I really like the new schedule of the Write Team.
I think I wrote my first column in 2003, although Lonny Cain could tell you the exact year and date.
That column was a tribute to Roger Nelson, then owner and operator of Skydive Chicago. Roger was a guy who loved to help people but was never verbose or public about it. He donated money to Ottawa area causes, that included helping a church finish off a building project. It should come as no surprise to anyone Roger died sacrificing his own life to save another’s in a skydiving mishap. Roger was my friend and all these years later, I still miss him.
Another favorite column I wrote only three years ago was about my newfound passion of working with my dedicated family at Mueller Funeral Homes. When I sat down with Art Mueller three and a half years ago to talk about this tugging at my heart, I was welcomed with open arms into a journey that has allowed me to explore what can only be described as a calling. A calling to help people go through some of the worst days of their lives. I have lost track of the number of visitations and funerals I have been allowed to serve at but to say it has changed my life would be an understatement. I love my Mueller family. Thanks guys.
A column that sticks out as well was one I wrote looking at Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii. I had recently watched the movie “Pearl Harbor” and while looking out over Waikiki Beach, was able to visualize the Japanese war planes as they flew in low, using Diamond Head as a landmark, before swinging slightly northeast, for their ultimate target of Pearl Harbor. I had just taken the kids to Pearl the day before and was once again reminded of the somber atmosphere the memorial still holds all these years later.
I still get comments about a column I wrote about an old IBM laptop I used to travel with and how it unceremoniously gave up the ghost on a trip to Washington, D.C., right in the middle of a column. I was able to nurse it along, just long enough to finish the column and email it back to Lonny. RIP, old (computer) friend. By the way, I still have it in my attic somewhere.
This time around, the Write Team schedule will extend ‘til the end of the year, which means I get to write about all kinds of things as we move through the second half of the year.
While I’m not really looking forward to it, I’m sure I will write a column about the results of the elections this fall. To say the least, this election will be a doozy.
I’m also looking forward to writing about the holidays still to come this year. While we just celebrated the Fourth of July, there are plenty of celebration still to come. Hopefully, we won’t get another weather anomaly that requires us to shovel snow on Halloween but then makes it possible to wear shorts on Christmas. And speaking of Christmas, I have a couple of columns in mind to share some fantastic cookie recipes.
So buckle, we have a lot of 2022 still to come and a lot of columns still to write. And lest we forget, perhaps one of the most important events of the year happens in just three and a half weeks: The Bears report to training camp.
- Jonathan Freeburg is an Ottawa transplant for the past two decades-plus and a regular contributor to 1430 WCMY Radio. He can be reached at newsroom@shawmedia.com.