A question from Uncle Tommy

I spent Sunday afternoon at my "Uncle" Tommy's house in Shrewsbury, enjoying a bbq with my mom & stepfather and Tom's family. Uncle Tommy isn't a blood relative; his wife and my mother were the best of friends for 25 years and always treated us like members of their immediate family. Wonderful people. Hope, his wife, passed away last year after a long battle with cancer. Tom, who is now in his late 70's, will never be the same, but he keeps on keeping on, living his life. In an incredibly sweet gesture, he got his first tattoo at the age of 77; "My Hope" in calligraphic script on his upper bicep.
Why do I bring this up? Because Tommy is someone I've always looked up to, respected for the man he is, the way he carries himself through life. So sitting by the pool, eating ribs and drinking cold beer, Tom asked how I was, how the new job was going. I filled him in as best I could-since I'm immersed in this world, it's hard to explain to someone who's never workd in radio-with the pertinent details. Tom interrupted me with one question: do you love what you do? Without hesitation, I answered yes. "That's all that matters," he said.
Uncle Tommy is right. That is all that matters. Regardless of the pressures, the fight for ratings, the endless piles of CD's to listen to, the myriad projects we're working on every day in trying to make WBOS the best it's ever been, the endless hours in the office, the nights and weekends and constant phone calls and emails...I wake up every morning and am excited to go to work. I love the action, the challenge of it all. I was a music guy long before I got a job in radio, and a fan of radio as a medium since I was a little kid, going on the road with my dad and listening to his collector's tapes of old radio shows like Jack Benny, Blondie, The Shadow, Dick Tracy, Burns & Allen. Loved the theatre of the mind radio created. Now I make my living by combining those two loves and and trying to share that enthusiasm with everyone within listening range. The music still matters most to me. I'm as passionate about music now as I was when I was 15 and skipping school to buy the new Cult tape (!) on the day of release, because I just had to have it.
Some days, I can't get past the fact that I get free records in the mail, get to hear the newest of the new before most everyone else. Some days, it's as simple as the knowledge that I can wear jeans to work every day. As a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I didn't want to wear a suit & tie and sell insurance (not that there's anything wrong with selling insurance). At the end of the day-and not in the cliched use of that phrase, but rather quite literally-I give thanks for being fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work my ass off and reach this point, where my lifelong passions now provide my livelihood. Where I come to work every morning and enjoy the people I work with, who are a part of a great team, and where we are all supported by upper management in ways that are pretty rare these days, in this business.
Thanks, Uncle Tommy.