January Fever
A Different Kind of Hero
I just finished a book titled January Fever, A Different Kind of Hero about my relationship with my former student and good friend, Tyler Katarsky.
I wrote 24 chapters and collected 15 short stories by Tyler's friends and family to add to the book. Fantastic photos by Tori Repp will help bring the story to life. Tattooed Buddha Editor, John Lee Pendall, is busy right now doing his best to rearrange a few words and bring more clarity to the story. Hopefully he will add & delete a few commas. The plan is to seek publication soon. |
Photos by Tori Repp
Go to my Photographer Friends page to see more photos by Tori |
Here is a short story from January Fever.
Tyler, You are Amazing
(Mr. De Lauro's Words)
“I like calling you Lou instead of Mr. De Lauro. It makes me feel like I’ve grown up. That’s okay, right?” Tyler asked.
“Tyler, you can call me Lou or Mr. De Lauro or Mr. D or whatever feels most comfortable,” I said. “I am just happy we are doing a paid gig together today. Yes, you’ve grown up. You’re the better juggler and performer. You are amazing. I am just your sidekick.
“You are not my sidekick. You are my mentor. You’re like my third Dad. You are the reason my life has gone so well.”
“Tyler, you’re the reason it’s gone so well. You put in the hard work. You are an amazing performer because of your commitment to this ridiculous art. And today it’s gonna pay off. We are getting paid pretty well. Too bad we are stuck in traffic.”
“We are still okay on time though, right Lou. We left pretty early.”
“Yeah, I think we will make it. We are crawling along here and we still have an hour before the show. I am thinking we will make it.
We listened to about 10 minutes of music on CD.
One song was called January Fever by Jim Gaven. I am pretty sure Tyler picked this song because he wanted to sing along.
So now we’re all out of our comfort zone, I know it’s hard to deal with, but know that you’re not alone, no you’re not alone, you’re not alone, you see, we’re all in this together, like 2 birds of a feather, so if you would allow me to kill 2 birds with one stone, I'd be at home
This January fever has made me a believer that even winter can be warm ‘round here, sometimes there’s no reason for the changing of the season(s), if the weather decides to forget to switch gears, it just shows us that anything can happen this year
Tyler, you can sing pretty well. Almost as well as Jim Gaven.” I said.
Tyler replied, “Lou, I can dance, juggle, ride a uni, walk on stilts, do all kinds of circus stuff, shoot a basketball. I can make people laugh. But I can’t sing like Jim Gaven. Jim Gaven is the best. He’s so talented and he wrote so many good songs. But you know what he’s not famous, and that discourages me.
“He should be famous,” I agreed.
“Jim Gaven should be famous! He was amazing at our charity event. Our charity should be famous too. And I should be famous too. One day I hope to make a lot of money juggling. And one day I will juggle on TV! Life’s not fair, is it.” said Tyler making a face.
“It’s not fair. And I don’t know if you will ever make a lot of money juggling. But I know you will be on TV! You were meant to be on TV. You are amazing!”
We listened to a bit more music and Tyler continued to sing.
“So is it true, you are making a little money walking dogs?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m walking dogs. Playing with dogs. Caring for dogs. I love all animals. And animals love me. I love cats. Bunnies. Any animal.”
“That’s awesome, Tyler. Really awesome.”
"Lou, holy, oh, no, is that what I think it is? Oh, No!”
Tyler and I couldn’t believe what we saw. A huge buck that had clearly been hit by a car was still alive and was sitting down on the highway and cars were slowly going around him.
“Tyler, It’s gonna be awful to drive around that deer. My heart is broken just looking at that poor guy. He's still alive, but needs to be put down. Now we know why we got stuck in traffic.”
Tears started to run down Tyler’s face.
“You okay?” I asked.
“No. This is too painful to see,” he said. His hands were resting on his head.
I started to wipe my eyes as we slowly drove right by the injured deer.
“I am sorry Lou, I am crying. I just can’t bear to see an animal suffer?”
“It’s okay Tyler," I said wiping my eyes. "Two Jersey tough guys, who are clearly not hunters, see a dying deer on the highway and we start bawling. I guess we are not as tough as we think.”
Tyler’s face was now soaked in tears.
“I don’t want to be tough. Tough is overrated. I want to take care animals. And people too. I want to take away their pain.” Tyler said softly.
We drove quietly for 10 minutes until we arrived at the venue.
At the venue. Tyler and I juggled rings. We passed clubs. Tyler did some ridiculous unicycle stunts. He balanced various objects on his face. He made everyone smile and laugh. He was brilliant. I wasn’t half bad. Kids were laughing. People came up to us after the show to ask us questions and take some photos with us.
We got back in the car.
I said, “Tyler you were amazing.”
Tyler said, “Thanks, Lou. I don’t feel amazing. I can’t stop thinking about that deer. I wish I could have gotten out of the car and hugged that deer. I know that sounds stupid, but I wish I could have hugged him or saved him or at least stopped his suffering.” And he wiped his eyes.
“Like I said Tyler, you were amazing today. You are just an amazing performer and person. And everything you said about that deer. Me too. Yeah, Me too.”
Tyler, You Are Amazing, Tyler’s Take (Tyler's Words)
The thing is Jim Gaven songs will make you smile or cry or both. He’s that good. Seeing that Buck on the road made me cry. There's no way seeing that Buck while listening to Jim Gaven that I wasn't going to cry.
When an animal suffers I cry. I can’t watch those commercials with the dogs and cats in shelters. I gotta change the channel. The easiest way to figure out if a person is good on the inside is to see him or her with a dog. If he loves the dog, then he probably is full of love. People who hate animals scare me. Something is wrong them.
Dogs, cats, deer, bunnies, pigs, all of God’s creatures are easy to love. I would hug a tiger if it wouldn’t eat me.
I would play in the gorilla cage with gorillas. I would ride a horse. I would ride a donkey. I would ride an ostrich. I would surf on the back of an elephant if that’s a thing an elephant wouldn’t mind. I would hug an elephant too.
In my mind when I saw that deer on the road all I wanted to do was get out of that car and take care of that poor thing. We gotta get the message out there that animals need to be protected and loved. All animals. If you never hug an elephant that's okay, but make sure you hug your dog. There's nothing in life better than hugging your dog.
(Mr. De Lauro's Words)
“I like calling you Lou instead of Mr. De Lauro. It makes me feel like I’ve grown up. That’s okay, right?” Tyler asked.
“Tyler, you can call me Lou or Mr. De Lauro or Mr. D or whatever feels most comfortable,” I said. “I am just happy we are doing a paid gig together today. Yes, you’ve grown up. You’re the better juggler and performer. You are amazing. I am just your sidekick.
“You are not my sidekick. You are my mentor. You’re like my third Dad. You are the reason my life has gone so well.”
“Tyler, you’re the reason it’s gone so well. You put in the hard work. You are an amazing performer because of your commitment to this ridiculous art. And today it’s gonna pay off. We are getting paid pretty well. Too bad we are stuck in traffic.”
“We are still okay on time though, right Lou. We left pretty early.”
“Yeah, I think we will make it. We are crawling along here and we still have an hour before the show. I am thinking we will make it.
We listened to about 10 minutes of music on CD.
One song was called January Fever by Jim Gaven. I am pretty sure Tyler picked this song because he wanted to sing along.
So now we’re all out of our comfort zone, I know it’s hard to deal with, but know that you’re not alone, no you’re not alone, you’re not alone, you see, we’re all in this together, like 2 birds of a feather, so if you would allow me to kill 2 birds with one stone, I'd be at home
This January fever has made me a believer that even winter can be warm ‘round here, sometimes there’s no reason for the changing of the season(s), if the weather decides to forget to switch gears, it just shows us that anything can happen this year
Tyler, you can sing pretty well. Almost as well as Jim Gaven.” I said.
Tyler replied, “Lou, I can dance, juggle, ride a uni, walk on stilts, do all kinds of circus stuff, shoot a basketball. I can make people laugh. But I can’t sing like Jim Gaven. Jim Gaven is the best. He’s so talented and he wrote so many good songs. But you know what he’s not famous, and that discourages me.
“He should be famous,” I agreed.
“Jim Gaven should be famous! He was amazing at our charity event. Our charity should be famous too. And I should be famous too. One day I hope to make a lot of money juggling. And one day I will juggle on TV! Life’s not fair, is it.” said Tyler making a face.
“It’s not fair. And I don’t know if you will ever make a lot of money juggling. But I know you will be on TV! You were meant to be on TV. You are amazing!”
We listened to a bit more music and Tyler continued to sing.
“So is it true, you are making a little money walking dogs?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m walking dogs. Playing with dogs. Caring for dogs. I love all animals. And animals love me. I love cats. Bunnies. Any animal.”
“That’s awesome, Tyler. Really awesome.”
"Lou, holy, oh, no, is that what I think it is? Oh, No!”
Tyler and I couldn’t believe what we saw. A huge buck that had clearly been hit by a car was still alive and was sitting down on the highway and cars were slowly going around him.
“Tyler, It’s gonna be awful to drive around that deer. My heart is broken just looking at that poor guy. He's still alive, but needs to be put down. Now we know why we got stuck in traffic.”
Tears started to run down Tyler’s face.
“You okay?” I asked.
“No. This is too painful to see,” he said. His hands were resting on his head.
I started to wipe my eyes as we slowly drove right by the injured deer.
“I am sorry Lou, I am crying. I just can’t bear to see an animal suffer?”
“It’s okay Tyler," I said wiping my eyes. "Two Jersey tough guys, who are clearly not hunters, see a dying deer on the highway and we start bawling. I guess we are not as tough as we think.”
Tyler’s face was now soaked in tears.
“I don’t want to be tough. Tough is overrated. I want to take care animals. And people too. I want to take away their pain.” Tyler said softly.
We drove quietly for 10 minutes until we arrived at the venue.
At the venue. Tyler and I juggled rings. We passed clubs. Tyler did some ridiculous unicycle stunts. He balanced various objects on his face. He made everyone smile and laugh. He was brilliant. I wasn’t half bad. Kids were laughing. People came up to us after the show to ask us questions and take some photos with us.
We got back in the car.
I said, “Tyler you were amazing.”
Tyler said, “Thanks, Lou. I don’t feel amazing. I can’t stop thinking about that deer. I wish I could have gotten out of the car and hugged that deer. I know that sounds stupid, but I wish I could have hugged him or saved him or at least stopped his suffering.” And he wiped his eyes.
“Like I said Tyler, you were amazing today. You are just an amazing performer and person. And everything you said about that deer. Me too. Yeah, Me too.”
Tyler, You Are Amazing, Tyler’s Take (Tyler's Words)
The thing is Jim Gaven songs will make you smile or cry or both. He’s that good. Seeing that Buck on the road made me cry. There's no way seeing that Buck while listening to Jim Gaven that I wasn't going to cry.
When an animal suffers I cry. I can’t watch those commercials with the dogs and cats in shelters. I gotta change the channel. The easiest way to figure out if a person is good on the inside is to see him or her with a dog. If he loves the dog, then he probably is full of love. People who hate animals scare me. Something is wrong them.
Dogs, cats, deer, bunnies, pigs, all of God’s creatures are easy to love. I would hug a tiger if it wouldn’t eat me.
I would play in the gorilla cage with gorillas. I would ride a horse. I would ride a donkey. I would ride an ostrich. I would surf on the back of an elephant if that’s a thing an elephant wouldn’t mind. I would hug an elephant too.
In my mind when I saw that deer on the road all I wanted to do was get out of that car and take care of that poor thing. We gotta get the message out there that animals need to be protected and loved. All animals. If you never hug an elephant that's okay, but make sure you hug your dog. There's nothing in life better than hugging your dog.
