Well, friends, I made it back to
Finland safely today and I thought I’d take just a moment to reflect on one of
the craziest trips I’ve ever taken. I’m not sure when or if the Moxie soda
company is going to look for a new mascot or spokesperson, but after this trip
I’d like to nominate my pop for the job. If ever a man had moxie (defined by
Merriam-Webster as: 1. energy, pep 2. courage, determination 3. know-how ), it’s
my pop. He proved it once again during the last two weeks and I will be forever
grateful that I was able to fly back to the States and be a witness.
As many friends already know, pop took
a bad fall on the morning of June 20th. As he was crawling back into
bed after a morning bathroom run, he became very lightheaded and passed out,
hitting his head on the night stand on the way down. Fortunately, my mom was
home when it happened and called for help. An ambulance came and moments later
pop was being rushed into the emergency surgery room to get a pacemaker
installed. Doctor Merliss later told me that pop’s heart rate was all the way
down to 15 and fading and that he and his team installed the pacemaker in record
time— less than 5 minutes! I thanked him for saving pop’s life, or at least
being one of the many people enabling his recovery, but wasn’t really sure how
to say it. I think I said something like: Thank you so much! Go Science! Go Awesome
Team of Doctors!
Even though the pacemaker began
working immediately, pop’s lungs and kidneys had already failed as well. Pop
was unconscious, uncomfortable and restless, and had to get intubated to keep
him breathing. My family struggled with all of the immediate medical decisions needing
to be made and in a word, the whole experience of trying to guess what pop
would have wanted was horrific. It was at this point that I got an email from
my brother informing me of pop’s condition. After a bit of schedule mixing (my
MANY thanks to the Hi-Fly Rangers and the organizers of the Puistoblues Festival
for understanding my last minute performance cancellation), money maneuvering, and
considerable borrowing (you know who you are—THANK YOU!!!), I booked a flight
home for the following day. A short while later I received another email from
my brother confirming that it was a good decision to come home quickly.
I have little interest in reliving
that 25-hour commute home but while I was sitting on those airplanes something incredible
happened. When I arrived at Bryan-Lincoln General Hospital on Saturday morning
I was greeted by pop. “Hey, son. It’s good to see you. Thanks for coming!” Sure
he was weak, also confused about the previous days’ events, hooked up to a
million machines (I don’t think he’d much appreciate me posting any photos of
him during this time) but he was living! And thinking! And resting! During
those first couple days the doctors had been incredibly frank about their
expectations for pop, acknowledging that many times 86 year-olds don’t make it
through these types of major events. At that point, we weren’t sure if he’d
ever leave the hospital. By the end of the day, however, he was standing up and
even taking his first steps since the fall!
While he was in the ICU, the
outpouring of support for my pop was awesome. He got lots of cards and prayers and
I appreciate all the friends who sent me emails and Facebook messages to check
in on him.
And I need to send an extra special thank you to Kate and Louise
Betton, who even went so far as to make my favorite Rice Krispies treats and
send them to me (and they were awesome as always!). You guys are the best!
And
while it is not always the best circumstances under which to come together,
these scary hospital trips also serve to reunite the family. It was so great to
support pop with the whole family including my mother, brother, sister-in-law,
sister, brother-in-law, my aunt, my nieces and nephew, and even the newest
member of the family: Greta the dog.
Greta, my brother and sister-in-law’s new
pup, was about nine weeks old when I arrived and it was a real joy to meet her
for the first time. We played, we cuddled (dog therapy really works!!), and she
seemed to take a real interest in Kenny Roberts’ first Starday LP when I played
it for her.
Every day we went to the hospital to
check on pop and every single day yielded further improvement. We talked about religion,
politics, philosophy, music, medical treatment wishes, and whatever else came
to our minds and only once did I nearly pass out and need to lie down (a huge
improvement considering my previous history with needles, blood, and hospital
visits). After just one week, pop was ready to leave the hospital and
transition into a rehab facility so that he could gain enough strength to eventually
get back to independent living. His turnaround was remarkable. He was getting
stronger each day, with many thanks to the wonderful nursing staffs and his
physical and occupational therapists, even graduating from a walker to his
preferred method of transportation (walking with a cane) in a matter of days! His
lungs were functioning better than ever. His heart came back too. The kidneys
hadn’t fully kicked in yet, but fortunately there’s a dialysis center in
Lincoln (a few actually), so he didn’t need to stay in the hospital just for
that. His nephrologist Dr. Govaerts later told us
that he thinks there is a 98-99% chance that pop’s kidneys are going to start
working again on their own, so that is very encouraging as well. Once in the
rehab center, things began to feel more normal. We set up pop’s Wii in his room
and he very quickly developed a smooth opposite-handed, seated bowling
technique (no left-handed bowling with a freshly installed pacemaker) which
made our evening bowling competitions quite enjoyable.
While at the rehab center with pop,
I also got to play a little guitar.
This came about because an earlier trip to
Best Buy for computer software quickly escalated into something else. As I was
leaving the store I saw a table at the front filled with guitar effects pedals—all
50% off the lowest already discounted open-box price. I asked the nearest manager
if he had a Boss Looper Station and he said he just sold it, but that if I
wanted any other pedal in the store he’d make me a deal. I quickly discovered
that the Best Buy chain was ridding themselves of their entire music
departments and the Lincoln store was hoping to get rid of everything… and fast.
This made for some great sales and possibly the first time I’ve ever walked
into a major chain store, asked to speak with a manager, and began naming my
own prices for things. If anyone lives in a town with a Best Buy that has a musical instrument section, I recommend that you go check it out ASAP! The sales were mind-blowing and I actually went back to
the store four days in a row to buy more things. Pictured here is my haul from
Day One. The Fender Pawn Shop ’51 is actually pretty sweet. Although I’ve never
been a Fender man myself, I find this maple tele neck strapped to a strat body quite
charming and real playable. Best of both worlds here… On Day Three I picked up
the Boss ME-70 multi-effects pedal and that is my new favorite toy (watch out
Helsinki metro commuters, I’ve finally got a looper!).
There were many other memorable
events that took place during my short visit. There were some mighty creative
games of H.O.R.S.E. played on my nieces and nephew’s home court; Swimming and
water-baseball games in the backyard; a fun off-road bike ride around Holmes
Lake with my nephew; seeing my mom, who had been experiencing some pain related
to the immense amount of stress she was under, getting much healthier during my
stay (Go Mom Go!!);
visiting with my awesome and inspirational Aunt Karen, who
has been kicking cancer’s butt and is doing great; picnicking with my brother
and his family; I even got to take my nieces and nephew (along with their
parents and my mother) to their first ever live rock’n’roll show: Junior Brown!
My nephew has been getting more and more into the guitar and I was glad to see
him diggin’ the fancy JB pickin’ up close.
I also loved watching my nieces
dancing and laughing with their parents to ‘My Wife Thinks You’re Dead.’ After
Junior’s set the fam retreated homeward and I was treated to some mighty fine
rockin’ courtesy of my former labelmate Dave Gonzalez (Stone River Boys on Cow
Island Music) and his rockabilly supergroup the Paladins.
I had a ball and met
some mighty cool people in the process, including one of pop’s PT’s! The final
group of the night was the Self-Righteous Brothers, which featured Benji from
the Mezcal Brothers, who also played earlier in the day. This was all part of
Zoo Bar’s 40th Anniversary 3-day celebration and if anybody is ever
passing through Lincoln, NE, I can’t give any live music venue a higher
recommendation.
Among the brightest highlights of
the trip, however, came on the 4th of July—Independence Day. America’s
Birthday. A day when Americans, particularly Nebraskans, spend crazy amounts of
money to make pretty explosions in the sky and also damage their hearing. It’s
also a day for BBQ and baseball. The local baseball team, the Lincoln Saltdogs
of the Northern League, had a home game and fireworks display scheduled for the
4th and ever since I got to town we had been talking about wanting
to take the whole family to the game. As pop’s recovery progressed, it seemed
more and more plausible that he may even get to come to the game with us. On
July 2nd we purchased tickets in the wheelchair accessible section
of the ballpark, but by the 3rd pop was already moving around with
just a cane. It was most certainly game on!
After a lovely morning spent tooling
around town with mother (including a fourth and final Best Buy run), we busted
pop out of the rehab facility around 4:00 and headed to my brother and
sister-in-law’s place for a good ol’ fashioned backyard cookout with delicious Fairbury
Hot Dogs (the official hot dog of the Nebraska Cornhuskers) and Moxie soda.
The
weather was perfect, the pool water was warm, and it was awesome to have the whole
family together for the holiday.
From there we booked it over to
Haymarket Park to catch the Saltdogs versus the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. While
it wasn’t a victory for the home team, it was still an exciting game to watch
and a gorgeous night out at one of the nicest ballparks around, overlooking the
Cornhuskers football stadium, the Nebraska capital building, the new convention
center, and even the active train yards just past center field. Mom and pop
posed for a shot with Homer, the Saltdogs mascot, and a good time was had by
all.
The fireworks show after the game was equally awesome and on the drive
home we saw about a million more impressive, independent fireworks shows.
It was exactly two weeks prior to
this game that I got the email informing me of pop’s condition. The doctor’s
had predicted that if he were to recover from this at all, it would take many months.
Two weeks later we’re at a baseball game and living the good life. I know there
is still a long road to go towards full recovery. He is still probably a few days away from returning home,
and I know he’s not a big fan of dialysis, but his determination to get
stronger and better every day is both encouraging and inspiring. He’s got a
lot of energy left in the tank, a lot of life to live, a lot of projects to
complete, and he’s taking all the proper steps to get better… According to
Merriam-Webster, that man’s got moxie!
Speaking of Moxie, I love that
soda. It’s got a unique taste, some folks may describe it as bitter or medicinal, but to me it's just real
refreshing. It’s the oldest continuously produced soft drink in the U.S. and it’s
the official state soft drink of Maine. Dr. Augustin Thompson, a Massachusetts
physician, introduced the beverage in 1884, claiming that it cured paralysis,
softening of the brain, and mental imbecility among other ills. When soda
became the rage, they just changed the marketing approach from Moxie nerve food to Moxie elixir to
Moxie soda. Genius! I used to drink it with several of my Moxie-obsessed
friends (Ben and Julio, here's to y'all!) when I was living in Boston and I also played a few shows sponsored by
Moxie with Rex Trailer. It’s like liquid memories for me, but I have never found
it anywhere outside of New England. Cut to Lincoln, Nebraska 2013. Apparently
the drink is now being produced and distributed nationally by the Orca Beverage
Co. and that means Moxie in glass bottles nationwide! Yee-Haw!
I went to six or seven grocery
stores and bought every bottle of Moxie I could find. Nobody else in my family
had ever had it before and all seemed to enjoy it. Pop’s reaction was
priceless. I wish there was a Moxie Faces Flickr or Buzzfeed page similar to
the Malört Faces ones that I’ve seen, as this would surely make a worthy entry.
I remember a couple years ago there
was quite the controversy in New England when Moxie ditched their famous Moxie
Man logo and went with a more modern label design. Fans of the soda were
outraged and Moxie has since gone back to using their vintage logo. But just in
case they’re still thinking about changing up their image, and if they still
want to keep a vintage look (hey, my pop was born in 1927—that’s pretty vintage for
ya!), and if they’re looking for a man who has come to represent a fighting spirit,
a love for life with energy and pep, with the determination to never
give up, and the know-how to come back from near death (this is the fourth time
the doctors have said that he probably won’t make it out of the hospital), then
my pop is your guy.
Think about it, Moxie, think about it!
For anyone wishing to write my pop a letter of
encouragement, or if somebody from the Moxie company wants to use my pop’s
likeness to market future products, I’m sure he’d love to hear from you! Just
send me a private message and I’ll be happy to send you his address.
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