Joel Frey

Missing the news cycle

As a PR professional, my cohorts and I are constantly assessing the "news cycle." As it ebbs and flows from important and not-s0-important happenings and events, it factors into our discussions and planning everyday. Weather, politics, war, terrorism, and the economy are just a few of the topics that we compete against in our never-ending efforts to get journalists, news producers, bloggers and social media mavens to consider Travelocity for inclusion in a story, segment, post or Tweet.

As you read the rest of this, note that I've decidedly missed the news cycle on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. My plan was to follow the status quo and share my observations on that Sunday, but other priorities at work, home and church won out. Now, 10 days later,  the seasons are set to change and we have moved on to more pressing matters: taxing millionaires, airshow safety, the 2012 election, conference realignment and the latest iteration of everyone's favorite social network, to name a few. Though in the grand scheme, we likely won't reflect upon any of these topics 10 years from now.

As Sept. 11, 2011 came and went, I was surprised by own memories that surfaced. For example,  I vividly recalled the tennis match I played the evening before the tragedy. It was a long three setter against a guy named Sam who I had never beaten. We played to a third set tiebreak and I had a match point, but couldn't cash it in. When I woke up on 9/11/01, my defeat was the first thought that popped into my head.

I remembered the fall boots my colleague Judy Haveson wore to work and how she paced nervously up and down the hallway as the tragedy unfolded, anxiety covering her face. She was only days away from moving from Texas to New York and, suddenly, all of her plans were in doubt. But a month later, as the nation healed, Judy was in the stands at Yankee Stadium cheering on the Bronx Bombers as they valiantly tried to win the World Series. Today, she's still a proud New Yorker and mother to Jack, her own little Yankee fan.

I thought about Pastor John Koelpin and the special service I attended at Calvary Lutheran Church. For a few weeks after the towers collapsed, worship and prayer were in vogue. Then, predictably, our post modern sensibilites awoke from their slumber and carried on as before.  Today I live in El Paso, a married man. On the 10th anniversary, Heather and I sat in a pew at Trinity Lutheran Lutheran Church while Pastor Koelpin still preached from the pulpit of Calvary. His oldest son, Philip and our daughter Megan are now classmates at Texas A&M. In the fall of 2001, they were innocent kids, probably wondering what their parents were so worried about.

I remembered the first flight I took post 9/11, an hourlong hop from Dallas to Memphis on American Airlines. Not only was I nervous, I found myself sizing up my fellow passengers before we boarded.  After safely arriving to my hometown and having breakfast with my parents, I drove to Oxford, MS and cheered on Middle Tennessee State, my alma mater, as they took the field against the University of Mississippi, led by their All-American quarterback, Eli Manning. Fast forward to the present and he is the quarterback for the New York Giants and commercial airlines have taken me to countless places near and far, including LaGuardia, Newark and JFK.

Thanks for indulging my utter disregard for the 9/11 news cycle. I look forward to writing about more subjects that were yesterday's news as soon as the opportunity presents itself. If you have any thoughts, please share.  Cheers, ya'll.

 

 

"Have a biscuit Joel...and some gravy."

Last weekend, I traveled to Middle Tennessee and met up with college buddies Mike, Country and Justin for MTSU's big game against Mississippi State. The four of us called Reynolds Hall on the MTSU campus home way back when and it was the first time we had all been together in a dozen years. If you've read Cypress Walls, Mike, as you may recall, was with Heather and me the night we took a swim in a fountain near downtown Nashville. Country, too, is mentioned in the book, including a story about a late night frog gig at a Murfreesboro golf course. I'm pretty sure Justin was with us on that occasion too.

Throughout the weekend, we shared countless laughs remembering the people, places and events that made up that 18 months of our lives. On Friday night at Mike's comfy suburban home it felt little had changed as we stayed up until 1:00 a.m. with beers in hand, flipping between ESPN and reruns of "The Office." But as the weekend continued to unfold at Cracker Barrel, Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium, and Toot's, our conversations took a more grown-up turn. Don't worry - there were plenty of sarcastic barbs flying back and forth, especially when I ordered oatmeal and a muffin for breakfast. Much of our discussions, however, revolved around our kids, spouses/significant others, pets, careers and mortgages. Later on Saturday night, Justin headed back to Shelbyville and Mike and Josh took turns dozing off as the Yankee-Angels game went into extra innings. I called it a night in the 11th inning. In the fall of 1995, none of us would have gone to bed without knowing the outcome.

Did we have a good time? Absolutely. Was anyone a tad disappointed that we didn't drink from a funnel or play a few rounds of beer pong? Nah, I think we all realized before our reunion that we left those days of incorrectness behind a long time ago. Plus, Mike's wife assured us on Saturday morning that she would not be bailing out anyone who felt the need to take any wayward detours down memory lane.

Fellas, let's not wait so long between visits. Hopefully next time the Blue Raiders will put on a better show, the sun will come out and there won't be an empty seat in the house.