Something you may not know about me, is that I am a huge news geek.  For someone who appears to be a complete and utter Time-Warp Wife, I am extremely up to date on current affairs.  Often, my television is on CNN, and when I started college, I entered as a journalism major.  I have many journalism idols, Edward R. Murrow being number one, but there are others on the list…

I grew up in an NBC family. My day started out with the Today Show, and ended with NBC Nightly News. Katie Couric and Tom Brokaw were my television bookends.  As I grew up, journalism became more and more interesting to me, I began to view them as historians – documenting history as it happened.  Brokaw’s manner and perfect baritone voice made him an early idol for me and the world of journalism.  Which is why I was thrilled when I heard he was coming to Portland.

Last night, my friend Kali and I had the extreme pleasure of seeing Tom Brokaw live.  We were as giddy as Beatles fangirls as we approached our seats, which were along the center aisle and in the fifth row!  We had nearly zero dignity as we jumped up and down at our proximity to the stage, and couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces.  We looked around at our fellow audience members and quickly noticed we were among the youngest. But that was nothing new.  Mr. Brokaw walked out on stage to loud applause, and began to speak.

He spoke about his own journalistic career, with a few funny anecdotes and then began to speak about what his new book, The Time of Our Lives, is about.  Brokaw looked back upon what has happened to America. Why can’t we do what our grandparents or parents did? He touched on so many topics that I feel strongly about, and I was so pleased when I heard how many things we agree upon.  Like any event with a strong speaker, you find yourself nodding, applauding, and laughing, and of course I was doing all that, along with clutching my hands together in awe of the man.

At the end of the event, we all stood to exit and a woman behind me said “Can I just ask you something?” Since I was all done up in 60s clothing, I was expecting something regarding my attire, but she then said “Who are you?” How do you even begin to answer that? She then continued “I just watched you during the speech, and you were so into it.” I then responded with “I’m a history major, and before that I was journalism major” and I continued with my story of how I grew up with Brokaw, and how I admire journalists.  It was hands down one of the most interesting questions I’ve ever been asked.

As part of our tickets, we were given a signed copy of the new book, an item I will covet forever. I can’t wait to start reading it!