How many people can say they’ve seen an Emmy up close and personal? Or held one?

Last week Rick flew out to Las Vegas to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (more commonly known as CES) and to accept the Emmy for Vision Research alongside Andy Jantzen (the original founder of the company) at the awards ceremony at the Venetian hotel.

It’s not Rick’s Emmy; it’s the company’s. However, Rick has been working on getting them an Emmy for about three years now. He lobbied the committee to make a new category, and they did. He worked really hard to make it all happen and I’m just as proud of him as if it were his own Emmy, since without him they might not have won it, deserving as they were of one.

He carried her on the plane coming home and we were both amazed that security didn’t even blink an eye. I mean, after all, she could be a serious weapon! Her bottom is filled with lead (hey, also a good place to hide something from x-ray?) and her wing tips are so sharp they could put someone’s eye out or puncture an important body part. No matter—she went through with flying colors as if they see one every day. I can’t imagine they are too common!

It was love at first sight. She’s beautiful. She’s easy to hold and grasp around her slim waist. She’s heavier than I expected and quite a bit larger.

Here is a small part of the history behind her: “After rejecting 47 proposals for what was to become the Emmy® statuette, Academy members in 1948 selected a design that television engineer Louis McManus had created using his wife as a model. The statuette of a winged woman holding an atom has since become the symbol of the Television Academy’s goal of supporting and uplifting the arts and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science.*” If you want more information you can find a short history (where I lifted these words from) here and a longer article here.

The inscription on her base reads: “Presented to Vision Research (an Ametek® Company) For Phantom Super High Speed Slow Motion Camera & Recorder System with HD Playback For Super Slo-Motion HD Systems For Acquisition, Recording and Playback of Broadcast Entertainment and Sports Productions.”

To understand more about the cameras and why they are so Emmy-deserving you can read this press release on Vision Research’s site.

We were to take her with us to Rick’s holiday party on Saturday night where I thought we’d be turning her over to Andy. We packed her up in her beautiful presentation box (used as a backdrop for the very first photo) and into the padded hard case Rick had carried her on the plane in, stowed her in the trunk and off we went. When we arrived at the party venue they had valet parking. We both got out of the car and Rick handed the valet the keys. As he drove away I looked at Rick and said “Oh NO, we’ve left the Lady in the trunk!” Did we ever get some strange looks from the people around us! He managed to stop him before he got too far and rescued the Lady (as I had come to call her so far) from the freezing cold.

She adorned the cocktail area with her loveliness and people gathered around to stare, take photos and finally to ask if they could please lift her up. She complied with all their requests. When it was time to move to where dinner was being served, we polished her up with a soft cloth and put her back in the box. Once upstairs we took her out again and placed her on a table all by herself next to the DJ. Once she was done with her part in the speeches of several bosses (whereupon she allowed herself to be held up and admired) she was put back on her table.

But she was never alone. A steady stream of people came to pick her up and have their photos taken with her. Our table was closest to hers and we kept a sharp eye on her throughout the night. When is became obvious that Andy was not coming and she would be coming home with us once again, the responsibility started to weigh heavily on us both. Maybe it’s because we had just watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy again over the Christmas holidays, or maybe it’s because she is truly magical, but we could both feel the pull of her sitting on that table even when we weren’t glancing over there to make sure she was still in her place. She was commanding us to watch over her. We felt connected to her.

OH NO! We had become — (are you ready?) — the Emmy-Bearers. We had become to Emmy what Frodo was to the Ring. But instead of being on a mission to destroy her, we had the responsibility of delivering her safely and unharmed to her rightful owners.

As the night wore on those feelings of being bound to her only got worse. Pretty soon I was wringing my hands and calling her “my precious.” Rick said if I started coughing and sounding like I was saying “gollum” he was leaving. When Rick’s boss’s boss brought her over and sat her between Rick and I, I snatched her up and starting crooning my precious, my precious  and everybody at our table burst out laughing.

Seriously though, she really did seem to be a burden of sorts, but not an unwelcome one. She now resides safely in her special Plexiglass case at Vision Research, where Rick is now the Emmy-Guardian instead of the Emmy-Bearer. He has taken to locking her up in his office at night for safekeeping. For being nothing but a mix of copper, nickel, silver and gold she casts a powerful spell over all who meet her. If you had the chance to meet her you’d understand.

Farewell, my precious! I’ll come by to see you again sometime soon.

*Taken from the website of the Academy of Television Arts & Science.