There we all were, standing outside the home of James Loney's parents. Word had gone out that he would come out with his family to pose for a few quick photos at 12:30. All the national and local media was there.
The air was electric with expectation.
A reporter asked a man who came out to brief us if she could give James Loney a hug. Everyone laughed. I thought I would like to hug the man too. The young reporter looked a little embarrassed but she laughed it off.
Even the most seasoned and cynical of us were obviously affected by the idea of finally seeing this man we had all done our best to learn so much about in the past four months.
James Loney has obviously had a profoundly positive effect on everyone his life has touched and it was almost miraculous to actually see him walk out to the end of the driveway this afternoon.
There were about 50 journalists standing quietly waiting for him and his family to take their places. None spoke but a few quiet words, asking only very light, warm questions like, "did you get to wash your first sink of dishes yet, Jim?" or "what kind of pizza did you have last night?"The family seemed shy and somewhat overwhelmed by all of us and the journalists equally humbled by the families' grace and warmth.
It was truly a heart-warming and miraculous experience. A rare gem of a story, filled with joy and love. It was the sort of story that keeps us all coming back for more and it was even more meaningful for me because I got to share it with a brand new colleague, one I haven't seen in 20 years (the one who got me into this in the first place) and I was able to get there because of a thoughtful call from another esteemed colleague.
I'm glad you posted this, Shria. I would have loved to have seen this article on SooToday, though.
So, did she get to hug him..?