Thank you

I was honoured last night for 40 years in radio and when it was my turn to speak I found myself overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment. If I could go back in time and have a ‘do-over’ on my thank you speech, it may have sounded like this:

First off, let me just say thank you to every one of you for taking time out of your busy lives to be here tonight. A number of you this evening have told me that I was an influence in your life, which is both surprising and gratifying. It may also be a surprise for you to know you were also an influence in my life. There is an interesting lesson I’ve learned in life, and I hope I’ve passed this on to my kids: everyone you meet has something to share with you. When you meet someone, try to make the most of the engagement.

I was fortunate enough to work in an environment that encouraged this. Under the mentorship of Jerry Forbes, 630 CHED was truly a family of people who genuinely cared about and engaged with each other. People were encouraged to explore new opportunities and were embraced for their strengths. Jerry cultivated an atmosphere in which people wanted to perform because they didn’t want to let down their leader or their coworkers.

Marty, thank you for your kind words tonight. You embody all the best qualities of your dad and have felt like a brother to me for four decades… whether your damn brothers vote to accept me or not ;) You have a passion for excellence and continue to amaze me with your drive and insight. It’s an honour to be worthy of your friendship.

Tamara, thank you for your continued friendship and thoughtfulness. The book you and Jen put together is brilliant. I’ve never been good at archiving memories but you’ve managed to capture my career perfectly. I can’t imagine how much work must have gone into that project but I appreciate it more than I can express.

Gord, thanks for your friendship. When I was a new Program Director moving upstairs to guide the juggernaut known as 630 CHED, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. You were always willing to spend time with me, share your insight and offer support when I needed it most. I always value the times we get to chat because I know it will be interesting and often lead to an exchange of stories and laughs.

Doug, thanks for your comments tonight and for being another valued mentor. It was an honour to serve on your senior management team. Under your leadership the team always felt comfortable sharing their opinions, knowing that our ideas would be well received and carefully considered. There was often passionate and heated debate and always with the best outcome for the collective staff as our objective.

To my wonderful family… where do I start? My time at work often meant that you were making a sacrifice so I could be there. I am so proud of all of you. Ben, you are pursuing your dreams with passion and showing everyone what you can do. You’ve always walked to your own beat and I love watching the journey. Alexa, you’ve always been an insightful, mature soul and now you’ve become an amazing mother. Both of you kids are the kind of people I would want as friends if we weren’t related. Jill, you are the best thing to come out of my years at CHED. We were great friends at the station for years before we fell in love. I still remember the day I was pulled into the Program Director’s office and given a raise unexpectedly. When I left his office I walked directly to your desk to tell you about it until I remembered that you had left the station a week earlier. I turned around, disappointed and realized that events in my life didn’t mean as much when I couldn’t share them with you. Thanks for being my wife. I’m proud of you and I love you.

To everyone I’ve worked with – thanks for allowing me to contribute and to be a small part of the magic. It really was magic… teamwork, passion, commitment and decades of memories. I treasure every day spent with you.  Carry on.

And as for me… stay tuned. The best is yet to come!