Da Finger

I have a good friend named Rich Brace. He was the promotions and marketing chief at one of the stations I worked at years ago. He came to dinner one night at our home and entertained my kids all night long with "Da finger." Da finger for those who aren't aware is the digit finger. No big deal to most of us. But Rich had managed to turn it into a super hero of sorts.

He would say to the kids, "What we need now is the power of "Da finger." Then his finger would glide through the air, moving all around. Both Trevor and Courtney were watching in rapt attention. Until finally "Da finger" would make it's attack. Da finger for some unknown reason would always end up tickling either Courtney or Trevor. Throughout the evening the kids would cry out, "Da finger, Da finger!" Rich true to form would jump back into action. His impact that night was unforgettable. The kids would ask about the man with "Da finger" for months.

I hadn't thought much about Da finger until Christmas Eve. That's when a 12 year old boy threw a football at "Da finger." He didn't really throw it, he whistled it in at what I would clock at about 100 miles an hour. Okay that's an exaggeration, but I have to say when the ball hit the tip of "Da finger," it "hurt like you know what." It felt like someone hit it with a sledge hammer. I figured it was dislocated, I never thought it was broken. But it was. It took months to get the correct diagnosis. Then months more of "Da finger" immobilized with a series of hideous splints.

I had friends e-mailing asking if I was going for the sympathy viewer vote so to speak. One viewer asked if I couldn't do the newspaper section pointing with a different finger and sparing the viewers "Da finger." You can only guess what finger they suggested amidst gales of laughter.

Tonight, "Da finger" is back at work helping me write this story. Today the doctor gave me the go ahead to take the splint off. My finger will never be the same as he says. It will always be slightly deformed, but at least now I can use it and I won't have to deal with that dumb splint. To me sans the splint I do in fact have a super hero on my hand, I have "Da finger!!" Rich Brace if you are reading this, you were always right, there's nothing quite like "Da Finger."