Roy Exum
It may be that of all my favorite videos, and my collection is ever-growing, the best is a take-off of the late Paul Harvey’s timeless, “So God Made A Farmer.” My favorite is done in the most magical way as a gentle voice recited, “So God Made A Dog.” Both are on YouTube and each are a delight. Now I have a third “So God Made …” in my collection.
This morning one of Tennessee’s greatest statesmen, former Senator Fred Thompson, will be eulogized in Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium.
His Senate colleague, John McCain, will speak and a huge number of dignitaries will be there to see the politician and movie/TV actor honored as he very well should be. Burial will be later Friday in his beloved Lawrenceburg.
Yesterday I found out that Fred Thomson, about a year before he died of lymphoma at age 71, lent his trade-mark voice to a stirring video entitled, “So God Made A Patriot.” It’s a classic with lines like this:
“God said, ‘I need someone who even after crushing defeats rises up and stands tall. Someone who hears the clarion call that these are the times that try men’s souls and does not shrink from the trial. Someone who will cross a frozen river in the dead of winter when all logic and reason says turn back, abandon hope.’ So God made a Patriot.”
Well, I just adore stuff like this and Senator Thompson, who I actually had several pleasant conversations with when he would visit the newspaper back in the day, was evermore an unflinching patriot. In the Nashville Tennessean follow his death the family’s announcement was wonderful.
"Fred once said that the experiences he had growing up in small-town Tennessee formed the prism through which he viewed the world and shaped the way he dealt with life," his family said in a statement Sunday.
"Fred stood on principle and common sense, and had a deep love for and connection with the people across Tennessee whom he had the privilege to serve in the United States Senate. He enjoyed a hearty laugh, a strong handshake, a good cigar, and a healthy dose of humility. Fred was the same man on the floor of the Senate, the movie studio, or the town square of Lawrenceburg, his home."
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With rain in the forecast for the next seven days – evidence that fall has fallen – let’s lighten up with my favorite joke off the Internet this week:
A man walked out to the street and caught a taxi just going by. He got into the taxi, and the cabbie said, "Perfect timing. You're just like Ryan"
Passenger: "Who?"
Cabbie: "Ryan Robinson. He's a guy who did everything right all the time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happen like that to Ryan Robinson, every single time."
Passenger: "There are always a few clouds over everybody."
Cabbie: "Not Ryan Robinson. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won the Grand Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros. He sang like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should have heard him play the piano. He was an amazing guy."
Passenger: "Sounds like he was something really special."
Cabbie: "There's more. He had a memory like a computer. He remembered everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and which fork to eat them with. He could fix anything. Not like me. I change a fuse, and the whole street blacks out. But Ryan Robinson, he could do everything right."
Passenger: "Wow. Some guy then."
Cabbie: "He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic jams. Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. But Ryan, he never made a mistake, and he really knew how to treat a woman and make her feel good. He would never answer her back even if she was in the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished too. He was the perfect man! He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Ryan Robinson."
Passenger: "An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?"
Cabbie: "Well, I never actually met Ryan. He died. I'm married to his widow."
royexum@aol.com