By Alabama Public Radio
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wual/local-wual-834027.mp3
Tuscaloosa AL – INTRO ... One of the easiest things in the world to do is procrastinate. But as Alabama Public Radio's Brett Tannehill tells us in this commentary, it can also create situations that are the hardest to deal with ...
Do it today ... it's a simple lesson with which I still struggle. Most of the time I've learned to be pretty good about it ... but sometimes when I'm not it leads to regrettable results. The recent death of Northport historian ... and my friend ... Marvin Harper has been a harsh reminder of that. To me, Mr. Harper was a living symbol of that saying. Even in his final of 89 years, despite failing eyesight and other problems, he was always trying to "Do it today" ... whether it was his efforts at historic preservation and education, or his final, still unfinished, project of creating a Heritage Learning Center in downtown Northport. But my personal symbolism is quite different, and begins with the death of my last two grandparents ... my Grandmother and my Mimi. Both were interesting, creative people I knew my children would probably, and unfortunately, never meet. I had often thought about recording their stories so there would be some sort of connection to that past. I never knew either of my Grandfathers and would have loved to hear their voices. It seemed like a great idea ... but unfortunately, of all the days I had to do it, I never did. It is one of my greatest regrets, and where my true lesson with the idea of "Do it today" began. With that in mind, one day I approached Marvin Harper about a plan to record and preserve stories about local history from Tuscaloosa County's elder residents. He loved the idea and so we began. Off and on for more than two years, Mr. Harper would invite a person of interest to his home at historic Shirley Place ... I would show up with my recording gear and capture their conversations. They talked about all sorts of things ... how milk was made in the early days, the horror of a deadly tornado strike, the struggle to desegregate public schools ... and each session we finished, I left with the feeling that "Yes, this is one of those times that I "Did it today". Eventually the sessions spawned the idea of establishing an oral history booth at the Heritage Learning Center where folks could record stories from their families. It would give others the chance to succeed where I had failed. So flash-forward to a few weeks ago. Mr. Harper had fallen and was in the hospital. For a couple of weeks, I didn't even know about it. My calls to his home were met with a phone that would ring ... and ring ... and ring ... no answering machine, no nothing. I'd wait a couple of days and call back ... same result ... until, finally one day a strange voice answered and told me he was in the hospital. Someone at the hospital told me he was having complications, but recovering and I could come visit. The voice went off in my head "Do it today!" But at the time, my wife was sick and I was working two jobs and toting around our 3-year-old ... and well, I didn't go. But that voice wouldn't leave me "Do it today! Do it today!" it called ... but everyone, including me, expected him to be fine so there was still time. No worries ... and plus he probably had lots of visitors and I thought I was really 'busy'. Last Thursday, it was even on my Do It Today list ... but once again, I thought "Too much is happening. I'll do it tomorrow." Well, tomorrow was too late. As I was driving to town the next morning, I got the news that Mr. Harper had died just a couple of hours earlier. The feeling of regret crashed down on me again like a wave ... the kind that holds you breathless underwater and scrubs you along the ocean bottom while taunting you with the out of reach sunlight sparkling down from above. I had missed my chance ... and now it was gone forever ... and I knew why. My earthly friendship with Mr. Harper began as a healing of a past regret, but ended in a confirmation of it ... Do it today ... Do it today ...