Best Stories Lie Within Most Overlooked and Uneventful Events and Things in Life

A relatively slow day with news, so I decided to challenge myself to find a story on the spot at a local job and resource fair for VETERANS by the Alachua County Veteran Services. This inspiration also stems from my natural inclination toward veterans and law enforcement partly because of my own history and background.

I ran into 2 🇻🇳 Vietnam vets who triggered by curiosity over how they watched over each other closely without showing any sign of kinship. When I asked the first one, who effused an incredible fascination by these resources and program without even showing any need for them, I found out the Vietnam Marine Corp Ronnie Atkins had actually driven from East Palatka down here to go with his friend to this event. That's enough to foreshadow a spectacular story about friendship.

As it turns out, they lost contact for almost 20 years, first knowing each other in fifth grade in Chicago, then San Diego and now Florida. As a visual storyteller, the only thing I'd regret is their lack of photos together to supplement my story, but I made the most out of the moment with this duo, even asking them to sing together.

To my amazement, the other veteran Oddie Redding's a nephew of famous soul and blues singer Otis Redding. Oddie came to the fair looking for help with his hip surgery to be independent of his scooter. I had a difficult time at the end of the day vicariously debating this story should make it onto the newscast, and the station sided with a smaller package discussing the fair itself.

Albeit conceding -- given the small and less newsworthy scale of the event -- I still take pride in this particular angle that has shaped my career: 

Hats off to all these great men and women for all your services to this country and our community. Also, kudos to my idol Boyd Huppert for his storytelling influence, as I want to reveal my upcoming summer internship with this top-notch storyteller.