I found this out there in blogland while surfing during one of my conference calls. In the current spirit of questions and interviews, I offer the following follow-up. It’s not a bragging rights kind of thing, but more of a here’s-some-stuff-about-me-that-you-probably-didn’t-know kind of thing. I invite anyone reading this to post their unique life experiences for everyone else to read.
10 Things I’ve Done that You Probably Haven’t (in no particular order)
10. Ran out a single in Fenway Park. A buddy and I snuck out onto the field a couple of hours before a game and no one stopped us. I was safe at first when security came a runnin’.
9. Watched a Space Shuttle take-off. I was in Vero Beach visiting my grandparents. We were about 50 miles away, but you could see it very clearly rising through the air, with a huge plume of fire and smoke trailing beneath.
8. Sang a solo in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Every December the WPI Men’s Glee Club used to go to New York City for a concert weekend. I sang the baritone solo in the Fenno Heath arrangement of What Child is This.
7. Graduated from Basic Cadet Training at the United States Air Force Academy. I hated every last second of it, and left after one month of classes. It was the most hellish four months of my life.
6. Watched my mother die.
5. Saved someone’s life. I rescued my cousin from drowning in my grandmother’s pond.
4. Met the Pope. In 1994, the Glee Club toured Italy during spring break. We all stood up and sang a song for him during a papal audience. He called us up on stage and had a picture taken with us. I was hung over.
3. Had my birthday on a cruise ship. I turned four in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I was on the Queen Elizabeth II. We were coming back from a family trip to England. I remember getting a toy truck.
2. Rowed through the canals of Venice. I studied the structural damage to the canal walls for a semester during college. We presented our findings to the city officials, and started an educational program for the school kids there. Our boatman called in sick one week, so we ended up rowing ourselves around to finish our measurements.
1. Been on a plane during an emergency landing. In high school, I was flying home to Connecticut from Florida by myself when someone had a heart attack on the plane. They didn’t tell us what was happening until after the pilot had banked VERY sharply toward the ground. Not fun.
