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a well lived bland life
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After Shocks
I haven’t written in quite awhile so I decided that it was time. Life has been busy. Just a quick catch-up on what has been going on. The night after the avalanche Jordan Cook’s cell phone was ringing almost constantly and the battery was quickly dying. He was receiving phone calls from friends and family but also from people who you would never dream would be calling your phone: CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, BBC, Good Morning America, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Today Show etc. While we were still in the hospital news agencies were calling the hospital PR representative wanting information on everyone involved, their status’, and their stories. The news agencies tracked down Jordan’s dad who freely handed out Jordan’s number as if it was going out of style.
Peter was still in the hospital while the other four of us were camped inside a church building living off of the generosity of the Foothills Bible Church family who graciously provided us with food, clothing, and bedding of all sorts and flavors. As we watched ourselves on the news and read about the avalanche on all the big news websites, and how the facts were getting lost “in the snow” we decided we would do something, and decided on Good Morning America.
The next morning, if you can call it morning, a representative from Good Morning America (Andrea – who was awesome) picked us up at the church at 4am to drive to a studio for taping. Sleep didn’t come naturally as my nerves were shot and the anxiety of being on national television was running amuck in my head, but I did manage to get about 3 hours of shut-eye.
We went to the studio and appeared live on the east coast. It was a different experience. We couldn’t see the new anchors and had a small ear piece lodged in our outer ears. I was only asked one question, to which I was thankful, and remained somewhat calm. I’ve always been a nervous person and have trouble speaking fluently in front of crowds and such.
After it was over we were asked if we wanted to stay and tape for the Monday show and they would fly us home. Oh how great flying home sounded. Our other option was to rent a vehicle and ride for twelve hours from Denver back to Ames. We gladly accepted.
We taped for Good Morning America Sunday Evening in the hotel room that ABC put us up in. Saying it was a nice hotel doesn’t do it justice. We stayed in the Westin Inn downtown Denver, it was amazing. King sized beds for all. It was exactly what my bruised body needed and the sleep I got was wonderful.
The next morning we flew home and arrived to a cheering crowd of friends, family, and our church family in the Des Moines airport. All the local news channels were there along with a couple newspapers. It was surreal.
Over the next few days I spent time visiting people and sharing with coworkers how God graciously provided for us. We also received phone calls and flowers from the Ellen DeGeneres show. One night, we all met together at a friend’s and sat in his hot tub and discussed what to do. Part of me just wanted the whole thing to be over, while the other part didn’t want to regret not doing something in the future and having to explain to my kids one day why I didn’t appear on a national television show. Darren and Sarah Johnson, Jordan Cook, and myself all agreed to appear on the show while Peter declined and decided to focus on his studies and catch up on the school he had already missed.
We flew out to Los Angeles, California the next Wednesday and spent the evening in Hollywood near Universal Studios. We basically goofed around, rested in our hotel rooms, and visited a small bar and grill for a couple drinks that night. We all really enjoyed our time there and loved spending the time with each other.
The next afternoon a driver picked us up at the hotel and brought us to NBC studios. Ellen’s staff treated us very well throughout the entire trip and gave us plenty of food and beverages as we waited in our dressing room while we goofed around and enjoyed ourselves while also preparing for what we wanted to say while on camera.
The show went wonderfully. Ellen was very sincere and generous. She was just as lively and fun in person as on TV, and she truly was interested and concerned in what we had to say and share. Near the end of the show Ellen surprised us with $500 gift certificates to Lens Crafters, a 7 day cruise in the east Caribbean, and a brand new Toyota Sienna minivan for our church – which was exactly like the one we were in when the avalanche hit us.
Overall the experience was great. I would have never thought I would ever go to the Ellen Show let alone be a guest! I’m definitely glad I did it, and it will be a great experience to share with the grandchildren one day.
I would like to end with something that Ellen said to us after the show that I really liked. We were all in the gifted van sitting in the spots we were in when we crashed and she was asking us questions. She took a moment, then said, “You guys were really protected up there….”
Yes, He does protect.
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Blando's Blog
Disciple of Christ, Husband, Father, and IT-guy.
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