Everwood: Irv Harper

NARRATOR: I wasn't there the day Dr. Andrew Brown's life changed forever. But like most folks in Everwood, I've heard the story enough times to be able to tell it. It begins where many stories begin, in the city of New York, where Dr. Brown lived comfortably with his wife and two children.

NARRATOR: Night fell and a nasty storm rolled in. In his usual fashion, Dr. Brown worked late again. So late he was still at the hospital when he received the news. At then, it had seemed to be an accident. Sadly, Andy's wife never made it from home to their son's recital that night. Instead, a life was taken tragically on the icy highway in between. Oh, sure the Browns did the best they could to get by after that. Pretending as though nothing had changed, knowing that everything had. As expected, Dr. Brown wasted no time in going back to work. What wasn't expected was what happened once he got there. And those were Andy Brown's final words as a big-city doctor.

NARRATOR: As it turns out, Andy's leaving caused quite a stir in the medical community. Time magazine even wrote an article about it, calling Andrew Brown's departure from neurosurgery, "one of the great losses of modern medicine." Like a lot of people, you might think they were exaggerating but then... you probably don't know Dr. Brown.

NARRATOR: Everwood, Colorado. Population, just over nine thousand and growing. Founded in 1853, this jewel of the centennial state is home to one of the country's first opera houses, oldest gold mines, third largest chili cook-off, and even the occasional world famous brain surgeon.

NARRATOR: And there they sat. Father and son. Like they were sitting together for the first time. No, I wasn't there the day Dr. Brown's life changed forever. But I was around for many days thereafter. When he and his family would call Everwood, their home.

IRV: It's not often I find a third-grader lost in profound thought on her lunch hour.

NARRATOR: The family doctor. An icon of the American experience. For generations, they've mended our wounds and warmed our hearts. In my life time, Andy Brown was just about the best example I ever knew of one. Doctor-wise, that is. As for the family half of the job title, he was a bit rough around the edges.

NARRATOR: The next day as the temperature climbed; so did the town's excitement. Looking around, it was almost impossible to imagine anyone in Everwood not happy about the recent turn in temperature. Notice I said "almost."

NARRATOR: Welcome to Gino Chang's. Everwood's Friday night culinary hotspot. Gino, the restaurant's proprietor and namesake moved to town from Naples a few years back. At the time, Everwood was without a Chinese restaurant, or an Italian one. So, Gino opened both.

NARRATOR: The first fall thaw that Andy Brown and his family ever knew passed through Everwood later that night. Taking with it, our last bit of warm autumn air. But not our warmth of spirit. That was in the people of Everwood. And in our hearts, some broken, some mending, and some, for the moment, complete.

NARRATOR: Folks move to the country for lots of reasons. Clean air, better schools, stores where you don't have to fake a heart attack to get a salesperson's attention, and diners like this one.

NARRATOR: It may not seem so at first glance, but a lot changes in small towns. Take for instance Everwood's first local bank. It burned down in '66. And they never rebuilt it. Everwood's first gas station was Sinclair Pump and Engine. We have a Mobil now... and you pump your own gas. And of course you all know what happened to the Train Depot. Which brings me to this bridge. Legend has it, the bridge was built by a young man and woman who lived on opposite sides of the river. The two fell in love and constructed the bridge so they could meet in the middle and share what would be their first kiss. From that day on it was known, appropriately enough, as "The Kissing Bridge". Now, if people had just stuck to kissing, Dr. Brown may have been able to avoid one heck of a crisis. But I-I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, Everwood's gone through a whole lot of changes both inside and out. But the Kissing Bridge has stood the test of time. Evidence, I guess, that some things are built to last... and some things, aren't.

IRV: Edna, I love you. You wouldn't be you without Hal Senior. You wouldn't even be you without that nutter butter son of yours who, I happen to know, means the world to you.

IRV: Now, I don't need you to pretend that you didn't have a life before me. I just need to be able to put my arms around you when you're sad. Even if you are sad over someone else.

NARRATOR: That evening was the last time anyone saw the kissing bridge in its full glory. And even though Everwood's symbol of innocence is no longer with it, people still tell its story. To their children... and the grandchildren. Only now when they do, the ending is a lot more exciting.

NARRATOR: The Everwood Pinecone. It has been a daily press since May 21st, 1985. The day Mr. R. F. Davenport bought, what was even then, an antique printing press, hellbent on single-handedly spreading whatever small town news there was, each and every day. Everyone thought he was crazy but 5,999 issues later, he hasn't missed a single delivery. The Everwood Pinecone. Everwood's own bastion of journalistic integrity and chowder recipes.

IRV: The safest, prettiest fawning site on Earth. Wild berries in the winter, all the thumb and clover you could hope for. But, it's not close. You've got a long day ahead of you.

NARRATOR: There isn't much good a deer can say about hunting season. Except that it only comes once a year. And maybe that it makes them appreciate the few wildlife preserves they have. Like the one your bambi came from.

IRV: She's a kid, not a grenade.

NARRATOR: Like the man with the printing press said, at some point we all have something we just have to do. The gear spins. Sometimes the gear gets you what you want, sometimes it pushes it even further away. Either way, you have to respect the machine.

NARRATOR: Everyone has a touchstone. A last line of defense against the mayhem and sorrow of this world. For some people in Everwood, that person is Dr. Gretchen Trott. Of course, not all of Everwood is worshipped at the shrine of this particular recreational vehicle.

NARRATOR: The thing about your touchstone, you come to depend on it. No matter whether you set out to or not. But not even your own personal rock of Gibraltar is permanent. The rock has her own needs to think of. And just because you want someone to stick around, it doesn't mean she will. Dr. Brown knew something about that.

NARRATOR: Every small town worth its salt has a place like this. A place where the landscape invites us to blend in for a while. Ours is called "Buck's Rock". It's been graced with its own heavenly light that, for most people, it eliminates any and all doubt of a higher power. The purpose for Buck's Rock is quite familiar. It's a place where the lazy days of childhood play themselves out. A place of free from the responsibilities of adult life. A place of innocence.

NARRATOR: When things are working right in the universe, a loss of innocence is usually followed, in time, but an increase in humanity. Time is funny like that. For everything it robs us of, it grants us something. Sometimes it's a new friend, sometimes it's a better understanding of ourselves. Sometimes, it's just a perfect day.

NARRATOR: People go to church for a lot of different reasons. Some for community, some for appearances. While others, and it may be a very few, it's a matter of true faith. The simple fact is... life is hard for most people. By the end of a long week, the soul can be as devoid of spirit as Everwood's Taggard Mine is empty of ore. Only, if you're lucky, when you come here you leave with something more than you came in with.