Nebraska Avenue--or, Always First

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Nebraska Avenue--or, Always First

Ever since the late 90's--since Monicagate, to be precise--I have kept a close eye on politics. I remember watching the impassioned hearings leading up to President Clinton's impeachment: wide-eyed and wondering with whom to side all the way. Living in D.C. at the time (and attempting to find a niche on The Hill), I got in the habit of perusing both the Washington Post and the New York Times on Sundays, after having spent my mornings with Bob Schieffer; Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts (and, needless to say, George Will); and--first; always first--Tim Russert.

After surviving Monica and the impeachment, I found myself back in Florida. Just in time for the 2000 Presidential Election. Tim called it: "Florida. Florida. Florida." Once again, I was glued to the tube on Sunday mornings. (And almost every day at almost every conceivable hour during the "Recount" scenario--always glued to one of NBC's cable competitors, though.)

First--always first--I turned to Tim Russert.

For several years after 9/11, I confess to having gotten off the track. Until the 2004 election: once again, I tuned in. Come Sundays, first--always first--I turned to Tim Russert.

Four years later, I'm back in D.C. There's something about being here that, well, just keeps me on the ball. By the end of 2007, in heavy anticipation of the primary season, I was back to the Post and Times (online, this time); to the cable channels; and to the Sunday talk shows.

First--always first--I turned to Tim Russert. How wonderful: he appeared on MSNBC, too! (And on the nightly news, although by now it was Charlie Gibson with whom I kept company.)

Was it just less than two weeks ago that he for all intents and purposes anointed Barack Obama?

I could not believe what news awaited me when I returned home Friday night.

58 years old. I wonder, indeed, how Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace must feel...

Eleven years ago, I spent my first few months in D.C. at The Greenbriar, a grande dame of an apartment building down Mass Ave. Northwest, I 'd told the realtor. A good neighborhood. Fine. I very quickly discovered I'd have to take a bus to get me to Dupont Circle; and that this bus had a quirky schedule. Were there any alternatives, I asked. Yes: go up a short ways beyond The Greenbriar, and turn right on Nebraska Avenue, I was informed.

So I learned to trudge up Nebraska toward Tenley Circle, often in blazing heat. On the right-hand side, I used to pass the WRC-TV's sign; and then the National Presbyterian Church. This lasted about two and a half months: by September I'd moved to the Village at McLean Gardens (now known as Vaughn Place). I knew I couldn't sustain that walk in the wintertime (and I didn't want to always have to depend on that fickle bus!).

Eleven years later I'm a little ways down Wisconsin Avenue (and am finally eating my words regarding that bus--well, sort of). I'd just returned from Georgetown when I turned on the computer.

Tim Russert has passed away, at age 58. At WRC-TV headquarters on Nebraska.

I hadn't been on Nebraska on this side of Wisconsin once since I'd moved back. But today--following an eleven-year-old instinct, I got in the right-hand lane at Ward Circle and found it. Admirers had already begun to lay flowers, posters, and mementos around WRC-TV's sign. Turning right on Van Ness, I turned left, and found a spot on Veazey Terrace. Then I walked back to Nebraska in--yes--blazing enough heat--turned left, approached the makeshift growing--yet loving--tribute to a very special human being, and paid my respects.

It's weird what you never think about until you realize you should have been thinking about it.
I never thought about that turn from Mass onto Nebraska Avenue. I just did it then, and didn't give it--or who might possibly work there--much thought. Admittedly, I hadn't politically "turned on," yet. Within months, though, I knew who came first--always first--on Sunday mornings. Tim Russert.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his colleagues, not only at WRC-TV, but beyond.

Georgina Marrero
June 14, 2008