Marc's Musings

By Marcus Sheridan

This is going to be one of those Marc's Musings that may bounce around a little bit, but hopefully my points will come together into some type of cohesive thought for the reader…..

Believe it or not, I just recently got the internet at my house. Yes, I may have been the last person in America without access to the World Wide Web with the touch of a button and click of a mouse from my living room. This is mainly due to the fact that I spend so much time on-line at work, and also because my wife, Nikki, has yet to jump on board that technological train that seems to be so rapidly sweeping the Earth. Not that she is against computers, she just hasn't been around them enough (she's kinda busy raising three young children) to appreciate the beauties of I.T. Once I got internet access though, and showed Nikki how to get on-line, (that's right, just click on that little "e" with the rings around it) she started to appreciate just what was at the tip of her fingers: information, and lots of it.

I guess when someone is presented with the internet for the first time, and shown how to surf the web; one never really knows how much they're going to enjoy the process. For my wife, it was like opening up a whole new world to her, and before I knew it, I was already getting order confirmations in my email account from Wal-Mart.com…Uh oh, what have a done? But online shopping is not the point of this muse, but rather the pleasant adventure this little Al Gore (wink, wink) invention brought us on.

You see, my wife is a big fan of Nicolas Sparks. The name may not ring a bell, but I'm sure you're probably more familiar with this man then you may realize. Sparks is the author of many best selling novels that have become major motion pictures. A Message in a Bottle, The Notebook (an incredible movie by the way), and A Walk to Remember are just a few that have been phenomenal successes. Sparks has a HUGE readership fan-base across the world and his books, as well as his popularity, just continue to increase. One of Nikki's first "searches" online was the key words: Nicolas Sparks. From this she realized there were thousands of fans just like her. She even found Sparks' own personal web site. But this is when she really got excited, because upon reading up on this man, she learned he lived in the small town of New Bern, North Carolina. She also learned he would soon be having a book signing in his home town to introduce his newest novel, The Choice. Realizing that she could actually see her hero face to face and actually get a signed copy of one of his books, her brain immediately kicked into overdrive (you know, that gear that God gave women but kinda skipped that part with us men). After making a few phone calls, she called me at work, enthusiasm ringing in her voice, and proclaimed that in a few weeks we would be making a trip to North Carolina to see her favorite author. She also said she had already planned a babysitter. Basically, she made it impossible for me to ask any questions(How do you women do that by the way?), and so my only response was, "That's sound nice, Honey." In the days following, as her excited continued to build, she then presented me with another challenge. She asked me to read one of his books....I thought for a few minutes about this one and realizing this was a pretty big deal I obliged, even if it meant I had to read a "chick novel".

The time passed by rapidly and before I knew it we were on the eve of our trip, but there was just one problem. Despite her steady reminders, I still had not read a Nicolas Sparks book, nor had I even started. So wanting to fulfill my manly duties as a "good husband", I picked up Three Weeks With My Brother, a book that can best be described as an autobiography of Nicholas Sparks' life. Despite my best efforts, I was only able to get through about half of the book that night, and so it looked like my promise would be left unfulfilled.

The next day we were off bright and early to North Carolina. We arrived, with much anticipation on my wife's part, in New Bern at about 1:00 in the afternoon. The book signing was held at a book store located inside a small mall. Not having any idea what to expect, we hurried inside (actually my wife hurried inside as I parked the car) and soon realized that the line for the signing consisted of a few hundred people. "Wow!" I thought to myself, "Apparently, this guy is a pretty big deal." And other then the fact that the line was very long, it was also moving VERY slowly. But this is where things to me get rather interesting. Most of the people in line were women (naturally), but their age ranges were on each end of the spectrum. We saw teenagers all the way up to great grandmothers waiting patiently for their chance to see Sparks. In fact, no one seemed to mind the wait. It was almost as if the wait was part of the experience. Nikki nestled into line with a few of these older ladies (see picture below) and over the next five hours, yes, I did just say FIVE hours, she talked, and talked, and talked some more (I'll never figure out how women can get in a group and do that so well) over just about everything under the sun, with Sparks and his books of course being the number one topic of conversation. One would think that standing in line for five hours for anything would be quite a trial, especially considering the end result is a quick 30 second smile, autograph, and little small talk. But none of these ladies seemed to mind. During this waiting period, I decided, not knowing how long everything was going to take, to recommence my efforts to finish Sparks' book, therefore fulfilling my original promise and earning major points with my wife.

Well it turns out that Three Weeks with My Brother was quite a powerful book, not a chick-novel at all. Powerful in the sense that Sparks' life is full of tragedy, lots of triumph, and then even more tragedy. After about three hours of reading and an unusual and sudden case of eye allergies, I got through the novel and marched back into the mall knowing that I had fulfilled my promise. As I got back to join my wife in line, I informed her of my triumph, she told me "good job" and then introduced me to her band of elderly friends with whom we would share quite a few laughs over the final hour of our wait.

So finally the moment came. My wife, with her eight books waiting to be signed, laid them out in front of Sparks and proceeded to speak 100 miles an hour about just how much she loved his work. Impressively enough, Sparks returned her enthusiasm with just as much vigor, acted and talked with incredible patience, and seemed solely focused on Nikki despite the fact that he had now been signing books for roughly NINE HOURS. Frankly, I was blown away by the guy, and appreciated him even more knowing his incredible life story. Concluding their brief conversation, Nikki readily sat by his side and gave out one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen as I said "cheese" with the digital. In fact, I think she was happier and more ecstatic in that moment then when she had to kiss the groom, but I'll just keep my opinions here to myselfJ.

On our way home that night, Nikki raved about Sparks, the wonderful ladies she had bonded with in line, and the thrill of going on such a simple yet satisfying adventure. As she talked and talked, I just sat back and smiled, thinking all this came about over just a simple "click".

Happy Holidays Everyone……..

Marc