I learned an important lesson today: One's flashbacks may not be accurate recollections, and it took my 96-year-old mother to teach me it.

A regular listener called in to applaud my 51 years in radio and television. He found out by watching The Paul Santos Show on New Bedford Cable Access. My mother happened to be listening to us on our WBSM app. She tried calling the radio show as soon as she heard it, but the lines were all busy. When I got off the air, she phoned and we evoked memories of how I actually got started in broadcasting, only it wasn't the version I've been telling people for years. And when she took me back to that afternoon in Hot Springs, Arkansas, it all came home.

She reminded me that I was looking for a part-time job, going to the downtown businesses filling out applications. At some point, as I was walking along Central Avenue, I got caught in a sudden downpour. She said I ran to the closest awning to get out from the tempest. The awning belonged to KZNG.

That was the reason behind my destiny, my karma, and calling? An awning in a rainstorm? No, she insists, it was divine will.

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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