My college roommate turned me on to the best album I’ve ever heard.

If someone would have first told me that Mac McAnally’s 1977 self-titled album was classified as “country“, this rock and jazz lover would have never given it a chance.  Luckily, nobody did.  So I just considered Mac’s music 'insightful story songs from the South' that were written and performed by a young guy my own age.  And wow....did I ever fall in love with the music!

One of the compositions was Mac’s remembrance of an old classmate titled “Real People”...

"He was a quiet kid. 

I can’t recall a thing he did.

Till one day, the teacher said…

“Oh, by the way…

Be extra nice to John today.

Cause pretty soon he has to go away.”

On the same day my only child was born in 1991, I read a story on a few of my newscasts about how Conor Clapton -- the four-year-old son of rock legend Eric Clapton - fell to his death from a 53rd-story window in New York City the day before.

At the time, I didn’t make a connection between the timing of Conor’s tragic exit from this world - and Kenny’s jubilant entrance into it.

No, that didn’t happened until about 1995,  It occured while I was drinking beer with my buds during our monthly ’Boys Night Out’ at our favorite tavern.  Suddenly,“Tears In Heaven” came on the jukebox - and the connection hit immediately.

A horrifying image of my own four-year-old son falling to his death from a skyscraper abruptly came to my mind.  And it became impossible to either stop or hide the streaming tears and uncontrollable sobbing from my pals.

“Mokie….what’s wrong?”

I could only get three words out. “That song…Kenny.”

I was lucky that all my buds were loving fathers, too. Nothing else had to be said.  One of them just tossed the waitress a $20 bill, and they got me the hell out of there.

Later that night, we counted our blessings while listening to McAnally’s “Real People” on the car stereo…

Well, the rumors spread.

“You children humor him”, they said.  

We called him ‘Tumor Head’.  

We didn’t know.

And he never even let it show...

that he didn’t have too long to go…

BUT REAL PEOPLE WOULD UNDERSTAND.  

REAL PEOPLE WOULD LEND A HELPING HAND.  

BUT REAL PEOPLE ARE HARD TO FIND.

When I first heard about J.D.Taylor in August, my initial response was less than empathetic. Our stations had already participated in a number of fundraising efforts for uninsured families who had a seriously ill mom, dad, son or daughter.

At the time, I felt overwhelmed by my 12 to 14 hours workdays, and I wasn’t in the mood to start all that work again for some junior high kid with brain cancer.  So -- almost subconsciously -- I decided that we were going to sit this one out.

But in September, I got excited when I heard that “Tiny” was coming in the studios again.

29-year-old Jeremy “Tiny” Norton holds three world titles in professional Mixed Martial Arts fighting. If you want to see this intimidating hulk of a human being attempt to add another victory to his 17-4 record, his October 11th fight can be seen live worldwide on Showtime.

In our town, Tiny is a bona-fide local hero. My listeners light up our switchboard every time we book him as a guest on “Mokie Joe In The Morning.” But when we talk ‘off mic‘, I prefer to call him Jeremy. It’s my way of showing respect to a very tough guy that hasn’t let success change him.

Don't ever call Tiny a 'teddy bear'. He hates that!

You see, here’s the deal:  While his ‘Tiny’ persona is a major bad ass, the real Jeremy Norton is a surprisingly humble and loving father of three with an absolute heart of gold. I mean…I really like this guy!

I assumed that I would be interviewing “Tiny” about his next fight. Instead, I found myself talking mostly to Jeremy, who only seemed to have one thing on his mind:  J.D. Taylor.

While the mics were on, he kept a bit of the ‘Tiny’ persona on as he talked about his meetings with J.D. - how courageous both he and his family were in the face of such adversity - how amazed he was by their faith and positive attitude - and how he felt compelled to make sure a considerable portion of the proceeds from his next fight would go to the Taylor family.

When the mics went off, I found myself face-to-face with 100% Jeremy.

There was an astonishing degree of both passion and sadness in his voice as Jeremy talked privately to me with tears welling up in his eyes...

“He tells me I’m HIS hero. Forget that, Mokie!  J.D. Taylor and his family are my heroes. MY HEROES! What I go through in professional fighting is nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - compared with how this incredible kid and his wonderful family are handling all this…senseless and painful crap that nobody - I mean, NOBODY - should have to go through!”

To say that I felt ‘self-loathing’ is putting it way too mildly. My God, the sense of shame I experienced at that moment for not promoting the fundraising efforts for the Taylor family became almost unbearable.

For me, shame always prompts self-critical questions for myself.  

• What right did I have to pass myself off as a compassionate and caring defender of the common man in my writing or my on-air work?  
• How could I let myself get so caught up in my own miniscule problems that I lost my sense of humanity? 
• Have I lost my ability to empathize with someone else's pain - as I did when I cried over "Tears In Heaven"?  
• Am I no longer ‘one of the good guys’? 

Those thoughts were still rushing through my mind as Jeremy revealed that the cancer had now spread from J.D’s brain to his spine.

That night, I couldn't get Mac's lyrics out of my head...

"He didn’t die too fast.   

His ‘13 months’ had long since passed.

And sometimes we’d stop and ask..

'How many days?'

But we mostly stayed away from his place.  

Cause it was hard to look him in the face.

BUT REAL PEOPLE WOULD UNDERSTAND.   

REAL PEOPLE WOULD LEND A HELPING HAND.  

BUT REAL PEOPLE ARE HARD TO FIND"

After that, every available update about J.D -- every fundraising effort - became a top priority for our stations. It wasn’t just me. My boss, Dave, also felt great compassion for the Taylor family and strongly suggested that the entire staff should “get behind J.D” just as I began doing it on my own.

J.D. was suddenly on our newscasts - our website - some paid spots - many public service announcements - our community calendar... 

Everywhere!

While I don’t regret expressing my past criticisms of the closed-minded Christian conservatives in my region, I suddenly gained a newfound respect for many in the town I serve as they expanded their efforts to help the Taylor family. 

Besides Tiny’s fight, there was a halftime event at the big cross-town football game that raised money for J.D. Churches held yard sales and several other events to assist the Taylor family. A plush private golf course scheduled a huge day-long fundraising tournament for J.D for Saturday, October 3rd.  The mayor even officially declared October 3rd as “J.D. Taylor Day” in our community.

But as it turns out, God had other plans for this remarkable young man…

TAYLOR LOSES BATTLE

By Barry Lewis

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2009 -- After a gallant fight, 13-year old J.D. Taylor lost his battle with cancer and died Friday afternoon. According to a family member, the youngster died at 3:02 p.m. after nearly a four-year battle with cancer.

"He was a great little fellow," Gerald Hole said. "He was a fighter."

Despite the pain, Taylor was able to bring an entire community together as his fight spirit and attitude was an inspiration for all.

"He was a special kid," a former teacher of his said Friday night. "He never wanted any sympathy. He was such an inspiration to everyone who came in contact with him."

Counselors will be made available at Taylor’s school for those who might need to talk with them.

As I read that last line, Mac’s lyrics came back once more...

"We wore our shirts and ties...

And tried our best to look surprised.  

But then, we realized…

We didn’t care.

But we cried because his folks was there

And when they opened up the box, we stared…

And tonight, Judy’s crying cause her weekend’s free

And tonight, Kathy’s crying cause her clothes are old

And the next day, Sherry’s crying through soap operas on TV.   

That’s how it goes."

I truly wish at this moment that I could say with confidence that I’ll never forget the lessons that a kindly professional fighter named Jeremy Norton unintentionally taught me.

But I’m only human.   As much as I may wish otherwise, I know this experience will eventually fade from my memory with time, and I’ll probably forget my compassion for others -- my humanity - once again as I go about the business of living out the rest of my life.

Liberal? Conservative? Christian? Athiest?  Jeez, does it matter?

We all get too caught up in our own selfish little lives to think too much about how the other guy is doing. To always remember the greatest lesson of life...second only to the Golden Rule: “There, but for the grace of God, goes I.“

The shame belongs to us all.

But maybe - just maybe - on October 2nd, 2019, there will be a 23-year-old who might feel the sudden urge to listen to a really good Mac McAnally album from way back in 1977.

And as he or she listens to the final lines of “Real People”, a moment might be spent to remember an extraordinary former classmate who was taken from us long before his time.

James David “J.D.” Taylor

Oct. 9, 1995-Oct. 2, 2009

"And tonight, I am not drinking cause I wanna be.

And right now, who even cares or even knows...

That’s ten years ago today, we lost a friend of ours…

Gee, that’s how it goes."

But REAL PEOPLE would understand.