85. Tanner’s Story

A vanity license plate sometimes says something silly like CATLADY. But sometimes it gives us a poignant message, when we need it the most. 

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Nora: I’m Nora McInerny and it’s going to be okay.  I always wonder about people with vanity license plates. I don’t know if this is a thing in other countries, but here in the US you can pay extra to have the license plates on your car.

Say something specific.  It has to be appropriate and seven characters or less, but people get so creative. 

There’s a lady in Phoenix where I live with a license plate that says, cat lady. Cat lady. I thought about getting one for my husband that said gas dad, because he always makes sure my gas tank is full and he would hate a vanity plate, so it would really just be an inside joke for only me, which is. Not a good gift.

And then also I thought, what if people think he has gas? I don’t want that for him. I don’t want that for me. But I always wonder what’s the story behind the plates? Cat lady is pretty obvious, but sometimes a plate says something funny or interesting, something like  gas Dad. And you have to wonder, is that a dad who has gas?

But if you are in Colorado and you see a car driving around with plates that say it’s okay, 22, that’s Renee, and this is the story behind her license plate. 

Renee: My beautiful 19 year old son was killed by a crazy drunk driver on March 26th, 2022 at 2:30 PM on a Saturday afternoon.

We are devastated. This is an excerpt from The Celebration of Life and what I read. When we lose someone, we all look for sign to know that they are okay. Since Tanner’s passing, many people have reached out to me to let me know that he is still with us.

I joked around that it would sure be nice if he could do the same for me last week after we met at the church to discuss Tanner’s service, Keilan Tanner’s girlfriend Manuel Tanner’s best friend and I decided to grab Little Caesar’s Pizza on our way home, mainly because it was one of Tanner’s favorite places.

Is to grab food. It was mid-afternoon so it wasn’t very busy and there were very few cars in the parking lot. We ran in, grabbed the food, and as we were walking back to my car, there was a car next to mine with a license plate that said, it’s okay. I don’t remember this car being in the parking lot when we went into Little Caesars.

I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture or say anything in the moment, maybe because I just wanted that moment to be mine. However, because of this experience, the It’s okay theme is carried out through all of our lives, and it’s a catchphrase that we all use in honor of Tanner. I also decided to get personalized plates here in Colorado to also remind everyone that it will be okay, even though in my heart it doesn’t fill that way at all.

Nora: I love that Renee and whoever that person was at Little Caesars are driving around making other people feel like it might be okay. Even if their hearts don’t feel that way at all, the it in it’s going to be okay is different every day, and it’s different for all of us. We love hearing and we love sharing yours.

You can attach a voice memo to an email. You can just email us. It’s igtbo feelings and.co. You can also call us at (612) 568-4441. It’s going to be okay as a production of Feelings and Co. You can find all our shows and our store and a truck going by. What is going on [email protected]. Our team is Nora McInerny.

Marcel Malekebu, Jordan Turgen, Claire McInerny, and Megan Palmer. Our theme music is by secret audio, and I recorded this episode in my closet, which is not quiet enough cuz I can still hear every truck what is going on. The birds are going nuts right now. Wow.