In other words, it is that overwhelming sense that what just happened or who you just met was more than just chance. It was meant to be.
If we're lucky enough in this life, we get to experience a fate-kismet-destiny-written in the stars moment at least once. I count myself beyond lucky that I have experienced it many times, although I hate the word lucky because it implies that it happened by chance ... and in this case, I don't believe that what happened January 1, 2000, was by chance.
"You have one assignment," he told me (my executive television news producer). "Keep him from talking too much!"
😬
The Arkansas Razorback football team was playing Texas in the Cotton Bowl. No finer time than pre-game to introduce our new Sports Director, a radio deejay, with a name and reputation greater than any that we'd met or worked with to date. He was perfect for the job, except he'd never been on TV. Craig O'Neill, the jokester I'd listened to waking up during my high school years, pretending he was a Texas groundskeeper, a lazy cable worker, Bill Clinton... countless others. A legend.
Here it was now my job - make him stop talking on cue... (not to spoil the end, but I never made him stop talking. Ever. That would be up to the fates...).
But in the way the fates sometimes orchestrate, they brought our community a human who made every single person he met feel like they were the most important human on the planet. He created laughter, tears; he shared history with anyone who would listen, with his unique perspective. He pushed everyone to question the world around them, to wonder at the mysteries, and to enjoy it all, one laugh at a time.
His countless hours donated to non-profits raised millions in charity dollars. Every "Arkansan of the Day" was thoughtfully curated, every joke well-appointed.
For me, he finished my sentences for years. On air, I knew what to say when he didn’t. He knew instinctively when I was too serious or too deep. I pulled it back when I thought one of his jokes might be going to far. I watched him journal daily, very thoughtfully. And I witnessed him work to trick the fates playing lottery.
How to say goodbye to such a legend? You simply don't. You take the spirit of his laughter- and apply it to your own life. You read books, like he encouraged us all to do. You take the welcoming, unconditionally loving, non-judgemental spirit of his, and you treat people in that same manner.
Our decades on-air together were beyond what I could've ever dreamed. Kismet. Fate. One of those rare experiences in life when you just know that there is a person on earth meant to cross your path.
I looked back and remembered we used to exchange poems (competitively trying to figure out who was the better writer 😂). To quote from one of his peoms to me (read below), I can't wait to see what happens next! (whatever that is, it won't involve me keeping you from talking!)..
My friend, welcome to the other side! I am forever grateful that fate brought us together. xoxo
Craig, trying to steal my EMMY
