Last week I had the misfortune of attending the funeral of one of my friends. I’ve thought for the last week about what to write or even if to write about it. I’ve decided that I wanted to put some of my memories of JJ here for myself and our mutual friends to read and maybe share some of their own. This was my first funeral where I had to lay a close friend of mine to rest. I’ve lost grandparents and other relatives but something about a funeral for a guy only about six months older than me really troubled me. One of my friends said it best when he told me we’re supposed to be going to each other’s weddings and congratulating them on their newborns.
I met JJ in the Fall of 2001 when I decided to join Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE). He was initiated a year before me which meant I would be a member of the first pledge class since his he’d have the pleasure of initiating. Even though he had the upper hand on me being a member and me being a pledge he never really let it get to his head. He treated everybody with the same respect and friendship you showed towards him. A few of my favorite memories of JJ was a trip we made to Tulsa to help him move some stuff back to Tahlequah from his Dad’s house and learning you never bet JJ on anything.
JJ was our chapter’s social chair during my pledge semester and he would constantly remind me how important social chair was to the chapter. When I’m driving him up to his Dad’s to grab some furniture he once again reminded me of how I have such an important role of protecting the social chair he constantly referred to me as his secret service agent. An entire three hour roundtrip of him acting like the President of the US and me needing to jump in front of bullets for him. Goof ball.
My other memory is making the mistake of betting JJ. He was one of the biggest sports fanatics I knew. I didn’t always agree with his choice in teams but hey.. not everybody’s perfect. So my bet with JJ was I would play him a game of Madden football and the winner had to clean the other person’s car. I lost… horribly. Well before I cleaned his car I challenged him to a re-match of double or nothing. Second mistake, making this challenge while I’m intoxicated and he is not. He then proceeds to agree but on the condition that we play the game right then. I lost… horribly. To clear my debt with him I end up having to clean his car and go snack shopping for him using only a paper bag full of pennies, taped closed with a douche taped to the outside of it. Why he had all of this at his apartment I have no idea. Embarrassing? Sure… but I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything.
He was a good friend and I will miss the banter traded back and forth in regards to sports. He was a great guy and was taken from us way to early.
If you’re reading this and have some memories you’d like to share feel free to post them in the comments.
I was browsing around on my buddy Dustin’s website when I ran across a video slide show he put together for Heather and I of our wedding. When I updated the site to the new format we lost the link to the video. I took the liberty of stealing the video and re-posting it to share with our family and friends. So all the creative credit goes to Dustin… all the thieving credit goes to me Enjoy!
We just posted up some pictures from our friend Matt & Jenn’s annual Halloween party. I went as Sailor and Heather was a Red Bull & Vodka (her favorite drink). We got a late start on the costume shopping, as in we started the night before the party but we were able to pull it off and show up in style. We got to hang out with the likes of McCain & Palin, Batman & Robin, Kriss & Kross and an awesome Cholo. We also found out that Matt & Jenn are expecting their first kiddo! Congrats to you both! We both had a blast at the party… some a little more than others, honey
We’re now in November and looking forward to the Holidays. It’s always nice to visit with family and catch up and the food isn’t to shabby either. I’m still enjoying this awesome weather with last weekend sitting around 80-85 degrees I feel like I live in Florida.
Oh… and since it is Election Day… Get out and Vote! I know.. the lines suck, just do it!
Well… there are only a few days left in Oktober but I wanted to get a monthly update posted to give everybody something to read. To start with Heather celebrated another birthday and is now proud to tell everybody that she’s finally 21. She never thought this day would come but surprise surprise it did! Happy birthday honey. We also enjoyed volunteering at Oktoberfest for the second year. We worked on Thursday and Saturday night enjoying the company of good friends, great food (love those brawts), and beer. I think we both really enjoy volunteering I know our wallets certainly like it. We have pictures from the evening but my stupid computer is being, well stupid and not letting me upload pictures to the site at the moment. I’m working on fixing it… promise. *Edit: I was able to get the problem fixed and post some pictures. Oktoberfest Pics
Heather took her mid-term(s) for her first semester in Law School… I haven’t heard the results yet but I’m sure she did fine on them. I think she is really looking forward to Winter break and having a little time to herself. I know I’m looking forward to spending more time with her.
I can’t believe next month is November! This year is just flying by.. Thanksgiving then Christmas…. New Years and we’re into 2009! It’s Halloween Friday and the temperature is going to be 75 degrees. I’m not complaining but I think that might be the reason it doesn’t feel like November yet. I’m sure this means that January & February are just going to be miserable, cold and dreary. Yay!
If it’s cold where you live… I hope you’re staying warm. If it’s warm where you live… I’m jealous.
Wow, August flew by on us and now we are smack in the middle of September. Football is already on week three for college and two for the NFL. The weather is starting to get a little cooler and we haven’t updated you on any of this! We’re horrible! So where have we been and what have we been up to? Well for starters Heather has applied, been accepted and is now in the 4th week of Law School at the University of Tulsa. Yea.. you read that right in the past month all of that has happened.
The transition has been a little rough because she is still working full time and going to school part time which makes her days really long and mine really boring at home alone. She seems to be handling it pretty well and enjoying it on most days. I’m really proud of her for making the decision to go back to school and I think she’s going to make a great attorney. How can she go wrong… lots of talking and arguing, yeah she’ll do just fine.
I’m pretty bummed out that Summer has all but ended and we’re moving into Fall and then the dreaded Winter! Winter is so miserable it’s so cold and yuck and you’re stuck inside how boring.
The girls are doing great for those of you who are interested. Bella is about the size of a small horse weighing in at about 65 lbs. and Snickers is hitting about 35 lbs. They’re both awesome dogs and we’re really glad we ended up with the both of them even if one of them did pick us *cough* *cough* Snickers *cough*.
We did manage to make it down to Dallas to catch the Rangers vs. Red Sox game. The Rangers DESTROYED them and then had the favor returned the following day. I’ll post up some of those photos tonight or tomorrow and give you the details on that trip. *Edit: View the Rangers Road Trip Pictures Here
Sorry this post has been so random… just wanted to catch you up on some of the stuff we’ve been doing. We hope everybody is doing well.
Last week I had the misfortune of attending the funeral of one of my friends. I’ve thought for the last week about what to write or even if to write about it. I’ve decided that I wanted to put some of my memories of JJ here for myself and our mutual friends to read and maybe share some of their own. This was my first funeral where I had to lay a close friend of mine to rest. I’ve lost grandparents and other relatives but something about a funeral for a guy only about six months older than me really troubled me. One of my friends said it best when he told me we’re supposed to be going to each other’s weddings and congratulating them on their newborns.
Enjoy!
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