Two Weeks of Kind Moments During Our Face of America Journey

By Tony Mussari
Copyright 2010
Mussari Loftus Associates, LTD

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa

For the Past two weeks Kitch and I have been on the road, as it were, working on our Face of America project.

It’s been a productive time. We traveled over 1,000 miles. We visited three states and the District of Columbia. We interviewed 17 people, and we snapped 1,100 digital images.

As of today, we have visited 30 states and the District of Columbia, traveled 14,000 miles, interviewed 170 people and snapped 37,000 digital pictures as we search for the Face of America.

We produced a Memorial Day segment.  You will find it on the Video page of our Face of America website.  The direct link is: http://faceofamericawps.com/video/memorial-day-2010/

We wrote an article entitled: Lessons from Our Face of America Journey: 30 Things Every High School Student Should Know. The direct Link is: http://faceofamericawps.com/news/lesons-from-our-face-of-america-journey/

We reedited a Windsor Park Story we broadcast in 2002. Entitled Miners and Mercy: Sister Regina Kelly, it will be screened on Saturday afternoon at Misericordia University in conjunction with the dedication of the Shakespeare garden.

Life on the road is anything but easy.  There is a good deal of planning, some inconvenience, a lot of hard work and many complications.

On the other hand, the people we meet enrich our world, and they fill it with a kind of joy that is hard to describe. If there is one overarching lesson we have learned in our 14,000 mile journey, the Americans we have talked with have good hearts. They want to be helpful, and they are kind.

At a Change of Watch Ceremony our friend, Admiral Sally-Brice O’Hara, was promoted to Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.  It was a moment of accomplishment and affirmation for Sally and her family, and a special moment for us.  During the press conference that followed the event Both Sally and her predecessor Admiral David Pekoske answered or Face of America Question with kindness and thoughtfulness.

On the same day, we interviewed Dan Trotman, a CBS News Photographer. Dan was very generous with his time and very helpful with his comments.

Another CBS employee, Bill Yates, helped us in a number of ways.  He gave life to his philosophy that people who work together accomplish much more than people who work alone.

Nadine Santiago coordinated the event for the U.S. Coast Guard.  She shared her thoughts with us during an interview prior to the ceremony.

After the event, we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial. There we met a family from California and a film crew from Norway. In a moment of serendipity, I became a part of the piece they were filming, and I got a wonderful interview with members of then Shotwell family. At the end of the interview I learned that Mr. Shotwell was born in Berwick, PA.

The next day we met Carol and Peter Stiles. Carol is the creative force behind Pike Creek Coffee Roasterie.  Peter is a former construction company executive who is recovering from a traumatic brain injury he received in an automobile accident.

Seven words from Carol’s interview will remain in my heart forever. “The accident made me better, not bitter.”

Without question the most poignant moment of this journey took place in a suburb of Washington, DC. There, we interview Vicki and Daniel Perez, the parents of 2d Lt. Emily Perez, the inspiration for our Face of America project.

The time we shared with Vicki and Daniel was beautiful, personal, poetic, patriotic and very emotional.  As descriptive as these words are, they do not capture what Kitch and I experienced in the place Emily Perez called home.

Two words that Vicky wrote in a note to us after the interview say it all, “Friends for Life.”

In Baltimore, we were reunited with one of our former students and a person who is very special to Kitch and me, Phil Yacuboski.

Since our first meeting in 1996, Phil has been a constant in our life.  He has shared every major step on his journey with us, He did an interview for our series, Windsor Park Stories, and on this occasion, he invited us to take a tour of WBAL TV in Baltimore. It was a wonderful moment of affirmation for Phil and for us, especially Kitch.

During our annual Memorial Day visit to St. Mary’s cemetery we recorded material for our Face of America Memorial Day commentary. While we were filming, Kitch directed my attention to a group of bikers who were entering the cemetery. Their arrival and their thoughtful tribute to one of their members provided the occasion for a wonderful Face of America story.

In the days ahead we will visit New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire and Vermont in search of the Face of America. We will make two presentations about the project, and we will host our second Windsor Park Camp for our granddaughter.

Until the next time, we hope that all of your stories have happy endings.

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