06/27/2009 Mr. "Breaking News"

One of my husband's and my shared themes is that we both had grandmothers with avid interests in current events and breaking news. I remember huddling around the radio with my grandma, grandpa, and sister, listening to live coverage from Norway of Tonya Harding's 1994 Olympic skate. There was no way my grandmother was waiting until NBC's coverage at 7pm. "Wait, she's stopped skating and is in tears. She's trying to tell the judge there's something wrong with her skate lace, " reported the announcer. It was thrilling, and when we watched the American tv broadcast that evening we all felt special for knowing the outcome in advance of everyone else. My grandmother recorded every single day of the OJ Simpson trial. As we went through her house after she passed away, we encountered boxes and boxes of these videotapes. Not only that, but we came across every cheesy pop news novel that was ever written. If it was about JonBenet Ramsey, the Menendez Brothers, or Princess Diana, my grandmother could have been a key consultant. As my grandmother's daughter, my mother also shares this passion. During the goofy court hearings following Anna Nicole Smith's death, my mom and I almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. "There is no circus here my friends" may be one of the greatest quotes in the history of American entertainment. A few years ago a man near my parents' home in Michigan went nuts and killed his wife. If that wasn't enough, his arrest took place after he fled to northern Michigan and was chased through the snowy woods barefoot by a helicopter, cameras rolling. My mother tivo'd every news story documenting his trial, and sat us down in front of the tv each time we traveled home so we could get caught up. My husband reports having had similar experiences in his childhood. His upbringing allowed him to develop "breaking news" superpowers. He has this unnatural ability to know every major headline the second before the rest of us learn of it. My mother has it as a personal goal to surprise my husband with a breaking news story prior to him discovering it for himself. So far she hasn't won. After news of Michael Jackson's death on Thursday she scrambled to send him a text message, only to receive my husband's response a few seconds later-"I know." Between the two of them, at least I know that I'll never be left in the dark!