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In the spirit of March and a salute to the Irish, here is the story behind the music in my Believing In Horses book trailer.
I LOVEGaelic Storm’s music. Gaelic Storm is perhaps most famous for being the “band” in steerage in the movie Titanic. Their use of traditional Irish instruments including bagpipes, fiddle, and Irish drums combined with an upbeat rock flavor and lots of spirit make for a foot-stomping, heart-pounding sound like no other. When thinking about music to accompany my book trailer, the choice was easy: it HAD to be Gaelic Storm.
So, with my public relations team of one (me), I reached out to the band by finding contact information on the web. I emailed people who might be able to help, told them my story, and asked if they could help an unknown author with a silly dream. I figured, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Before long, I received a phone call from Gaelic Storm’s manager, Matt, from Nashville, Tenn. More details back and forth; Matt’s discussion with the band; and voila, I had permission to use this world-famous band’s music in my trailer!
The band’s one condition: a small donation on the band’s behalf to Maryland Therapeutic Riding (MTR) in Crownsville, Md. Gaelic Storm had shot their “Bring Yer Wellies” album cover at MTR and were fans of the organization.
As my Irish luck would have it, I was thrilled to be contributing to MTR. Without spoiling the book, a therapeutic riding center is discussed in my book, and although I hadn’t written my second book yet, I knew I would be featuring the organization in Believing In Horses, Too. What a fantastic facility with a tremendous mission and phenomenal donors and volunteers!
Not long after my first book was published, Gaelic Storm played at Ram’s Head in Annapolis, and this was my first opportunity to see them perform live. After the show, I had a chance to personally thank a few of the band members, give them a copy of the book, and was again struck by their graciousness. The photo at the top is with Gaelic Storm’s beautiful, talented violinist at the time, Jessi Burns.
Valerie Ormond ready to fly off the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72),in the ES-3A , Indian Ocean, 1995
I looked out the window and knew if I died that day, I still lived a full life.
It surprised me how calm that thought made me – almost peaceful.
After grasping the severity of the situation, my body and brain filled with warm thoughts, and I understood how blessed my short life had been compared with the longer lives of so many others.
I had no regrets.
When assigned as an intelligence officer to a naval aviation squadron, I had the opportunity to earn my passenger flight qualifications. That meant if I needed to, I could fly in the back seat of our squadron’s jets.
I attended naval aviation physiology training and didn’t drown, so several months later I found myself launched off the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean experiencing a triple flight emergency.
With my limited aviation knowledge, I knew from the visible and audible signs that things weren’t looking up.
“Skids…we’re going to have to bring you in very straight and slow…did you hear me? Veeerrryyy straight and slow,” cracked the voice from the ship. I knew this stoic speaker and never heard this voice.
“Roger, Boss,” replied the pilot. No quiver in the voice, but pure tension.
The naval flight officer turned to me, and his voice reverberated in my helmet communication system.
“You remember the ejection sequence, right?”
I tried to say yes, but fortunately nodded instead conveying the same. While I didn’t have a great technical understanding of our squadron’s ES-3A aircraft, I remembered the low odds of surviving an ejection in this aircraft on the approach to an aircraft carrier.
But as I looked out the window again, listening to the nervous chatter on the box, I knew if I survived I would have a totally different perspective on life.
I thought about all the things that had been bothering me and stressing me out and realized their trivial nature. I gained a fast sense of prioritization and a deep appreciation of the important aspects of life.
It took ten minutes to sort out a lifetime of experiences and learning.
Following a harrowing carrier landing, I took a deep breath, enjoyed life, and recognized my good fortune of having the chance to appreciate this new outlook.
Once I gained an understanding of my well-lived life, I saw every additional day as a bonus, and a day to make a difference and make it count.
This post originally appeared in writer Jeff Goins’ blog “Wrecked – When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life.”
