NORFOLK, Neb. — Tom Roth says he's one of the luckiest guys in the world.
The Lincoln musician said most men his age — he's 54 — don't have a grandparent who's still living. Up until three months ago, Roth was one of the few.
His grandmother, Genevieve Wilson of Osmond, would have been 100 years old on Feb. 29. She died the morning of Oct. 22 — the day she was to star in a music video produced and directed by Roth.
Roth had written the song "My Favorite Little Town" to celebrate his grandmother's life. He first performed his tribute at the 2010 Osmond Alumni Banquet when the oldest living Osmond Tiger — Wilson — was honored.
"I jumped up on stage, and I sang a 9-minute version of the song about my grandmother's life. And when it was over, the place erupted; everybody stood up and applauded. It touched some hearts, and my grandmother was so proud and I felt so happy for her," Roth said.
For several weeks afterward, Roth said he was contacted by Osmond citizens looking to get their hands on a copy of his song. In fact, a printed version was run in the Osmond Republican newspaper, he said.
Because of the song's popularity, Roth decided he would put together a 3½-minute version of his song and make a video for it. It would take place entirely in Osmond, his grandmother's hometown, and star Wilson herself.
Roth recruited a dozen children, several adults and a couple of animals to star in his video. He scouted locations all over town and in the surrounding countryside. He invited his parents and his nieces to travel from Lincoln to take part in the video. He hired a film crew out of Omaha to stay in Osmond for a two-day video shoot starting on the last Saturday in October — the day Wilson's part would be filmed.
Roth stayed at his grandmother's house that Friday night; at that time Wilson was a resident at the Colonial Manor of Randolph care center. He was almost too excited to sleep, he said, and was up early the next morning in anticipation of the shoot.
That all changed in one phone call. Roth found out from the care center that his grandmother had passed away that very morning.
"I hung up the phone, and I was in shock," Roth said.
As he walked through the rooms in his grandmother's house, Roth said he realized there would be actors, a film crew and others waiting to meet him downtown and that he had to do the video.
"My grandmother had gone on; there's nothing more I can do here. I can't see her anymore, and if I go to the Randolph care facility and I just sit there by her, her spirit is gone. She's left her body, and I'm just going to sit there and cry? I'm not going to get her back. ... So I said a prayer, and I cried, and then I got over that and then I went downtown and I met everybody," Roth said.
Shooting the music video proved to be a difficult experience for Roth. There were times he could feel his grandmother's presence, and it was like she was right there, he said.
In the music video "My Favorite Little Town," Wilson is portrayed by her sister, Edna "Toots" Smith, in all of the moving shots. Wilson is seen near the end of the video in a photograph with Roth.
Roth said the experience of shooting his music video in his real-life favorite little town has helped him to work through his grief. The outpouring of support from the community of Osmond was more than he could have asked for, he said.
"That's just the kind of people that are in Osmond — that's what those people are like," Roth said.
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