She was right.
I don't think it was a case of being unhappy, per se, but rather, feeling incomplete on some level. Unfinished. Unattached. Not sure what I was supposed to be or do. To a degree, we all take after one or both of our parents, or even other family members. This goes for both physicality and quite often strengths and weaknesses. It's certainly not a hard and fast rule but it's evident in many families.
When I was growing up and became intrigued with the art of radio, I know my parents scratched their heads wondering where all the energy and passion came from for radio and performing. Neither had any real interest in such endeavors and at times it caused strife and even hurt feelings. My dad was a successful businessman and didn't quite see the point at first. I know he was concerned radio didn't seem like the most reliable way to make a living. Well, he was right on that point. He and mom both came around eventually but it was never completely embraced by him. That's why when I found my biological family and discovered I was a chip off the old block, so to speak, many things began to fall into place and for once in my life, make sense. I made sense--at least to me.
Recently my Uncle Jerry, my late birthmother's brother, was in town with his wife Kathy visiting her family in Arcanum. One afternoon Jerry and I drove around Dayton and I showed him all the radio stations I worked at. There were several--I told him I didn't always play well with others when I was younger. Of the four we looked, I'd been fired from three of them. One of them, twice.
Fortunately, my Uncle Jerry understands the trials and tribulations of working in radio. He did it for a few years when he was a younger man. He gets it--completely. He can talk about it, relate to it, and offer great advice on how to technically put things together. This is something I never had growing up: someone who understood my passion and could appreciate my desire to succeed. Again, my parents were generally supportive of my career track and I'm thankful for that. However, it was a foreign language to them. I couldn't talk about segues, jingles, audio-processing, multi-tracking, mic processing, console boards, or anything, without their eyes glazing over. Much like my wife, now.
About a year ago, my Aunt and Uncle came to visit me and stopped by the community radio stations I was working at in Troy, Ohio. They hung out in the studio while I did my show. My uncle hadn't been in a radio studio in a long time and was thrilled to see how far technology has advanced. Then he suggested maybe I could operate my own radio station for the communities in Greene County. I had thought about it before but the obstacles seemed immense, not to mention expensive. Then out of the blue, he offered me a computer server he had in storage, which would be ideal to store all the music and software needed to operate an online radio station.
Running my own radio station is all I ever wanted to do. I never got to that point in my previous professional broadcast career. Of course, before now, building your own "over the air" station was nearly impossible unless you had a lot of money to invest in equipment and space. And though I'd been out of the radio biz for quite sometime, the desire to run my own station never left. I guess it just went dormant until technology caught up.
Eventually he sent me the computer and started putting it all together. Now, here we are almost six months into the process, and MyGreeneRadio.com is growing every day. We're gaining more listeners (than just my family and friends), we have sponsors, and we're adding new podcasts and programs almost weekly. None of this would've happened without the encouragement and support of many people. But it was my Uncle Jerry who finally threw the right kind of fuel on the fire to push me to do it. And I couldn't be happier. So, I guess in the end, without even knowing why or how, my mom was right.
Last year when I began my journey I began this blog to share my adoption story with family and others interested. I've decided to turn the blog into a podcast series about my story and adoption information in general. Keep listening for details on the Two Kinds of Love Podcast on MyGreeneRadio.com
