(GayWebSource.com – Gay News & Press Network) – Posted by Jake Simpson – TheGayUK.com

David Letterman Signs Off After 33 Years in Late Night

Twenty years ago I got my own TV for the first time, I was 12-years-old. One of the first shows I regularly started watching was “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

Living in rural Arizona, feeling like I didn’t fit in, Dave was a window to a different world, a world where it was ok to be weird, ok to be sarcastic, ok to be myself. I had a Late Show t-shirt I’d wear to school, probably too much, and I’d tell jokes I’d heard Dave do the night before. One girl remarked condescendingly “Are you like David Letterman’s son or something?” She got a big laugh with that, but I was proud to have the association. Incidentally it was around this time that my teachers stopped telling my parents what a sweet student I was and instead said things like “Mr. Taylor talks too much” and “Mr. Taylor interrupts class with jokes far too frequently.”

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My friends and I would do Lettermanesque things during high school to pass weekend nights; playing “Will it Float” in neighborhood pools, dropping things off the high school roof imitating Dave dropping things off the roof of the Ed Sullivan theater (hopefully the statute of limitations on vandalism has passed), seeing if I could drive my car through the breezeway at the high school without it getting caught, etc. Seeing the show taped live twice was amazing. The first time, my friend Jasmine and I got to meet Dave and ask a question before the show. We were such big fans (and nerds) we had sent him a card and a gift when his son was born.

Dave: Where you kids from?

Us: Safford, AZ

Dave: Safford? I’ve been there, got kidnapped and taken there, honest to God. What’s your question?

Us: We sent your son a stuffed animal when he was born and just wanted to know if you got it?

Dave: Uhh, yeah and the plastic eye fell off and he nearly choked to death on it, I’m gonna need to talk to you both after the show.

We we’re in heaven. Dave was such a part of my formative years I can honestly say I would not have the sense of humour I have were it not for him and his show. It’s that sense of humour that has carried me through the challenges that mark early adulthood for all of us.

Yeah, it may have been just a TV show, but he made a 12 year old kid see there was more to the world than what was in front of him. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Thanks Dave, goodnight my friend.

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