My Brother is a Nerd

In the mid-80s, I was looking for a job.  I was in my early twenties and had not finished college yet, so I was not really looking for a career, but a place where I could work, perhaps as an administrative assistant.  I had applied at dozens of companies.  I was getting quite discouraged.  We had just had our first child three months before and I desperately needed an income.  It was late summer of 1985 that I landed an interview for a receptionist position with at a small, Christian record company in Costa Mesa, CA called Maranatha! Music.

Now, let me back up a bit.  My little brother was an actor in his younger days.  In the spring of 1985, he had shared with us about an audition that he had coming up for a touring musical called “HiTops” with a local record label.  He described to us many of the characters for which he could audition.  There was a band leader, a “jock” (athlete), a nerd, an angel, Lucifer (yes, that Lucifer), dancers, and chorus members.  As he defined the parts, I totally thought he should try out for the athlete.  He had the right look and could easily pull off the part.

However, he was not interested in any of the parts except for the nerd.  I could not believe it.  Why in the world would anyone want to act in a musical as a nerd?  He explained that as he read the script, the nerd easily had the most interesting part.  Since, I had not read the script; I had to trust his judgment.  So, my brother went to the audition seeking the part of a nerd and you guessed it; he got the role.  I was kind of embarrassed.

As production got underway, the first thing that the cast did was to record the official soundtrack.  Once the tracks were done, rehearsals began.  The show would be a live, musical, dance production that would travel, much like an off-Broadway show, across the country to churches and different venues.  The cast would also make a video that would be made available for sale along with the record at the live shows.  My sisters and I were allowed to attend a few of the rehearsals and since they needed a live studio audience for the video, we watched as they filmed as well.  It was a fun experience.

On a Tuesday afternoon, the producers of “HiTops” arranged to have their first “live” performance for the executives and staff at Maranatha! Music.  The entire staff loved it and all agreed it would be a big hit for the label. 

So now, two days later, on Thursday, and I was sitting in the office of the very serious looking, business manager at Maranatha! Music for my interview.  I was quite nervous.  I felt so much pressure to do well since I desperately needed this job.  He asked all the usual questions about me, my experience, my strengths and weaknesses, my goals for the next five years and so on.  Then he asked a unique question and I was totally stumped.  He asked if I am familiar with any of the music products that Maranatha! Music made.  Keep in mind that this is before personal computers, the internet, or websites.  There was nowhere I could have gone to research this company.

However, the music pastor at my church was a vice president for Maranatha! Music and I had heard him discuss projects before at choir practice.  Some of the projects included “Psalty, the Singing Songbook,” “Praise” albums, “Colby the Computer,” “Psalms Alive” just to mention a few.  After having balked for a second at his question, I quickly replied by listing these musical projects.

He nodded his head and smiled seemingly impressed that I was aware of the ventures that they were working on at his company.  He bowed his head to write notes on my application.  And then it came to me . . . my brother was an actor in their most recent musical project:  “HiTops.”  However, I had no idea whether or not the business manager had heard of it and if he had, did he even like it?  I was completely torn.  Should I bring it up if it could possibly hurt my chance of being hired or just not mention it at all?  In a split second decision, I decided to tell him. 

I quickly added to the list of products, “Oh, and my brother is in a new musical called ‘HiTops’ that is currently in production.”  Then I held my breath.  He looked up at me and said, “Really?  Which part does he play?” almost as if he did not believe me.  At this point, I knew I was totally out of luck in getting the job - I had to admit my brother played the nerd.

I took a deep breath and reluctantly said, “Norman J. Pitts, the nerd.”  I exhaled feeling totally defeated.  I watched for his reaction.  Right in front of me the stern business manager’s face transformed into a huge smile.  He exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?  Your brother is the nerd?  He was awesome!  In fact, he was the best character in the entire musical.  He completely stole the show.  Did you know that we saw it a couple of days ago?”  He just kept rambling one question after another at me.  I told him that I was unaware of the recent performance and I was so glad that he enjoyed the show and my brother’s performance.  Even I was smiling at this point.

He wrote on my application at the top of the page:  “brother is nerd.”  I just silently laughed.  I was worried about sharing that information and apparently that is one thing that might set me apart from all the other applicants.

We wrapped up the interview.  He said that he would pass along my application to the office manager and if she wanted to do a second interview, then he would call me back to set it up within a few days.  I stood, thanked him for his time, shook his hand and left.

When I got to the car, my emotions were crazy.  I felt like the interview had gone well until I said what I did about my brother, but then it went great from then on.  But I had no idea who else had applied, so I drove home really wanting the job, but just not confident that I had it.  I felt it would be nearly impossible to wait two days to hear back.

It took me a half an hour to drive home.  When I arrived, my answering machine was blinking.  I had a message!  I pressed play and heard the business manager explain that he had spoken with the office manager and they wanted to know if I could come in for a second interview first thing in the morning.  I screamed and hollered and danced around.  I was so excited that I was going back in for another shot at the position.  Immediately, I called them back and confirmed for 9:00 a.m. in the morning to meet with the office manager.

The next morning, once I was seated in front the office manager’s desk, I tried to relax.  She, too, looked serious and not very friendly, so I was quite on edge.   She took quite a while reading and re-reading my answers on the generic employment application.  She looked up and started with asking me to tell her about myself.  So I did and she listened.  Her face showed no emotion.  I thought that next I would get the standard question about strengths and weakness or about my five year plans, but instead something surprising happened.

She noticed, for the first time, the comment that the business manager had made on the top of the page, “brother is nerd.”  She asked me about it.  Again, I was sent into an internal panic.  Was the fact that my brother was a nerd in Maranatha!’s new musical going to hurt me?  I smiled and cautiously answered, “In answering the questions about products that the business manager asked me yesterday, I mentioned that my younger brother is playing Norman J. Pitts, the nerd, in ‘HiTops.’  He wrote that note when I explained it to him.”  I held my breath.

Again, I watched a very stern face transform into a huge smile and her eyes lit up.  The office manager said that she absolutely loved the “HiTops” show and that the nerd was her favorite character.  She spent the next ten minutes telling me details about the show. 

My experience with her in that interview was truly amazing.  She did not ask me any other questions about me.  She wanted to know when I could start.  She checked with me about the salary.  She talked about what my responsibilities would be.  She even gave me a tour of the offices and studio.  I started on Monday.

My miracle that day was that I got a receptionist job at Maranatha! Music all because my brother was the nerd.

Here's my brother singing in a scene from the "HiTops" show: 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ZE4y3Hhp0&app=desktop

(c) 2013 Tribal Tales.  (c) 2013 Diane Carter LeJeune and Feeling Good Entertainment, LLC.

White Water Catastrophe

I have shared some wonderful, heartwarming, and special stories in Tribal Tales through my Sustained Momentum blog.  The story that I am sharing with you today, however, is not one of those stories.  Honestly, it is quite the opposite.  White Water Catastrophe is one of the more terrifying days from my life.

Three summers ago, I was online scrolling through my Gmail when I came across a Groupon email message.  The deal of the day was a great offer on White Water Rafting.  I actually paused for a moment without immediately deleting it like I normally would.  As I pondered white water rafting, I thought, “Hey this could be fun!”  So, I clicked on the link and bought the package.  I could not wait until I got home to tell my family about this trip we would take later that summer.  I was not surprised at all to find that the family was totally excited about our upcoming adventure.

The time arrived for our white water adventure.  We drove for hours to southeast Tennessee along the Ocoee river.  We pulled into the parking area and met our guide at the lodge.  We were given life preserver vests, an oar each, and very thorough training.  We were instructed to leave all our valuables and anything that we did not want to get wet in our car.  After all that, we were finally ready to go.

We got in a bus and they drove us about 15 miles upstream.  I was pretty nervous but really excited.  I do not think my husband or kids were nervous at all.  This was a voyage that they could not wait to get started.  Excitement buzzed throughout the bus.  The five of us were put with another couple and our guide for the trip down the river.  The other couple was pretty young and very nice.  He was a firefighter and she was a marathon runner.

At last, we arrived at an area along the side of the highway where boats could launch out onto the river.  We disembarked the bus and walked over to where the rafts were waiting.  We found our assigned boat and were told to carry it down into the water and over the small dam.  The one instruction that we were given during training that kept running through my head was:  “Under no circumstances are you to let go of your oar.  Hang onto your oar for dear life.”

My first clue that this adventure would be quite a challenge for me was carrying the raft into the water.  I did not want to wade into the river.  Honestly, I had not really even considered the real possibility of getting wet.  I am not a good swimmer and I guess I really believed if we did a good job paddling downstream that we would not get wet.  Oh my goodness was I wrong. 

So, together, we walked out into the river. My tennis shoes got wet.  I was quickly descending in thigh-deep into very cold, fast flowing river water.  We struggled to get our raft over the dam, but eventually succeeded.  We all climbed aboard.

Our guide was a young 20’s aged girl, who had been nice so far, but immediately she began yelling at us.  She became a drill sergeant.  We were not paddling fast enough or following directions quickly enough.  She screamed at the top of her lungs and was making me very anxious.  She yelled, “This is not a leisurely cruise, this is an extreme sport!”  The trip so far was not at all what I had anticipated.  However, my husband and kids seemed to be having fun so I tried to keep a positive outlook. 

White water rafting was hard work.  The guide would explain what type of rapids we were going to take next and give us directions on how to best handle the waves and water.  My back, neck, and arms were screaming in pain and exhaustion.  Our guide then said, “Well we are about a third of the way down the river.”  I felt so defeated.  I just knew that I would not be able to make it the whole way down.

Our guide then mentioned that at a point about half way through the trip there was a calm area where all the rafts would take a break and rest.  Honestly, I was barely holding on to the hope of a rest stop.  I kept paddling with all my meager might.

Then it hit.  Just as the guide was telling us that we were about to encounter one of the roughest rapids and how to navigate through it, we collided with a massive wave.  We were completely airborne.  Everyone was screaming.  Each person in our raft braced for a jolting landing.  And then I saw her, out of the corner of my eye.  The young woman who was sitting in the front of the raft literally flew out of the boat.  Her firefighter husband reached for her but it was too late.  She had plunged into the cold water and went under.

Our guide yelled for all of us to stay in the raft and she jumped into the raging river to rescue the young women.  As our guide hurdled out of our boat, we hit a gigantic rock formation in the middle of river.  We crashed hard.  The front of our raft lodged on the edge of the rocks at nearly a 45 degree angle.  This left those of us in the middle and near the back of the raft partially submerged in the icy water.  While still inside the boat, I fell backwards.  I was now lying on the bottom of the boat.  My feet were on a slant above my head and my oar had lodged under one of the rocks and pinned my torso underwater.  I totally panicked.  I held my breath as long as I could since my head was entirely submerged.  I absolutely believed I was going to drown!

The firefighter reached over to take my paddle so that I would no longer be trapped underwater, but all I could think of was that under no circumstance was I to let go of my paddle.  So, in my panic, I fought him.  My daughter, Sarah, who was sitting behind me, saw that my head was trapped under the water and put her hand under my head and pulled me up enough so that I could inhale and get a fresh breath of air.  She saved my life that day.

Once I could breathe, I was able to calm down just a bit and realize that I had to move the oar from under the rocks.  I was able to slide it out just enough that my chest was no longer confined underwater.  Sarah continued to hold me up, by my life preserver, so I could get air.

Within a few minutes or so, our courageous guide had pulled the young lady from the water and her husband dragged her back into the boat.  She was safe.  Our extremely capable guide, then dislodged us from the rocks and we were now level again.  I was able to sit up for the first time in what seemed like an hour.  I was shaking.  I was totally drenched and in complete shock.  Since we were in such a dangerous area of the rapids, the guide yelled at us to start rowing and we did.

Within a few minutes, we made it to the halfway rest point where we were able to drift along with no rapids or currents for a little while.  Some, in our boat, got out and swam, but I stayed frozen in my seat.  I could not talk or think or barely function.  All I kept thinking was that I was not going to make it the rest of the way.  I truly believed it.

Just before we got underway to finish the rest of the trip, I told our guide that I was unable to continue.  Her boss happened to be in a raft nearby, so she called him over to us.  He questioned me for a minute or so and told me that they could leave me on the side of the road above the cliffs and that someone would be by in an hour or two to get me.  At this point, I could not imagine climbing up thirty feet of a sheer cliff alone.  He reminded me that if I was not in the boat to row that it would have a negative impact on all the others in our raft.  His guilt trip worked.  I stayed.

We got started again and I held on for dear life.  The second half of the trip was less eventful and I just focused on surviving.  I did not say a word for the next twenty minutes.  As we neared the dock where we were instructed to get out and carry our rafts up the boat ramp, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.  We carried our raft to the vans and prepared to make the ride back to the lodge.

As I stood near the vans, my family left me alone since they knew how upset I was. I just kept replaying in my mind the time that my head was underwater, and my body was pinned under the oar by the rocks.  It was a nightmare I would remember forever.

After a few minutes, my daughter walked over to me and asked me if she could give me a hug.  I agreed to let her.  As soon as her arms were around me, the tears just poured out.  I was still in shock, my chest heaving just trying to relax so I could breathe more easily.  I’m still soaking wet, and I couldn’t stop crying.

Within fifteen minutes, the bus arrived.  We all piled in.  I sat there motionless as we made the ten minute trek back to the lodge.  I could not believe that I survived this outing.

We got off the bus and I walked directly to the women’s changing room, changed out my wet clothes and got dressed.  Then, I immediately went to our car and got in.  I sat there alone and waited for my family, since I was too traumatized to move.

After everyone in my family was changed and ready to go, we left and drove back to Gatlinburg to finish the rest of our vacation.  The kids and my husband talked non-stop about how much fun they had and what their favorite rapids were and how they wanted to do it again.  I said nothing.

When we arrived at the hotel, I went inside and layed down to take a nap.  My family was being very patient and not pressing me to talk.  I slept for hours.  I have no idea what they did during that time.

I woke up hungry for supper, so that was a good sign.  My husband took us out to dinner and for the first time since our white water rafting trip; I was able to contribute to the conversation.

On our way home from vacation a few days later, the kids and my husband talked a lot about the next white water rafting trip.  But I knew that there would never ever be a next time for me.

(c) 2013 Tribal Tales.  (c) 2013 Diane LeJeune and Feeling Good Entertainment, LLC

My Peculiar Kid

Earlier this year, I wrote about how “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.”  The wizard blog was about my son, Jesse.  He is quite the distinctive individual.  That earlier story was about his arrival into this world.  I thought he would never get here.  But he arrived at the exact moment he was ready and not one second earlier – no matter what the doctor’s predicted.

Well this blog will be a continuation on that same topic.  Jesse is kind of a peculiar kid.  He is just about to have a birthday in the next few weeks and will be turning 18 years old . . . an adult.  So, I’m sure he is not thrilled about me rehashing his younger days.  However, perhaps someday he will read this story to his kids and maybe even his grandchildren and they will get a glimpse into who Jesse was as a child.

~~~

When Jesse was just five years old, we attended a church picnic at a local park in Franklin.  We had such a fun day.  There had to have been 500 of our church friends altogether sharing a meal on a beautiful, summer’s day.  One family brought their dog to the picnic along with four new puppies.  I was able to successfully avoid them the entire afternoon, but somehow Jesse had found his way to the big cardboard box along with a dozen or so other kids to pet the puppies.  You guessed it; they were giving them away to any good home.  Jesse decided we were one of the good homes that should get a puppy and told the family that we would take one.  The puppies were a mix of Labrador and Rottweiler.  So while the little guy was cute as can be, he was also pretty aggressive, even as a puppy.

Well, Jesse really wanted that puppy.   We had recently bought our first home with a yard, so I spoke with my husband and we consented.  We now owned our very first family pet.

On the way home from the picnic, we stopped by a store to get a collar, leash, water bowl, food bowl, and puppy food.  We figured that there would be more that we would need later, but that we might get by for a few days on these supplies.

We got the little guy all set up and the kids just played and played with him.  Our new little puppy was quite cute and did not seem at all shy or nervous.  He had a great time with kids.  However, we noticed that when he got aggressive he would nip at us.  It didn’t really hurt much, but he was definitely biting.

It was not too long until the biting got old for Jesse, so he went to his room.  After a while I could not figure out where he had gone and went looking for him.  His bedroom door was shut, so I knocked.  He said, “Who’s there?”  I answered that I was.  He asked, “Is the puppy with you?”  I replied, “No.”  He said then that I could come in. 

I found Jesse just sitting on his bed with his legs pulled up onto the bed.  I asked what was wrong.  He said that nothing was wrong.  I remember then that he asked me to shut the door.  I obliged.  He never ever just sat in his room doing nothing, so I pried further. 

Finally he confessed that he did not like the dog.  That it was too “bitey” and that it was all his fault that we had brought the little puppy home.  Jesse explained his plan to me.  Jesse said we could keep the puppy as part of the family, but that Jesse was just going to stay in his room from now on with the door shut so the dog could not get in. I could bring his meals to him in his bedroom.  He was willing to give up his place in the family so that he did not have to deal with the bitey dog.  It was all I could do not to laugh.  Jesse was as serious as could be. 

I explained to him that if he did not like the puppy that we would find it a new home.  I told him that it was very important for me to have Jesse in the family and was not worried at all about keeping the dog.  Jesse smiled.  I could tell he was so relieved . . . he got to stay part of our family.

                                                                                                    

~~~

Another funny thing about Jesse is that from the time he was old enough to have input until the age of 12, he hated the restaurant, Applebee’s.  I mean absolutely loathed the restaurant.  When he was little, if we even talked about the possibility of getting lunch or dinner there, he would get upset.  Needless to say, we did not eat at Applebee’s much.

However, literally overnight, by the time he was a teenager, something dramatic changed.  I do not have any idea what prompted the about face, but now Applebee’s is one of Jesse’s favorite restaurants.  We actually eat there nearly anytime we eat out when we’re not in our little town. 

~~~

Another quirky Jesse story is about his love of individually wrapped American cheese slices.  When he was really little, that may be one of the only consistent foods that he ate.  However, and this is a big issue . . . when you unwrapped the cheese for him, you could not tear the cheese at all.  I cannot emphasize enough how important careful cheese unwrapping was at our house.  We would have endless tears and complete refusal to eat said cheese slice if it was injured in any way.  It was a very emotional experience if we were not successful at perfect cheese unwrapping.

~~~

One night, before bed, I was reading a book in my room in bed.  Jesse came to my door and asked if he could come in.  I said, “Of course.”  He walked over and stood at the foot of the bed.  I asked him to climb on up and cuddle with me for a minute.  He obliged.  I set my book down and asked him about what was on his mind. 

At first he was apprehensive to tell me what was upsetting him.  He slinked down until he was almost all the way under the covers.  I could tell he was upset.  I seriously said, “Jesse, I want you to tell me what is wrong.”  He replied, “Mom, I want to play soccer.”  And then he closed his eyes afraid of my response.  I smiled and asked, “Is that it?”  He said yes.  I replied, “Well, of course, you can play soccer if you want to.  Is it time for sign-ups?”  He peeked out from under the covers and nodded yes.  I simply laughed at his cute little face.

I made him sit up and talk to me about soccer and why he was anxious about talking to me about his request.  He leaned down so that I could hold him close and said, “Well mom, I know that we are a baseball family, you always say that.  And I just want to know if I can stay in our family even if I want to play soccer?”  I burst out laughing and gave him a big hug.  I told him that yes it was true we were a baseball family; he would always be a member of our family no matter what sports he played.  Once again, he was relieved.

~~~

I have many interesting Jesse stories, but I’ll end with this one.  Jesse is probably my “book” smartest kid.  He scored in the top 98 percentile in the U.S. on the EXPLORE Test and in the top 93 percentile on the PLAN Test.  However, by the time he got to high school, he was distracted.  Getting good grades and being one of the smartest kids in the class held no interest for him, much to my dismay.

Jesse’s junior year, he scored really well on the ACT along with 19 other classmates.  Our school principal actually went to Jesse’s classroom and asked him to step into the hallway for a minute.  Jesse obliged.  The principal went on to say that Jesse had gotten a great score on his ACT test.  Jesse was relieved.  The principal said, “But Jesse, your GPA really does not reflect the strong work you’re capable of doing.”  Jesse replied, “It sounds like you’ve been talking to my mom.  That’s what she always says.”  The principal laughed and said, “No, I haven’t been, but a 3.45 GPA is just not as good as I believe you can do.”  Jesse did not disagree.  The principal continued, “Jesse, tell me what your goal is for your last year and a half in high school.”  Jesse was very quick to reply, “My goal is to be the funniest person in every one of my classes!”  Our principal was very surprised by his immediate and confident response.  He started to laugh.  I can only imagine what he was thinking at this point. 

The principal asked Jesse to consider working harder in his classes to bring up his GPA. a bit since a high GPA was important to college admissions.  Jesse said he would.

~~~

Because of the fact that Jesse rarely arrives on time, is picky about his cheese, and he loves soccer more than the rest of our family, he really is a very unique person.   And I do believe that even though the GPA did not get any higher, Jesse met his primary goal to be the funniest guy in his class.

(c) 2013 Feeling Good Entertainment, LLC and Diane LeJeune  (c) 2013 Tribal Tales