After Thanksgiving, "Face the Nation" conversations on “gratitude”
After a grueling election season and a difficult year, CBS’ “Face the Nation” took a break from politics Sunday to talk to Americans who are helping others about their idea of “gratitude.”
Vin Scully, the legendary Los Angeles Dodgers announcer who retired this fall after 67 years in the business, spoke with “Face the Nation” last week to reflect on his decades in the baseball business.
“What I loved was the roar of the crowd,” said Scully. “And so when I do the game, my philosophy is do it quickly, call the play accurately -- and then shut up.”
Scully reflected on the highlights of the games he’s announced at, including his iconic call in 1974 when Hank Aaron broke the all-time record for home runs previously held by Babe Ruth. During that game, he called the day “a marvelous moment for the country and the world” -- but also stayed silent for more than a minute as Aaron ran the bases and the crowd cheered.
“To me of all the home runs that’s the most important one I ever saw,” Scully said.
Scully, who was just awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington last week, said he has many things to be grateful for in his life.
“I am grateful for God’s grace to allow me to do what i’ve done for 67 years,” he said. “I am grateful for my wife, my 16 grandchildren, my three great-grandchildren, for a life that has been beyond fulfillment of a dream.”
Jahana Hayes, a teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Ct., and the winner of this year’s National Teacher of the Year Award, said it’s easy to name the thing that brings her joy in life: her students.
“I meet them at 14 when they’re not really sure who they are and the impact they can have,” she said. “So helping them find their gift … that’s what brings me joy.”
Brandon Stanton, who founded the “Humans of New York” website, told “Face the Nation” that he started the website because he wanted to become a photographer, but needed a way to stand out. “Humans of New York” is a series of thousands of photos and stories of people Stanton stops on the street, an effort he’s expanded around the world.
“We share so many philosophies, we share so many opinions, but the one thing that we have that is truly unique and makes us truly ourselves is our stories,” he said. “And so when I interview somebody, my questions tend to follow the lines of trying to find out a story about this person that I have not heard from the other 10,000 people I’ve talked to.”
