Through the gracious generosity of several entities and people, including Hubbard Broadcasting, CCRF, and Dan Seeman, we were able to take the family (except Alli, who had to stay behind for work) to the Big Apple. The trip was made even more fun when Dan’s family; my sister, Lee; my brother-in-law, Jon; and our attorney, Adam, joined us.
We stayed at a hotel in Times Square and had a fantastic time taking in the sites. We went to the theater, visited the World Trade Center memorial, and took a jaunt up to Central Park. NBC Studios was another stop on the list; Zach picked up a Dwight bobblehead doll, his favorite character from The Office.
By far, though, the most memorable part of the trip was visiting BMI. We had an appointment at their office at 7 World Trade Center at eleven thirty in the morning on Friday, January 25. We expected to have a quick meeting to sign some papers and then have a little time for photos afterward. We had no idea what they had in store for us.
We knew wonderful things were about to happen when we stepped off the elevator to the sound of “Clouds” being piped into the lobby. There were at least two big electronic poster boards along the wall opposite from the elevator doors with a picture of Zach that had been taken from the “Clouds” video with a big sign that said “Welcome to BMI, Zach.” We were greeted by Silvia Davi, BMI Vice President and Head of Strategic Communications and Marketing; Brook Morrow, Executive Director, Creative Development and Writer/Publisher Relations; and Mike O’Neill, Senior Vice President, Repertoire and Licensing. It was clear the red carpet had been rolled out for us. This was no handshake, sign the papers, it was nice to meet you, and you’re out the door affair. These were top executives taking time out of their busy schedules to make Zach feel like a king.
Mike, a tall, polished man in a sharp-looking suit, led us on a private tour of the offices. “Do you want to see something amazing?” he asked with the enthusiasm of someone who wanted to share a secret treasure.
We all, of course, did, and he led us to a gorgeous office at the end of a long hallway. As we stepped in the door, he turned to his right and waved his arm at the display before him. The whole wall was a huge window that had the most amazing and surreal view of downtown Manhattan. We all stood in awe as we took in the sight. It felt almost like we were looking at a beautiful painting; the color, depth, and contrast of light seemed to go on forever. It gave us a sense of how small we were compared to this big city. But it also gave the unique effect of making us feel like we were a part of it. It was stunning.
I stood next to Zach, and we gazed at the scape in silence.
“This is amazing,” he said in awe, without averting his eyes. “This is so perfect.”
I felt the same way as I looked over at this humble boy who had fought so many battles and who now stood at the top of the world.
“It truly is,” I said.
Next we were brought to a conference room where a royal feast awaited us. Platters of sandwiches, roasted vegetables, cheeses, fruits, and desserts had been laid out for us, and everyone took a seat. We all sat around a huge conference table, a view of the World Trade Center memorial just out the window. All my presupposed, small-town ideas of what New Yorkers would be like were dispelled. We felt like we were having a leisurely lunch with friends rather than with top music industry executives.
When lunch was finished, we were joined by Susan Austin, chairman of BMI. She and Zach signed all the appropriate documents that officially made Zach a BMI artist. After the signing, she presented Zach with a beautiful leather-bound journal for his future songwriting. We finished up with a few photos and a video interview in the lobby in front of a bank of screens that read BMI across them.
We said our good-byes, hugs and handshakes given all around. This group of wonderful people had made the day extraordinary for Zach and our family. But it was the friendships they offered that really warmed my heart. There is something powerfully satisfying about a stereotype that is turned on its head and replaced with a memory of people who came together and made something beautiful happen.
Zach opened the huge, glass door in the ground-floor lobby, stepped out onto the sidewalk, and said, “Well, that was fun.”
We all laughed at the glaring understatement. It had been so much more than fun, and it would be a memory I would treasure always.
I NOTICED ZACH WAS SLOWING DOWN. IN NEW YORK HE HAD NEEDED a nap every afternoon. After we returned from the trip, he continued to take naps almost daily when he got home from school. There were many days when he would sleep through dinner and come up later in the evening for a snack, but wouldn’t eat a full meal. He just wasn’t hungry, he would tell me, when I’d try to get him to eat more.
I also noticed his breathing had become more labored, and he seemed to get winded fairly quickly.
“How’s your breathing?” I asked one afternoon as he pulled one of his specialty drinks out of the refrigerator.
“It’s fine. Why?” he asked with a frown.
“You seem to be a little out of breath lately. I just want to make sure we don’t have another collapsed lung on our hands,” I responded. I was more concerned that the tumors had grown so large that they obstructed his breathing, but I didn’t want to alarm him by saying so.
“No, I’m fine.” He walked out of the kitchen and down to his usual spot on the couch in the family room.
He left his crutches in the living room, something that used to drive me crazy. “Do you have any idea how much it would hurt to break your pelvis?” I would chide him. But now I let him do it without much fuss. He knew what could happen, and he was willing to take the risk. And, to be honest, I liked seeing him without them. It reminded me of the good old days.
February 2013
WHILE WE WERE IN NEW YORK CITY, BACK HOME, SCOTT HEROLD had been hard at work. He’d taken Zach’s and Sammy’s desire to play more live shows and, along with Dan Seeman and the folks from CCRF, hatched a plan for a huge event at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. The event would serve as a fund-raiser for the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund as well as a release party for A Firm Handshake’s new EP, Fix Me Up, a collection of original songs written by Sammy and Zach. Anne and I wanted to make sure that the songs the kids had written were recorded before it was too late, and the team who mobilized to record “Clouds” was passionate about making sure the project happened. Zach and Sammy would have to get back in the studio and record the songs in short order if we were going to have the EP ready in time. The date was set for February 16, three and a half weeks after our return from NYC.
A flurry of frantic activity had taken place over the course of just a few weeks to get the event organized and to line up other local artists who would be willing to lend their talents and make this a night people would remember.
Dan called me one day about a week after we returned from New York. “How do you think Zach would feel about headlining with Vicci Martinez?” he asked.
Vicci was fresh off NBC’s The Voice, and her top-forty hit “Come Along,” produced by CeeLo Green, was building steam. Dan had met her through an earlier event hosted by KS95, and he knew she had a soft heart and would be open to helping out with the event.
“I love her song! And I know Zach would be thrilled to share a stage with her.” My surprise at the scope of Dan’s vision and the lengths Dan and this team of people would go to for Zach continued to grow. Their dedication to him was astounding; it seemed they were on a mission to make his dreams happen.
Several local bands and artists, including Gabriel Douglas from 4onthefloor (whom Zach had joined on stage at First Avenue), my brother Luke’s band, Squares, and local legend Kevin Bowe, along with several other artists, would play at the event as well. There was hardly a soul who was approached that didn’t say yes when asked to participate.
There was just one problem. There was no Fix Me Up EP.
So Zach, Sammy, and Reed headed back to Atomic K Records to work with Karl Demer on laying down tracks for three new songs as well as a rerecording of
the song “Fix Me Up.” The EP would contain all original work; there would be no covers of other artists’ songs as there had been on the Blueberries CD.
Karl, despite his studio’s financial struggles during a difficult economy, had graciously offered to open his studio and master the tracks for the kids. He’d been changed by his first meeting with Zach and was committed to doing whatever he could to help Zach.
He said, “Something inside me couldn’t shake the thought of this boy who wanted to leave songs as a reminder that he will never be far even after he was gone from this world. As if someone just hauled off and slapped me across the face, I realized that all of my worries and fears I had been dwelling on regarding my financial situation suddenly became insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I began to take inventory of all the things in my life that I was grateful for and a sense of peace came over me . . . I felt compelled to do anything I could to make this time in his life a little better. It was a time of spiritual awakening.”
Our second visit to Atomic K Records was much more relaxed than the first. At least for Zach and me. We knew what to expect, and we knew that Karl would take great care to make sure things were perfect. For Karl, it was a different story. With the unexpected success of “Clouds,” the bar had been set high. He wasn’t just creating a memento for the family to keep and treasure after Zach was gone. He was mastering music for a known artist whose music was receiving global attention. And he was working with amateur musicians this time around, no studio band. It was just the kids: Zach on acoustic guitar, Reed on percussion, and Sammy and Zach on vocals. On top of all that, we needed the CD ready to go in two weeks!
The same team that donated their time and talent to make the Blueberries CD happen came back together to do the same for Fix Me Up. They had seen what happened with “Clouds” and had been inspired to do whatever they could to keep the momentum going and help A Firm Handshake tell more of their story. We all knew we were part of something bigger than any one of us could understand.
“Fix Me Up” was the most difficult because of all the tempo changes that needed to be mapped out prior to recording the guitar. But once that was out of the way, things fell into place. Most tracks only required one recording. Karl filled in strings and keyboard when he thought it needed it and brought in a friend and fellow musician to add some bass, then spent a long night and most of the next day mixing the tracks to get the master ready for production. Like “Clouds,” the project came together without any hitches. It felt guided.
It was a long and exhausting day of recording, but somehow Karl managed to guide the kids through laying down tracks for the four new songs in just eight hours.
Twenty-Eight
“SO, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN THE CREW?” I ASKED JUSTIN ON THE phone the day before his film crew arrived. They would spend the week following our family around, filming our every move. We’d had several camera crews to the house by then, but this would be something entirely different.
“There will be eight of us,” he responded.
Eight! All the other crews had been three, tops. I wondered how I would tell Sam and Alli that instead of three strangers in the house, there would be eight. Justin must have picked up on my hesitation and jumped in to explain.
“Since we’re going to be spending so much time with your family, we need to have a lot of cameras going at once. We need footage from all different angles so we have plenty of footage to choose from when we are back in LA putting it together.”
“Okay. So, does your crew stay here with us? Or how does that work?” I’d seen the other videos, and all of them had scenes of people getting out of bed early in the morning. I was mentally calculating the number of blankets, pillows, and amount of couch space we had in the house. I could blow up the air mattress if . . .
“Oh! No.” Justin laughed. “We would never do that to you!”
“Oh. Okay, well, this is sounding a little better.” I laughed. Thank God! I thought. That surely would have put everyone over the edge.
Later that night I had everyone gather in the family room. I sat in my rocking chair, command central. Rob was on the couch to my left, Zach and Grace on the couch to my right, and Sam and Alli on the floor, leaned against the hearth. We’d eaten dinner, and there was some bickering about who should clean up just before I called everyone in to give the update.
“Okay, so here’s the deal. There are eight guys coming into town—” I started.
“Seriously!” Alli interjected. “Why do they need eight? I thought you said there would only be three!”
“I was basing that off of the previous crews we’ve had come,” I jumped in defensively. “I’m doing my best to figure everything out as I go.”
“So where are they all going to be?” Sam asked. “Are we going to have any privacy? Can I at least use the bathroom by myself?”
“Justin assured me that you guys can participate as much or as little as you want. If you don’t want them in your room, just tell them. He’s a nice guy and really does care about making this as easy as possible,” I explained.
“It’s just going to be really weird having all these strangers in our house all week. I’ll probably spend a lot of time at the Bowersoxes’,” Sam said. Reid Bowersox was Sam’s closest friend. I used to joke about how Sam was half Bowersox because he seemed to spend at least half of his growing-up years at their home, eating their food. Now their house would serve as a media fallout shelter.
Alli’s jaw was set. She wasn’t as easily persuaded and was less than thrilled at losing the quiet of home for a week to a crew from Los Angeles.
“I know you say that Justin is a nice guy, but how do you know, really? What if he has some preconceived idea of what our family is about and only shows what he wants people to see? What if it’s some Pollyanna version of our family that isn’t real?” She had become jaded as she progressed with her degree in journalism and could see how reality can be manipulated into whatever the journalist wants.
“I don’t know, Al. I just know from my conversations with him. I know he’s a little over the top, but he seems like a very genuine guy, and based on the videos he’s already produced, I trust that he will truthfully portray our family.”
Grace and Zach sat silently. They both looked forward to the experience, but wanted to allow their older sister room to air her concerns.
“Alli, I understand where you’re coming from,” Rob chimed in. “We know the media can take something and turn it into something it’s not. But we all decided to take this risk together when we chose a month ago to have them come. So let’s just leave it in God’s hands and trust that there is a bigger purpose. For some reason, out of millions of people who are dying, Justin decided to follow Zach. Let’s just see what happens.”
Alli relaxed a little. She and Rob had clashed a lot when she was in high school. But now that she was older, she could see how similar their personalities were, and she could appreciate his advice more freely.
“Fine. But I have a ton of stuff I have to do. The timing of this thing just really sucks. So I’m probably not going to be around much with all the magazine projects I’ve got going with my internship and at school. Not to mention, I have a wedding I’m trying to plan.” She was annoyed, but she would do her best to roll with it.
I WORKED ON MY LAPTOP AT THE KITCHEN TABLE WHILE I WAITED for the crew to arrive. I’d straightened the house up a bit but hadn’t bothered with the frantic cleaning I’d done a few months earlier when CNN had been in town. By now we were seasoned and media savvy. And besides, this was supposed to be real life. The desk in the kitchen was never clean, so why would I clean it now?
They pulled in around two o’clock on Monday afternoon. I opened the front door and waved as one by one they exited their rental SUV.
“Laura!” Justin exclaimed as he walked up the sidewalk. He pulled me into a bear hug as he stepped into the house. “It is so nice to finally meet you! I can’t wait to meet Zach and the rest of the fami
ly. I’m already in love with your amazing family and can’t wait to tell your story to the world.”
My conversations on the phone with Justin had prepared me for his exuberance and passion for his work. Thanks to Google, I was also prepared for his incredible good looks. He was classic—tall, dark, and handsome.
Each of the crew members introduced themselves as they made their way into the house.
“Thank you so much for letting us come hang out with your family,” was the collective greeting delivered with a sort of reverence by each as they stepped through the door and laid their gear down on the floor. The sincere appreciation they expressed gave me the feeling that each had come for his or her own personal reasons and that this project meant more than just a paycheck.
A few minutes after they entered the house and were somewhat settled, Zach pulled into the driveway. He’d had a couple of Skype conversations with Justin, and by the spring in his step as he walked down the sidewalk I could tell he was eager to meet everyone.
“Hey, Zach.” Justin met him at the door and extended his hand. “It’s so great to finally meet you in person. You have no idea how excited we all are to be here!”
“Justin.” Zach pulled him into a hug and slapped his back a few times. “Good to see you. Welcome to Minnesota.” Zach had a huge grin on his face. He was in his element as he personally greeted each of the crew members.
“So, can we check out your room?” Fou, one of the camera guys, asked Zach.
“Yeah, sure. Come on down. I haven’t cleaned up much. My mom said I should leave it since this is all supposed to be real and everything,” I heard Zach say as a couple of the guys followed him down the stairs.
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