Goodbye, Tom

I read on my Twitter feed this afternoon that Tom Magliozzi of Car Talk had died. He was 77. Not only did I not know he was that old, but I have always assumed he was younger than his brother Ray, for some reason.

I was never a rabid fan of the show, but I did enjoy listening to it on the weekends when it would come on as I was driving around. I did have the occasional "driveway moment" with that show, and I still remember my kids looking at me like I was crazy when I cracked up at the scene the brothers voiced in the first Cars movie.

I think the reason Tom's death really hit me today is that I lost my father last Christmas Eve, and when I did listen to the show, I would often share any gems I heard with my dad the next time we spoke. I miss my dad, especially whenever I hear or read something and think, boy, dad will get a kick out of that for a split second, before I remember that I won't be able to tell him about it. So hearing the news made me feel sad about Tom and my dad at the same time, I guess.

My heart goes out to Ray and the rest of the Magliozzi family on this terrible loss. I heard on NPR today that Ray would like for them to continue airing reruns of the show, as a tribute to Tom. Let's hope they do.

And a catchphrase is born

My family went out to eat tonight. Soon after we ordered, our server came back with a platter full of food. The only thing that was ours was a salad, but the event prompted this exchange with my son.

Him: Wow, if that had been our food, that would have been fast.

Me: Yeah, scary fast.

Him: Yeah, salmonella fast.

Me: That's going in my blog.

On another note, yes, it has been a while, hasn't it?