We don't often see the kind of emotion WCCO-TV anchor Frank Vascellaro displayed Wednesday while wrapping up reporter Lindsey Seavert's story about an 8-year-old girl fighting brain cancer. The anchorman almost lost it.
"That story would not have had the same impact on me 10 years ago. Now I've got kids. Gracie is 8. My daughter is 8," he told me Thursday.
Gracie Joles is the effervescent little spirit whose parents are Star Tribune photographers David Joles and Liz Flores. Using their cameras, they have chronicled their daughter's health problems.
"Of the 2,500 kids diagnosed with brain tumors across the country each year, fewer than 25 have the same kind. So, good luck, Gracie," said Vascellaro, clearly choking up as you can see at www.startribune.com/a232.
"There's something about sitting next to my wife that also has been very emotional for me," added Vascellaro, formerly of KARE 11, who joined his wife, Amelia Santaniello, at the WCCO anchor desk in 2006.
Vascellaro is a well-rounded soul who's also a softie. He famously went kicking and screaming into commitment. But once they married and had kids, he's taken to family life in a way that has amazed some.
DIY does Deephaven
Depending on what ends up on the cutting room floor, Blasted Art Inc.'s Kerry Dikken might be seen Monday on DIY Network's "Bath Crashers."
