One Thing About Kate Smith

     “One thing you can say about Kate Smith over the years,” Dad would begin in a voice that suggested this was one of his old jokes.

     You know Kate Smith, don't you? She was a beloved singer from the last century. She was a plump woman best known for her rendition of God Bless America.

     And so Dad would begin, “One thing you can say about Kate Smith over the years,” and then a pause, “She never lost her figure!”

     Any time Kate Smith came on the television or the radio, any time God Bless America could be heard, either in its entirety or just a snippet, either by Kate Smith or someone else, invariably Dad would say,

     “One thing you can say about Kate Smith over the years.....”

     Yeah, after a while, he did not even have to say the punchline – we all knew it, we all smiled. And we all did it ourselves.

     But, nowadays, most people don't know who Kate Smith is – after all, we are talking about the last century in this story.

     A couple of years ago the lab bought a block of tickets to the Gwinnett Braves baseball game. Not to be mistaken, by any stretch of the imagination, for the Atlanta Braves, the Gwinnett Braves play in a beautiful field a few miles from home in Cool Ray Stadium. The lab gets a block of tickets every year to one game, and even though there isn't much of what you would call baseball going on – it is a fun social event to see everyone outside of the lab – visit with a few spouses and children, and even a few invited clients. We usually chat through the whole game and/or stuff our faces with the infinite choices at the concession stands. (I don't stuff my face with either food or drink because when I was a little kid and we went to the movies or the mall or the occasional athletic event, as soon as we got out of the car, Mom would say, “Don't be asking for anything!” and that, Lord how that has stuck with me all these years – no desire to eat or drink or spend the dollars on such overpriced stuff!)

     Anyway, it was at the annual Gwinnett Braves game of a couple of years ago that we were all visiting in the stands. I tend to stay in one place while others are better at moving to different seats to talk to different folks. Mike is good at the latter. Eventually almost everyone has had a chat with at least half of the company attendees.

      And so it was that I was talking to the branch manager. I can't remember now what it was about – it could have been work-related, but just as good a chance that it was not. I do recall that I was getting animated, whatever the topic was.

     But suddenly, the noise in the crowd became deafening – I had to stop talking because I could not hear! Then I looked around to see why things had gotten so loud. The crowd had gotten to its feet! I looked at the scoreboard, and a US flag was on the screen waving in the wind. A song was playing on the soundsystem. Oh my gosh!

     It was God Bless America!

     And the fans were singing along!

     The branch manager leaned down so I could hear what he was saying, “It's the seventh inning stretch – everyone sings God Bless America – a tradition that began after 9/11.” I guess I had not stayed past the sixth inning on any of our previous visits?

     I turned to the branch manager and shouted up to him, “One thing you can say about Kate Smith over the years....”

     He looked at me with a polite smile – a smile that said, “I don't think I heard you right,” or maybe it was saying, “what the heck are you talking about?” or it might even have been saying, “if I give you this polite smile maybe you will think I understand you?” and finally, it might have been saying, “well, here's the proof we've been looking for – she is nuts!”

     He packs a lot of meanings into one of his polite smiles!

     At first I was stunned. I mean, he is almost my age – he knows who Kate Smith is. But then again, it wasn't even Kate Smith on the recording being played at the game! Just because everyone at the baseball game was singing God Bless America, it does not mean that anyone should be expected to connect a Kate Smith reference to the song!

     I looked up at the stars just coming to light in the sky that night and said, “Thanks Dad! Just look at what you've done to me!”

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