PenFall

So, my friends J&Ange are getting married in September (and everyone who knows them will tell you it’s long overdue) and I’d really love for them to have a beautiful wedding with all the trimmings. They’re willing to keep it simple, but when I told them about ChipIn, well, they seemed pretty excited. For some reason, non-hosted wordpress blogs do not allow widgets, so I’m doing the next best thing (until I find something better) — posting it here.

So ChipIn! Help my two friends get the wedding they deserve. I will continue to give updates, and will soon post their wedding page on this blog as well so you can know who you’re donating money to!

GO! GIVE!

The anniversary of my friend Simon Hultman’s death came and went a few days ago. My boyfriend Matt looked at me that morning and asked, “what’s the date?” I said, “the 26th.” He just replied, “oh. right.” We both knew him well, Matt more than me, but there was really nothing more to say. I went to work, came home, sat on my couch and thought. I didn’t turn on the TV, I didn’t kick my shoes off, I just sat and thought. I thought about the day he died and how he was remembered, loved, and missed by, very literally, hundreds of people.

I sat alone, not only thinking of Simon, but thinking of how many people were remembering him that day, three years later: remembering the pride he took in his pumas, his beats, his music, his poetry – remembering his sense of humor, his love for everything Japanese, his dedication to his friends in making sure they were all okay and all happy. I remember my freshman year feeling anxious, scared, and lost in a frat house and meeting him, the only house member who was not also in the fraternity – we hung out for a night, got drunk, got in an insanely amusing water fight and went our separate ways. About two years later our paths crossed again, and for a time, once a week, we would sit outside and have a cigarette – just shoot the shit.

A week or so before Christmas break my junior year (his senior year) we were sitting on Middle porch with a few other people, and Simon and I began comparing our Pumas – he determined that his were better because there was no netting. And his were white, white was definitely cooler. Later he and another decided to head to my room where, for a night, we colored in a Peanuts coloring book and listened to really awful music as Simon hollered along with every note. Eventually we realized how late it was and by that time coloring had become monotonous, so he said goodbye. “Have an awesome break, mad,” he said, squeezed me a hug, and left. And that was it.

When we all returned from winter break, there was news that a student had been evacuated from campus via helicopter with flu-like symptoms. There was rumor of West Nile virus (which, in time, was revealed to be false). Simon was in the hospital for a week, unstable – some of my friends (Simon’s closest friends) spent the time driving back and forth from the hospital for visits. And then one day I woke up, the ground was covered with three feet of snow, and Simon was gone.

So every January 26th, I remember.