Wednesday January 17th, 2007 - Stevens Point, WI/Chicago, IL

I took some time today to make a memory for someone. I drove 500 miles round trip to Stevens Point, WI so I could surprise my cousin’s daughter Janine on her 13th birthday. I have been on the road a lot lately and would have loved to have a day off but a chance to make a kid’s day takes precedence with me. I had to do it. A person is only 13 once and a memory at that age lasts a lifetime. I didn’t have very many pleasant ones when I was 13 so I didn’t hesitate to suck it up and get in the car and drive the 250 miles from Chicago.

Maybe I’ll never get a chance to be a father myself but I think I’ve done pretty well as a ‘wacky uncle’ figure to a lot of different kids. Both my brother and sister have two kids of their own and I’ve always tried to be good to all kids. I spent time throwing a ball around or going to the movies or something FUN whenever I could. I don’t think it’s very hard at all but my parents never did get the concept. I talked to my sister’s son after he had grown up and he told me the memories of going to ballgames with me were some of the few that he cherished most. His father hadn’t done it with him and by that time it was too late. The fact that I was able to take a little time with him made us both bond in a special way. I am flattered that he remembered those times with such a fondness. I had a lot of fun as well.

Childhood is special and should be packed with fun memories that only get sweeter as a life unfolds. That’s why Christmas is supposed to be so wonderful and get ‘wonderfuller’. The memories collect interest like a bank account and then when the older people pass on all that’s left is a special cherished memory. That’s how it’s supposed to work but when it doesn’t it leaves pain and sorrow in those memory banks and then that becomes the image that lasts forever. I have way too many of those so if I can make good ones I always do.

My cousin Leah is Janine’s mom and I told her I wanted to be there for Janine’s special day. We met at a pizza place called Bill’s which is in downtown Stevens Point. It’s just a hole in the wall joint but it has great pizza and a laid back atmosphere. They arranged it to take Janine there and pretend they were going to just have a quick dinner and then go to a church group meeting. They sat down and then I walked in and stuck my face in the booth and yelled ‘SURPRISE!’ It worked perfectly and Janine’s look of shock and delight was a memory that I will never forget either. She was thrilled and we had a fantastic pizza meal and then we went to a little ice cream shop and had some ice cream too. We all sat around and laughed a lot and there was a checkerboard in the place so we played a few games of checkers and just really had a lot of FUN. At the end of the night Janine threw both of her arms around me and said ‘I LOVE YOU’ and I just about started to cry. I told her I loved her too and that she was a special kid and that I was proud of her for her. I meant it too.

None of this has anything to do with my career or the ins and outs of being a comedian other than the fact that we had FUN. Many times it’s easy to forget that in life, especially as a comedian. There are so many things to worry about that fun gets brushed aside and it should not. Tonight I got a chance to have some fun with a great kid who in turn I hope is going to have a happy childhood so she won’t have to chase what she’s missing by being a comedian and trying to recapture the love she lost as a kid. She’s got a fighting chance.