The Man That I Owe My Life To

Ok, I posted a message about this on Facebook early this morning, and everybody took it way to left-field when it came to about whom I was speaking. When I said "The Man I Owe My Life To" I was talking about former Husker player Lynn Finney. He's been at the top, and he's been at the bottom. They have been running a special story on him in the Lincoln Journal - They called him "The Man Who Stole From Osborne"... Which to me seems somewhat biased since most of Nebraska sees Tom Osborne as some type of Messiah. (No offense Tom) They say Lynn seems to have a knack for getting into trouble. But hey, drugs change people. And his story is one example of how an addiction can take a person who could reach the sky to a person who seems to have a hard time staying off the ground. He was recently in the news because he just got in trouble for allegedly using empty envelopes at a local ATM to make fake deposits and withdraw money from the ATM one night. Reportedly totaling around $1,600... Hell, I didn't even know you could do such a thing. Maybe that shouldn't have been in the news, because I know ALOT of people had the thought "Damn... that's a good idea"... But anyways, back to my point. Now when I say that I "owe" my life to this man, let me explain. So here's the story:

One day, one day WAAAAY back in the day... I'm guessing 1972 by math, there were two sisters at home and their parents were out of town for the weekend and the older of the two had decided they were going to have a party. The older sister had one of her girlfriends over for the party, and had invited a friend over, and told him to bring a couple friends to meet her girlfriend and stuff so there wasn't just a couple people there. The older sister and her friend told the younger sister they were taking a walk, and that a couple people were supposed to come over, so to let them in if they didn't get back by the time they showed up. I'm sure they all had a decent time. I mean, whatever they/y'all did in the 70's. The younger sister was making food, cleaning up, trying to be a good hostess even though she didn't invite the company. The next morning, she was cleaning up before their parents came home. The guy's friend that came to meet the older sister's girlfriend was still awake. He startled her. Mind you, this was back in 1972, and they lived in Waverly, NE. So imagine being a 17 year-old white girl, and you run into a 19 year-old Black man from Lincoln, NE who you have never met before the previous night's party checking out your father's gun collection... They talked for a bit. While she was finishing up cleaning he told her "You know, you're going to make somebody a good wife someday." Turns out that the man who came to the party that the older sister had invited was Lynn Finney. And his friend who came to meet the older sister's friend didn't like her friend that much. He had his eye on the younger sister. That was 37 years ago... And to this day, the "friend" and the "younger sister" are still together and married. They are Danny and Mona Brooks. My parents. So when I say that I "owe" my life to Lynn Finney, I mean it. If he hadn't came to this party, or brought the same friend that he brought, my parents most likely wouldn't have met and wouldn't be together. So Lynn Finney, I thank you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been born.

And today Lynn Finney isn't doing so well. Had an operation to remove part of his liver a little while back. But he is still fighting colon cancer. And as I've said, he's had his up's and down's, but no matter what he has done, or what trouble he has been in, or who he has hurt in his life, there is one thing that he is responsible for that nobody could EVER repay. He, in an unintentional manner, united two people for life... And as a result, they have a family, children, and a home together. And because of that day, I am sitting here writing this blog.

I wish you all the best Lynn Finney. Keep your head up. Regain your dignity. Nobody is immune to the trials and tribulations of life.

And as I always say:

There's never a testimony without a test


-T