Friends and Family Carry Me Through November
Saturday, November 26th, 2011
October 2011 has shaped up to be a ridiculously difficult month after Jamie and I had split up and then my Grandpa Murphy had passed away. After the dust had settled and the funeral had ended, I was charged with the task of simply coping with everything that was going on. Lots of my time was spent alone, blankly watching TV shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Honeymooners, and mostly The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. I listened to such bands as Bon Iver, The Cardigans, The National, Two Door Cinema Club, and Men Without Hats. I continued to work on assembling my Billboard Top 100 countdowns. But mostly, I stayed occupied with friends and family – and it was this that has enabled me to remain cheerful in the face of blah. Read the rest of this entry »
It was about a three hour drive on the afternoon of Saturday, June 16, 2001, as Carolyn, Ashleigh, and Briana and I headed up to Grand Rapids, Ohio – not far from Bowling Green, the college town where they had first met – to attend the wedding ceremony and reception of my cousin Karen and her soon-to-be husband Joe Amstutz. We had just spent the entire previous day, and most likely some of this very day driving back from Disney World, so we were all a bit edgy, I’m sure. I recall that upon arrival, Ashleigh and Briana had gotten themselves into trouble in the car and Carolyn had them standing in the corner. I also recall that Chris’ then-girlfriend Sarah snuck a cigarette with me as we were both walking to the car to grab something. That’s pretty much all I remember. Well, except of course the wedding… 
The fall of 2011 had started off quite well, with fun trips and fun times culminating in a great weekend excursion to Los Angeles. But unfortunately, there was nothing much good waiting for me when I got home. It began innocently enough on Monday, October 10, 2011, when I met up with Jamie after work at her folks’ house. It had been over a week since I had seen her when we had gone to Chicago for my birthday. I picked her up and we headed out to dinner at the Cactus Pearl Southwest Bistro. The tamales were good. 
Thursday, August 4, 2011, was our last day in Myrtle Beach. So far it had been a great trip with my Mom & Bob, Denise & Aaron and Adam and Megan, Ashleigh and Silas, and Jamie. I didn’t like cutting the trip short since we had to be back for a wedding on Saturday, but in another regard, it wasn’t quite as sad, knowing that we had a full weekend at home, and a few adventures on which to embark as Jamie and I traveled home. But nonetheless, we had one more full day to spend…and we did it well. 
When I woke up on the morning of Sunday, October 2, 2011, I found myself in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village at the Super 8 motel. Jamie was there with me and we were preparing to spend the day scouting film locations in other nearby suburbs. I also found myself to be 40 years old. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel much different. Jamie gave me a great and thoughtful card and some sour apple Big League Chew. Of course, she was also treating in all we did this Chicago weekend.