He'll be on my mind every time I hear that theme song

I've mentioned my fandom (is that a word?) for the British version of The Office; and in truth I resisted the U.S. version for most of the first season it aired. This is because of my love for and loyalty to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (and Karl Pilkington, for that matter... if you are into funny Brits and haven't heard their podcasts, you've been missing out). Eventually I gave in, mostly due to the urging of my 15-year old nephew D., who would always ask if I was watching it so we could share one of those, "Wasn't that funny?" moments that our family enjoys so much. Ever since then I've been a dedicated Thursday night watcher.

I have a Pavlovian response to the theme song. Thankfully I don't drool like Pavlov's dog, but as soon as the theme song starts, my heart beats a little faster, my grin gets ridiculous, and I can't help but bop my head along with the tune. It's uncontrollable. What happens AFTER the theme song (the actual show part of the show) has always been good, so the theme makes me giddy with anticipation of the laughter that is sure to come.

This past Thursday, they dedicated the show to Nathan Robinson, and rolled this video of him playing that theme song on piano:


(Double click on either 'play' arrow if you have trouble with the video)

It didn't take long to track down the rest of the story, which I'll have you know, made me cry.

From the Boston Globe:
Nathan Alden Robinson loved music. His first instrument was a Casio toy keyboard, his family said, and Nathan loved to listen to a preprogrammed version of Beethoven's "Für Elise." "He said, 'So Daddy, can you teach me how to play?' " said his father, Donald Robinson, a professional musician. "I found a simple arrangement and he learned to play it by rote." Nathan, a 15-year-old freshman at Newton North High School, continued to play the piano, and later the clarinet, every day until just before his death Friday of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, pneumonia, and influenza at Children's Hospital Boston.

"Every morning he would get up at 6:10, get dressed, have his cereal, and at 6:30 he would sit down and play the piano; you could set your watch by it," his father said. A few weeks before his death, Nathan was at a friend's house, and the two were talking about "The Office," their favorite television show. Nathan's friend suggested he play the theme music to the program, so Nathan looked online for the sheet music. Nathan mastered the song almost instantly, and his impromptu performance was filmed and posted on YouTube.

His parents said Nathan cared genuinely about how others were treated and could form instant bonds with people, regardless of age. "He was a good person," his father said. "He didn't like to see people picked on. He had great empathy. He'd get very upset when he'd see people be mean to one another." When he wasn't playing the piano, Nathan loved to write. For the last few years, he had been privately working on a book. He had completed 90 pages; Nathan's parents say they don't plan to read the work-in-progress out of respect for his privacy.

Most of you know about my good friend Nic, who is still in the ICU and is fighting her way through not only brain cancer but also the one-two punch of a staph infection AND spinal meningitis (among other hurdles); who has been on a respirator for 3 weeks, keeping us all on a surreal roller coaster ride that trust me, you don't want to be on. Against all odds, she opened her eyes a little bit and squeezed her husband's hand for the first time a couple of days ago; and although she hasn't been very responsive since then, we hope it's because she's storing up her energy to continue kicking the ass of everything her immune system is up against.

My point in writing that is to update those of you who were so great about sending her positive energy & keeping her in your thoughts (especially those of you in the Cherry Icee Coalition!). I'm so happy that she's being thought of, even by people who have never met her; who aren't fortunate enough to know first hand what a fantastic person she is.

The people who loved Nathan Robinson must have been so touched to know that because of an extremely thoughtful and generous decision by someone at NBC/The Office to run that piano-playing video of him at the end of the show, millions of people were going to know more about what a special person Nathan was... And isn't that what any of us would want when we are afraid of losing someone we love... taking comfort in the knowledge that even for a minute, lots of other people had an opportunity to have known them just a little bit, too?