While watching ABC News tonight it occurred to me that although the economy has been terrible in 2009 and many have lost their jobs, their homes and their money, we were blessed with an awe-inspiring phenomenon.
While weathering the economic downturn, we stayed home more often, spent more time with family, read more books, and watched more television. Those of us in our forties and fifties reconnected with those who had given us the news, entertained us and inspired us throughout our lives. Here in Putnam County, West Virginia we mourned the loss of a news legend with the passing of Shelby Young, a veteran newspaperman, book publisher, reporter, and historian of the railroads. Throughout the news and entertainment industry, we lost major stars this past year, including Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. It has shocked us and made us realize once again, we are only mere mortals and not Jedi Knights. We will not be using the force this time. We cannot stop things from changing and return them to our former Star Wars generation. Time moves forward and we go forward with it, and in the dust we leave behind, we cannot forget the people who changed our hearts forever.
One we will always remember is Charlie Gibson. He is leaving ABC News this month, retiring after nearly 35 years. When Charlie left Good morning America in 2006, we thought the show would never be the same. Diane Sawyer and the new co-host Robin Roberts quickly brought us back around. Charlie welcomed us home in the evenings with World News and after awhile we settled in comfortably, felt we had not lost anyone, and had gained some great new faces. Now Diane has left Good Morning America and we will no longer be waking up to her smile. She will however be moving to World News and taking up the seat left vacant by Mr. Gibson. Mr. Gibson will be out enjoying his retirement and we will no longer be enjoying his company. We will gladly tune in to watch Diane after the day is done, just to see how she is doing. We will follow Good Morning America; with rebellion for a while, wishing it was once again like the good ole days. We will swear our loyalty to Charlie and Diane, but guiltily admire the new personalities on the show. Personally, I will miss Charlie terribly, miss his smile and miss being able to tell him goodnight when the show was over. I wish him all the best and a happy, long retirement, which he richly deserves.
This past year has been full of shows we followed, shows we rallied behind and discussed throughout the day. We have seen a chicken catcher, Kevin Skinner; from Kentucky win a million dollars. Kevin Skinner is now in Vegas doing a show after he won “America’s Got Talent” this past year. Many stories stood out to us in 2009, stories of soldiers helping soldiers and those who are giving of themselves and their fortunes to do good works in the world. One story that really caught our attention was the awe-inspiring phenomenon of Susan Boyle, a Scottish singer who came to public attention when she appeared on the reality show “Britain's Got Talent” on April 11, 2009. Singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables, Susan took a disbelieving audience and a mocking table of judges to a new level of believers. She showed us all that sometimes what you see on the outside is not what is on the inside. Susan showed the world looks can be deceiving and anyone can see dreams come true. She proved that making fun of others does not make the mocker a bigger, better person. She humbled us all with her simple ways and astonishing voice.
Tonight as we watched Charlie Gibson on ABC World News announcing the most watched video on YouTube in 2009, we were not surprised when he announced that Susan Boyle’s video had been seen more than 120 million times this year, more than videos 2, 3 and 4 combined. In three weeks, her "I Dreamed a Dream” album has sold a stunning 1.8 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, surpassing 2009 releases from mega-stars.
What is it that makes us keep clicking on that video? Are we really so in love with her music or her voice? Maybe we are simply humbled and embarrassed. Embarrassed we could not see past the outside until she started singing and put us all in our place. Humbled by her presence, not everyone has to look like a movie star to be somebody special. We feel like we owe her. We owe her more than just buying her music or clicking on her video, we owe her a debt of gratitude. We owe her more than fame, we owe her so much more than we can say for bringing us down to earth, giving us cold chills and letting us believe again that anything is possible. Susan Boyle gave us all something we needed so badly, more hope, and more spirit, and I want more of what Susan Boyle gave us for Christmas this year.
