbye before he left...as people were now really trying to push in to meet him  (1400 friendly people were there) and I thanked him again.  I asked him where I could find one of those "clickers" as Drew and Jack are history buffs and Drew LOVES World War II stuff...and he handed me his to give to Drew.   Special memory...engraved on it is the date of the Invasion on Normandy..June 6, 1944.  (That was Drew's initial due date...June 6th)

After our little time alone with him...

 walking through the back tunnels to sneak into the ballroom for dinner

 What a fun night.  I even pulled out the red lipstick which Max said was TOO much...oh well.  

And the clicker...

and because my hair was actually professionally done and cute here is a shot of the back. :)