......and sometimes, when you are faced with tragic news, you want to help ease the burden a little bit, get them to enjoy the here and now, and make someone's day just a little bit brighter.
Gina called, asking for a quote to do a singing gorilla with a pink tutu for Little Egg Harbor, NJ; a place I had never heard of. It's a little bit north of Atlantic City and having recently driven down there, I wasn't eager for another six hour round trip. I told her that Little Egg wasn't in my coverage area, then gave her the phone numbers of other companies out of Philadelphia that might be able to do it for much less.
I almost felt embarrassed to quote her my rate. I'd also be limited to a specific time, since I'd have to leave by 9 AM in order to get there somewhere between Noon and 1 PM, getting me back to Long Island by 4:30, 5:00 for my other deliveries.
Gina's Dad, Frank, was going to be celebrating his 70th Birthday and the family had just received some pretty devastating news; he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and this Birthday was more than likely going to be his last.
His kids and grandkids were all going to be seeing him later on the weekend, but because of their schedules and jobs and distance needed to travel to get there, no one was going to be with him on his actual Birthday.
I told Gina I'd go above and beyond -- write as long a song as I would need to fit in as much information she wanted to give me, as well as throw in a balloon bouquet, but I couldn't do it for less than my quote.
I don't know what happened with the other companies, but she called back in the evening, the night before Frank's Birthday. "They are less expensive," she said, "but I don't like what they're offering. We want to go with you."
She and her siblings had reasoned that this would be all the future Christmas gifts, Father's Day gifts, and Birthday gifts, that they'd no longer be able to give him, all rolled into one.
"Gina, you're breaking my heart."
I got right to work, writing the Mother-of-all-gorilla-in-tutu-songs for Frank, a retired auto body mechanic, who now spends his days fishing and crabbing. There was also the story of how, many years ago, while trying to cut a bush, he cut off the cat's tail, and part of his finger!
His wife and neighbors were there to take pictures. We laughed. We cried. Frank exhausted his repertoire of Polish jokes (despite my Polish heritage, I laughed). I stayed until they ran out of different combinations of poses for the camera.
"This animal lover is whom we hail
Cutting a bush, cut off his finger,
And the cat's tail!"
Kerry
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