My friend Tom passed away. I’ve known him for over 30 years, and he was an incredible influence in my life. I had quit college and was visiting him in California in my early 20’s. Taking a year off to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. 
2) I was envious of him living in a beautiful place with the career he always dreamed of. I told him I wanted to be a radio broadcaster and he sat me down to give me some tough love, and the hard truth that my goal wasn’t going to magically happen.
3) If I wanted to someday live in the US, and be a broadcaster, that could happen, but not without hard work and dedication. I took his advice, went back to school, applied for my US citizenship and set out to live my American dream. Just like Tom.
4) Over the years we kept in touch and saw each other when he came to New York or I was in LA. He met Sean, came to visit me at Fox and I remember the day he told me he was proud of me. When I was writing my book, Mostly Sunny i asked him if it was ok if I wrote about him.
He was an extremely private person, but he agreed. I was so glad he did. Tom is a big reason why I’m doing what I love, living my dream. His passing has hit me hard. I wish we were able to have had one more call so I could thank him again. And tell him I was proud of him, too.
