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As a widower who’s still a bit fragile after suddenly losing Cindy, I’ve been at a loss for words when I heard a radio colleague died this week.

Bob Chambers died Tuesday – an otherwise joyous day, the 13th anniversary of Rock 104. April 1st also marked my 12th year of association with Rock 104. If she were still with us, Cindy would’ve turned 36 Tuesday.

But back to Bob. He worked the overnight shift at Rock 104 for a decade. He’d later go further beyond the call of duty when he’d go upstairs to KZ94.3 to man the controls for The Rick & Bubba Show — or to 96.5 The Hub to man the controls during The Gospel Greats syndicated program.

As if that weren’t enough, he also worked at Pizza Hut. I wish I had the boxes of pizza stuffed in the station fridge to prove it. Suffice it to say, he spent his spare time sleeping.

Bob had a great, sometimes wicked, sense of humor through it all. In what proved to be the last laugh we shared, I finished watching an online clip of The Price is Right — to which Bob said something to the effect of, “Have your girlfriend spayed or neutered.”

Bob left us too soon at the age of 51. Thanks for the laughs and the memories Bob. Oh, and you know the little Mrs. you often asked me about? Tell her I said hello.

Goodness knows there’s a lot I could say, even joke about, regarding the call-girl scandal that resulted in today’s resignation of New York’s Governor Eliot Spitzer. Instead, I’ll keep my remarks brief and to the point.

Frankly, Governor Spitzer should’ve resigned moments after the news broke. Instead, he waits ‘til today.

My sincere hope is that he spent a good part of this week in contact with Lieutenant Governor David Paterson over matters of succession — for Paterson will become New York’s next governor Monday when Spitzer’s resignation is effective. I’ll give Spitzer the benefit of the doubt and assume he did.

At least now Governor Spitzer can stop some (but certainly not all) bleeding, settle some critics down, begin to face any consequences and, overall, enter his post-gubernatorial life.

Governor Spitzer is certainly not the first leader – either in politics, business or otherwise – to resign in such disgrace. Sadly, he won’t be the last.

Here’s a gentle suggestion to the rest of you in a leadership role. If you find yourself in a sex scandal similar to that of the departing New York governor, please do humanity a few favors. In no particular order, admit wrong, cooperate fully when necessary and resign. And, so that you may spare your associates extra headaches, do it all as fast as you can.

Dearest Cindy,

It’s hard to believe today marks the second Valentine’s Day since you left this earth. How I wish you were still here. How I wish we could be building a family we often talked about during our brief marriage.

There’ve been many sleepless nights since that second week of 2007. I’ve sometimes found myself hugging a pillow in what served as our marriage bed.

Part of me still wishes this were all a dream or some practical joke and I’d have one huge sense of relief. But I’m well aware it’s all real.

Throughout the last few months, I’ve often debated with myself whether I should remarry. Judy and Ron, your mother and stepfather, have thanked me for taking great care of you during the time we were together – and they’ve given me their blessing should I remarry.

As you know, each of them has been widowed at some point in their lives – and they obviously moved on. I’m especially grateful to Ron for sharing with me his story of love and loss. He lost a wife when she was 34 years old – same age as you.

In addition to experiencing two consecutive Valentine’s Days, I’ve been through birthdays, yours and mine; our second wedding anniversary; the fifth anniversary of our first lunch date; a Thanksgiving and a Christmas without you.

In that time, Cindy, I know you’ve spent it reconnecting with your father, Marvin Houdeshell – as well as Dr. Larry Kennedy, who had great vision for William Carey University. His vision brought you to the neighborhoods I call home – which eventually would bring you into my world.

While you’ve reconnected with Marvin, Dr. Kennedy and other loved ones who left this earth, I’ve networked with many widows and fellow widowers – one of whom has since remarried, another is about a month away from hearing the wedding bells toll again. One of those widowers shared with me these words from the Mitch Albom book The Five People You Meet In Heaven.

“Lost love is still love. It just takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around the dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your pardoner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it. Life has to end, love doesn’t.”

Wise words, indeed. But, Cindy, I know you’ll agree these words are even wiser. These are the words you shared with me when times were tough for us — the words of Jeremiah 29:11.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

The Lord certainly meant no harm in that second week of 2007. I still agree with your belief He brought us together – because He was tired of seeing us as loners. As a friend further analyzed, He knew your time on this planet would be relatively short – and He wanted us to love each other and enjoy our marriage to the fullest. This way when He called you home, you’d be home happy.

Cindy, to be honest, I’m out of words – save for a group of half a dozen words. These half dozen words we often shared throughout our 19-month marriage and the many weeks and months leading up to our joyous wedding.

I love you, always and forever,

Doug

If you’ve followed my blogs, you’ll realize this week is one I’ve dreaded. Tuesday will mark a full year since Cindy suffered her first seizure. Thursday will mark a full year since she died from this sudden, unexpected illness.

Continue reading “One Year Later”

Somewhere in Heaven, Cynthia Deann Morris has a big smile on her face.

Ohio’s motto tells us, “With God, all things are possible.” Therefore, I don’t think I’m going out on too much of a limb when I say I truly believe Cindy has met Woody Hayes sometime this year. And, even though he coached “the other guys”, I’m just as certain Cindy has met Bo Schembechler sometime in ’07.

Speaking of Woody and Bo, a tip of the cap is owed to those who suggested that special coin toss with Woody’s face on one side of the coin and Bo on the other.

First, I know, it’s been a while since I’ve made any posts on the record. Much of the business I’ve had to take care of this year following Cindy’s death is nearly finished. Now, it’s on to the first Thanksgiving and Christmas since she died. These are events that are hard to imagine. To those who’ve sent up prayers, or at least good thoughts, thanks and please keep it going as we get closer to the holiday season.

On to a much happier note. A huge thumbs up to Dwight Woods and KEF Media for coordinating a satellite interview with Cat Cora, a Mississippi native and Southern Miss graduate. Cat, as always, shared great cooking tips. We taped the interview this morning at WDAM and we plan to air it over the Thanksgiving holidays.

It’s obvious to me Dwight and his colleagues at KEF did their homework. I just wish I could say this of the rest of the satellite interview universe (Direct Media Services; Satellite Tours, Inc.; Taylor Global; this means you). Whereas most of the rest of this universe just blindly throws darts in the air and hopes they’ll land somewhere on the target, it’s refreshing to hear from folks who go that extra mile and actually want to zero in on a bullseye.

By the way, if Dwight or anyone at KEF is reading this, in the event you land another interview with Cat, Brett Favre or any other favorite son or daughter of South Mississippi, you know where to find us.

The laughs remain few and far between. Thankfully, an e-mail at work led to a chuckle or two.

You guessed it, it came from that wonderful world of satellite interviews. This time, I’ll spare this pinhead some embarrassment by not naming who sent me this, what company he works for or the product in question. Keep that last variable in mind.

Indeed, the interview was all about this new, innovative product. The second paragraph of the (lame attempt at a) pitch reads like this…

“We would be happy to forward photos (of the product), arrange an interview or help further. If there is someone better to send this to can you please forward this to him/her or provide me with the contact information? Thanks and look forward to hearing from you soon.”

…I responded by noting there really is someone better that can help advance awareness of this product. That person is our sales manager at the TV station. The sales department he leads can help spread awareness of any product. I further noted the product can be showcased in several commercials throughout the day – instead of just once in an interview.

Let this be a lesson, world of satellite interviews. We TV producers do not want any interview in a newscast suddenly becoming an infomercial.

Five years ago today, I met Cindy for the first time at lunch at a local restaurant. A co-worker was at the bar on July 31, 2002 – viewing the extremely humble beginnings of a loving relationship from afar. I’d spot this co-worker on our way out of the restaurant.

Today, to commemorate another otherwise happy milestone, this co-worker and I met for lunch at the same restaurant.

It was basically a time to look back – and look ahead. I’m wrapping up a lot of important matters – which I will not disclose here publicly. Suffice to say a huge burden is days away from being lifted from my shoulders.

Football season will be here in about a month – but Cindy will not be in the stands with me as she was for a stretch of four seasons. Plus, a busier-than-normal busy autumn is ahead for the radio stations I work for part-time – and I’ll be involved in some of them.

One thing I’m certain is not in the immediate future – naming one of the new dormitory buildings in Cindy’s honor. You’ll recall in an earlier post here at Doug Morris dot org, I gently challenged the powers that be to name a building for Cindy.

Looking back, naming a building for Cindy now would probably be too much too soon. Almost seven months have passed since Cindy died and the shock certainly hasn’t worn off among those of us who were honored and privileged to be associated with her by blood or marriage. I’m sure the same can be said at Carey.

Some food for thought. Just today, Lamar County officials named a bridge in honor of Tom Parker, who served as the county’s road manager for a dozen years and died two years ago today. Perhaps in those two years, time has healed some wounds and heads of Tom’s co-workers and relatives have thought clearer. End result: a true and proper chance to say “thank you” to Tom.

But back to Carey. As I told my co-worker at lunch today, I firmly believe enrollment is going to increase as time goes on. That will likely mean more dorm space has to be built. Hopefully, that will mean a true and proper chance to say “thank you” to Cindy – by naming a dorm in her memory.

Some people representing parts of Cindy’s past are joining her in Heaven this week.

As noted earlier, Cindy called Charleston, South Carolina, home for a couple of years. She was an area coordinator at the College of Charleston. With her history studies, she truly enjoyed “Historic Charleston”.

I can remember during the ultimate tournament of champions of the quiz show Jeopardy!, they had an all-video category entitled “Historic Charleston”. As the contestants picked answers from that column and accompanying video rolled, Cindy would react, “I’ve been there,” “I knew that,” and “I remember that.”

As you know by now, an unfortunate new chapter has been written in Charleston’s history. A fatal fire. Nine brave souls lost their lives battling a blaze at a furniture store this week.

Also, as you may know, Cindy was a native of Ohio. Given that and the fact I lived there in the ‘80s, we would “come home” a few times before and during our marriage. We would make an attempt to visit a Bob Evans restaurant while we were in the Lima area. Cindy enjoyed dining at Bob Evans in her time living in Ohio.

Word came today of Mr. Evans’ death. He was hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic for treatment of pneumonia.

To Captain William “Billy” Hutchinson, Captain Mike Benke, Captain Louis Mulkey, Engineer Mark Kelsey, Engineer Bradford “Brad” Baity, Assistant Engineer Michael French, Firefighter James “Earl” Drayton, Firefighter Brandon Thompson, Firefighter Melven Champaign and Mr. Bob Evans — tell Cindy I said hello.

For the first time in more than a decade, Cindy is celebrating Father’s Day with Marvin today – in Heaven. Last month, my brother and I went to Cindy’s gravesite in Ohio to observe what would’ve been a second wedding anniversary.

En route, Geof and I had a few fun times along the way – after all, Cindy wouldn’t want us sad and upset for too long. While in transit, we made a stop in Nashville to visit Andrew Osenga, one of Geof’s musician friends.

Geof, you see, let Andrew borrow our grandfather’s old Gibson acoustic guitar. Andrew’s taking great care of it and it can be heard…

…on his latest solo release. A copy of this CD is headed this direction (thanks, Geof) and I can’t wait to hear it.