Dear Glenny,
When I went camping to Driggs, Idaho for the weekend I told my blog friends that I was going to have another bonding moment with you. I like those you know. These random bonding moments we have occasionally. Okay, it was only twice. But they feel like more.
When I saw you in the crowd it felt like I saw an old friend. I think that might be a special talent of yours. You know how to make people feel like a friend and, even better, like you like them the best. My new father in law Dale is like that. I know he likes me the best. And I know out of the two bonding moments you and I have had, that you like me an awful lot.
You were in Driggs to speak at the Independence Day Celebration. My family was camping in Driggs to participate in the areas activities and to see you and the fireworks.
While participating in the activities at the Huntsman Golf Course with my family I saw you from across the way checking out the antique cars with your crew.
I pointed you out to my sons. They know I love you and they really wanted me to go talk to you. For some reason I have great respect for celebrities and their right to be in public and not be harassed, for the good or the bad.
So I told my kids I couldn’t approach you like that when you were just trying to enjoy your day, love you though I may.
But a few minutes later when you touched the handles to my baby’s stroller.... things changed. It was “game on”, my friend.
Here are a few things about those few moments I might change if I had the chance.
When my family was in the way of your golf cart and entourage I would like to not have been standing in line for a Pronto Pup! I don’t even eat those on a good day!
But there I was. With seven of the eight people in my family, taking up space in the line, and ordering $24.50 of corn dog nastiness. We had tried to order something better but corn dogs were cheapest. We had a cooler of sandwich fixings but the walk to the car in the heat was apparently not worth $24.50. I really wanted to be standing in line for the Dutch oven cooking.
When your “people” told my “people” and others that you needed to get through I wish I had just calmly looked around and observed the situation. I didn’t even realize it was you needing to get through.
I tried to scoot Kate, in the stroller, over but I could tell there wasn’t going to really be quite enough room. But I was panicking a bit because I am a pretty huge rule follower and I was told to move so move I must!
Kate’s handles were on the opposite end of my reaching. Her feet were closest to me. I was a little concerned for her safety because she was so close to the golf cart. Then... like a crazy, beautiful mirage, from my sun baked self, I saw you standing there so sweetly backing her up when I couldn’t. Saving her from injury!
You leaned your head over her stroller and the back of her and gently spoke to her. She looked up at you like "who the heck is controlling my stroller". She looked ever so cute with her face painted with a beautiful lady bug on it. Your entourage got out and snapped pictures like crazy.
If I could do it over again I would memorize what you said to my darling. But I was so shocked and excited I can’t even remember. My older daughter thinks it was about how Kate had a great way to enjoy the day, relaxing in a stroller with someone pushing her around. I was also slowly sneaking my camera out of my pocket to get a picture of you talking to her. So here is my only picture of the encounter. See! That’s your hand!
If I had the moment to take back I would have not been standing there in my bright turquoise shirt from Wal-Mart that had about 10 tons of glitter on it and something like a palm tree leaf coming out from my neck and down onto my bosom. Yeah. It was pretty bad. But it was thin and cool and I really am low on the clothes department. You know because I won’t buy new clothes until I lose weight.
Speaking of which, I really wish I had lost those 20 pounds I was going to have lost by July. I also wish I had uh…you know… HAD A SHOWER!!!!!! Ugh! Camping! I also wish my hair had been long and flowing instead of shoved in what I refer to as my “Mulan” bun.
I thanked you for moving her and then I said some things to you that I deeply wish I could change. Or expand on. Or take back. I am mortified to even repeat the dumb things I said to you! I was just so excited.
First of all I said…"You don’t know this but…."
Let’s just visit this for a moment, shall we?
OoooooFFFFF! *hand slaps forehead* of course you don’t know. What was I thinking! We had only had one prior bonding moment together! How could you know anything about my thinking’s!
“I love you!”
That’s not so bad because it’s true but when it is followed with a…. “I blog about you all the time!”
….….can you say “red alert, bodyguards!” fast enough?
I’m sorry for that stalkerish moment. Truly I am. I know I looked like a loon in my sparkly shirt professing my love to you, unshowered and in the corn dog line….with children galore staring on….and one husband holding 6 corndogs…..
But your sweet self just smiled at me and REACHED. OUT. FOR. A. HUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are a generous kind person. l wish that as we were hugging my brain hadn’t had a complete hemorrhage and I could remember it better. But all I remember is our heads were actually basically side by side. And your shirt was soft. And it was light blue.
Once again, I do wish I hadn’t been sweating in 5 hundred different lines that day watching dogs catch Frisbees and a hilarious man juggling. I wish if I had known you would be hugging me later with your head next to my head that I would have had a shower with real live shampoo and water and a little perfume sprayed on me.
I wish that after we hugged I would have just left well enough alone. But instead I said…"We just hope you can keep on going…….”
DO you think I could have come up with something a little more eloquent to say? But you replied politely that you were going to keep on going.
What I really wish I would have told you is.... how important the work you are doing is. How I am scared for you but how incredibly brave you are to keep speaking out in the face of such controversy. How brilliant I think you are and your drive for the truth and for freedom is needed more now than ever. How thankful I am for your message of love and hope and goodness.
Then…. I said the thing that I will forever be mortified by. I said….
“I’m voting for you.” Huh? What? Back the truck up. Whyyyyyyyyyy…Why??????? Why did that come out of my mouth!!!!! Voting for you? What does that even mean! I think I even gave you a thumbs up. *shudder*
What I really meant to say (Besides possibly…I don’t know….. I’m rooting for you....) was that I worry, worry , worry, about you. I pray for your strength and safety. I support you. I wish you all the good things you deserve.
But no….I said “I’m voting for you.”
It was classic. Classic dumbness. Classic “I am staring at Glenn Beck’s beautiful face and saying completely crazy dumb things…!”
You were polite and by then had to move on and our moment was done.
If I could have changed it I would have had some sort of special pass to follow you around for the next week and glean from your knowledge and funniness. If I had the time I would have told you that I love to attend your events and that I loved you before you became so cool. I loved you when you were still just talking about how people who have over three cats might be crazy.
I also have been dying to tell your wife I love her too. And thanks for sharing you with us. It must be a real pain. And a real sacrifice. And I would thank her. And apologize that I think I have the right to call you “Glenny”.
But aside from the things I would have changed it was the perfect moment. I finished helping Corey with the corn dogs and then we found a scrap of shade to sit in and eat. I COULD. NOT. QUIT. SMILING!
Here are some things I would not change. (Aside from the obviousness of my hug which you freely initiated) (You big lovey!)
I would not change…. HOW absolutely stunned and EXCITED my kids were for me. It was so sweet.
Rhett could not quit asking me about it. He actually asked me if his dad had arranged it for me. I love the he thinks Corey has the power to arrange something like that. And I lOVE that he thinks Corey would do something that special for me.
I wouldn’t change the high I had for the rest of the camp trip. When I woke up EVERY night in the tent in the middle of the night, TERRIFIED a bear was going to rip through and steal one of my babies, I would rehash our moment and get peace…. minus the voting part. By the way I know you aren’t running for anything. I’m afraid you now wonder if I really listen to your show! Rooting! It was suppose to be rooting!!!! I promise.
I wouldn’t change how cracked up my husband was over it. He kept making jokes that you were done with the hug and that I had my hands locked behind your back in a vice grip and you couldn’t get away. Hilarious. Not true of course. Although if I had thought about it at the time………
I wouldn’t change telling you I love you. I hope you know that for all the people against you, I think there are more for you. And we need you. And we are inspired and empowered by you. And accountable because of hearing you. And I am not alone. Lots of us LOVE you! You are Glenny to lots of us. I wish I could share your hug with everyone. Honest I do. Although I don’t want to hear about it. I want to pretend you like me the most for a little while longer.
That night at you speech the last part was so beautiful and loving and so open. Just like you.
You spoke about just loving each other.
The fireworks began with John F. Kennedy’s famous speech and Martin Luther King. Truly spectacular.
I couldn’t help but shake my fist in the air when my beloved Neil Diamond’s song “Amercia” began playing. I turned to my son Nathan and told him, “you and I use to dance to Neil in the kitchen when you were little”. And he said he remembered. BREAK MY HEART WITH JOY AND LARGE LOVE!
I loved sitting on the grassy , hilly, beautiful Huntsman Golf Course watching the fireworks. I belted out all the words to the patriotic songs, as was a lady behind me. It was wonderful. (Sorry for those around us who maybe it wasn't "wonderful" for) At the end of the firework show I swear they just redid every single fire work all at once. It was amazing. The “kabooms” you could feel through the ground. Great!
Thanks Glenn. For all that you do. You are true and honorable. Thanks for taking the time to pay some attention to a normal person like me. It meant so much. I actually really felt it was a little message from a loving Heavenly Father telling me I was doing alright!
XO XO XO XO
7 comments:
Oh Susan, I love how much you love Glenny. I am so tempted to copy this and send it directly to him, if nothing more than to give him a smile for the day. He is lucky to have someone that loves and admires him as much as you do.
Susan, all I can say is "I love you"!!! You're so wonderfully human! And you express it so well!
Susan,
I almost wet my pants reading this post tonight. You are amazing and I so appreciate you and your humor in life. I just love you! Angie
WOW! I thought stuff like what you experienced only happened to me! My life is like this: I was a supervisor to 133 employees on a assembly line. I really had to pee but as I was making my way off the floor I kept getting stopped and asked to make decisions that would affect the company's profit margin or impact an employee's homelife etc....I didn't have it in me to say 'Let me go pee first'. Anyways 15 minutes later I finally made it to the bathroom stall and I am happy. Then I look and see that I had no toilet paper. As I contemplate my dilemma I look and see just a glint of something white hanging down from the next stall. YES! Some one was careless earlier and let the toilet paper roll out a bit. Now I just had to try and grab it. I am 4'11" so it was a struggle with my pants down and trying to keep everything sanitary and in place. But I snagged it! Did I mention I had a meeting to go to in 10 minutes with some upper management players? So I wrap it up and felt victorious that I overcame such a eye opening experience because at that moment I realized that my guardian angel had a sense of humor. Granted it might not have been funny to me but it was to them. All My life I have been put in 'unsual' situations and by 'luck' survived with an entertaining story to tell. I know that when I am down and feel just about defeated by Angel will step in and guide me but in an odd funny kind of way. Like I tell my kids, 'You can never say you had a boring childhood!' I look forward to following your blog but not in a stalkerish sorta way. Thanks
Christina said...You lost me at ''corn dog nastiness''! I am sure you meant heaven on a stick!! :( Just kidding...sort of...no, really, I have been waiting for this post since Viki told me about it in Driggs, I even tried calling you, but on a different #. I am so glad you got your wish! He is an awesome awesome person and I was as deeply moved by him this year as I was last year but last year they didn't have all those barriers and we were right by the stage!! Here's hoping for a third encounter, if you happen to be camping, my brother lives in Victor, you can for sure use his shower :D
Lisa said...You are so hilarious!!! Thank you for the smile. I LOVE "Glenny" too!!! :)
Susan said...Christina!!! I knew I'd hit a nerve with the corn dog thing!
Mary said...The honor was all his, for getting to meet you!!
Susan said...Mary!!! So sweett!
Mary said...Kate is a beauty:)
Kim said...So happy for you, Susan. :)
Amy said...I am so completely happy for you!
Susan said...It's embarrassing! The corn dog line? Does it get any tackier than that?
Christina said...Burrito's are MUCH more tackier than corn dogs!
Mary said...I had my first corn dog this year-one bite, in the trash, sorry....
Susan said...Your first one ever????? Wow!
Linda said...Aw! Such a sweet post. That made me teary. I love that he does what he does in the face of so very, very much hate every day, too. I'm sure that we have no idea the hate he sees. I'm so glad you got to have another moment with him (I can't call him Glenny, ugh, even writing that sets my teeth on edge, sorry!) But most of all I'm glad that you had a moment where you felt Heavenly Father's love for you. Thanks for sharing it with us! Love you my friend.
Susan said...You no likey "Glenny"? I think it is funny.
Melanie said...Glenny is hilarious because it's your pet name and I can think of you and laugh every time I think of the word "Glenny". And your blog was awesome!!!
Susan said...And I love pet names. Corey thinks it is STUPID.
Mary said...What's Corey's pet name?
Kim said...Yeah, the name Glenny makes me think of a puppy or something. But then, I am not into pet names either. When people call me Kimmie, I cringe - truly.
But you, Susan, are free to call the love of your life, um, I mean a person you really, really admire, anything you want to! ;) Hee hee ...
Susan said...I don't think Corey has one. I just called my kid "hun bun" though. I just make up whatever. Corey isn't pet name material.
Mary said...I call him Dew-Boy-heheh
Susan said...I know! I love that one!!! I use to call him Mountain Man Nielsen. But that is sort of long.
Kim said...You know, I can't say I don't use pet names because I call Rachel "Sweetie" all the time and really, that is one. Maybe Corey should be called "Grizz" for Grizzly Adams. Susan, I have to say, I love your honesty and the fact that you share these things with us. I really am happy for you, as I know how much this meant to you!!
Christina said...I'm with Linda....''Glenny'' gross...he's manly! That's not manly!
Susan said...Thanks! That is so nice. Grizz is a GREAT one!!!!!!
Kim said...Better yet - Grizzy! hee hee ....
Melanie said...Call him co-co
Viki said...Nice blog... I just call him "G.B."...so as to not confuse any of my THREE "G.B."s that I love! =)
Christina said...Glenn Beck, Garth Brooks....who's the other one?? :D
George Bush?Gordon Brown? Going for the British??
Viki said...Haha...almost snorted on the George Bush one...but then I remembered George Bailey from "It's A Wonderful Life"...so I guess I'm up to 4 now!
Linda said...I actually love pet names. I use them lots, but for some reason, that one name, the one I can't actually say, just doesn't fit the wearer. GB works. Very well. And George Bush, Christina? Bahaha!
Susan said...You guys call him GB. He will be always be Glenny to me. I think it's funny.
Michelle said...This is now my favorite blog post ever. EVER! I love so much about it~ but this part made me Laugh. Out. Loud. "I’m sorry for that stalkerish moment. Truly I am. I know I looked like a loon in my sparkly shirt professing my love to you, unshowered and in the corn dog line….with children galore staring on….and one husband holding 6 corndogs….." I am so happy for yoU!! I want so badly someday to have my moment with him~ well, even more than for me, I want my boys to have that moment with him. It's not every day your children get to meet a real live hero. They love him, too. Here's hoping for next year! ;) I'll have to make sure to NOT take a shower that day though~ things like that never happen when you're ready for them hee hee
Oh and I also have loved him since "the beginning"! Remember the marshmallow couch bit? hahahahaha And the Glenn Beck Hate Mail? He really has grown so much~ it's been a beautiful thing to see over the years. I'd vote for him, too ;)I want to share this blog on my wall. Are you opposed or in favor?
Viki said...Michelle, I VOTE for you to do it! =)
Susan said...oh...ha ha on the VOTE thing. Grr.
Michelle said..."like" neither tells me if you say yes or no to my proposal. Hurry up and Vote!
*giggling*
Susan said...Michelle....I really wanted to introduce my children as well. It just happens so fast.. My like means sure! Melly posted it on his site!!!!! I keep going back and doing further proof reading! I don't even know if they read those things on his site. I went and looked last night and it was just a bunch of haters and nasty words...
Michelle said...Haters are sickos. Sorry they unleashed nastiness on you and your excellent post. I was going to email it to him. I think I still will ;) Leave it as it is! It's seriously perfect :)
Susan said...They didn't hate on my post. They were just hating on his FB page. It was nuts!!!!!I live in this nice little bubble where everyone loves my Glenny. Or GB as I have been so told!!!!! Glenn has an Email? Wow! Now I really could go stalkerish! Michelle-so cute that you love your boys so much you want them to meet your hero. Don't shower anymore and we'll make it happen next time he comes around!
Michelle said...See, that was my big mistake in Driggs. I showered and did my hair. I'll never learn. ;) I'm going to start stalking YOU seeing as how you keep bumping into the man! You haz powerz.
Susan said...You act nutty and he takes pitty on you! pitty?
Michelle said...Peety (say it like a Spainard!)
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