I Will Miss You Kidd Kraddick

I haven’t been writing much this year. Since my Dad passed away in February, I just haven’t felt much like writing. I have a lot that I want to write about, it’s just not time to share some of those things yet. But I do feel like writing about the loss this week. Since Kidd Kraddick passed away suddenly, thousands of people like me are grieving. It seems silly to grieve for someone I don’t really know face to face. Notice that I didn’t say that I don’t know him personally…..because I feel like I do. (Like so many other fans.) Kidd wakes me up every morning and has coffee with me and is sitting with me at the kitchen table while I feed Tanner breakfast. He is with me when I walk or run, when I’m driving my car in the morning hours. He has been with me most days since 1998. So I do know him personally.
I have actually met him a couple of times. Both occasions, he was very pleasant and happy to speak with me. I have an autographed picture of Kidd, Kellie, Al and Flake Boy on my fridge. It’s been there for over 10 years. (I have met all of them as well, several times.) I have also talked with him on the phone a couple of times, on the air! Once was about the Bachelor and I can’t remember what the other topic was.
I love Kidd Kraddick. He made me laugh. He made me laugh so hard so many times that I either cried or felt like I was about to wet my pants. He made me cry. He touched my heart as he served so many children who were sick or had disabilities. He made me mad. Sometimes.
I started listening to Kidd when my kids were really little. At that time I was a country music listener. I was feeling out of touch with the “pop music” world, and decided that I wanted to be current. As my kids grew, I decided I wanted to know what was going on in the world. I didn’t want to be one of those moms that isn’t in touch with things or music that their kids like. So, one day I turned on Kidd Kraddick. He was interviewing Cher. I LOVE Cher! It was a great interview….funny, informative. After a few days, I was hooked on Kidd Kraddick.
Some of the cast members have come and gone, but Kellie and Big Al have been there from the beginning. I cannot imagine how they are all feeling. I will say that as the show became syndicated, it lost some of it’s charm for me. You could tell when they were doing something the “consultant” wanted to do. They stopped talking somewhat about local things. They started repeating a lot more things. And there didn’t seem to be as many outrageous bits as there used to be. But I still wanted to know what they were up to. And I still wanted to laugh at Kidd.
He will be missed. By me, my friends, hundreds of special kids, thousands of Dallas fans and even nationwide fans. I’m mad at him today. I wish he had taken better care of himself. I’m sad for his daughter. I know how she feels…..losing her dad.
I listened to a CD I found yesterday….full of funny bits from several years ago. I laughed and laughed. I loved so many things….Remember that time girl, Tin Can Turkey Man, the Bumper Dumper, Psycho Shannon’s early days, Gail Lightfoot and her call to a florist shop to send flowers to her “nephew”…”I know it’s wrong, wrong. Dirty and wrong.” I loved Kellie’s Diary, Ronda from Potluck, KISS and wakeup, 2nd Chance Prom and so many more.
I will miss you Kidd Kraddick. And I will always take comfort that you died in the only state that ends in “A”!!!

Why So Sad?

Any parent of a child with autism will tell you that one of the most frustrating things we face is not knowing what our child is thinking or feeling. Tanner is normally a very happy, cheerful boy. The only time he really gets sad is when I won’t let him have something that he really wants…..which is usually the iPad. It is very rare for him to cry. So, imagine my surprise to see him in tears yesterday at lunch at his favorite restaurant. He was listening to his MP3 player which is loaded with his favorite songs. I looked over at him and his face was so sad and he had tears streaming down his face. I gave him a hug and looked to see what song he was listening to. It was a Thomas the Tank Engine song. I asked him to change the song so he wouldn’t be sad. But he kept playing that song….and crying.
It just broke my heart. I have no idea what about that song made him sad. And why he was sort of “stuck” in that moment and didn’t want to listen to another song. He has done that before, but last time it was a Veggie Tales song and it was when he had a CD player, so I just took the CD away. Back then, I didn’t know what it was that evoked such tears and sadness.
After a few moments, he went on to another song. But then he came back to that song and started crying again. Steve took him to the restroom for a little “break” and when he came back he was fine and didn’t cry anymore.
I’ll probably never know what it was that made him so emotional. Maybe the song reminded him of something. Today he is happy, happy, happy. But Mom is still a little sad about the whole thing.