Been awhile ain't it?
Suffice to say, it's been a long eventful week. My 14 year old cousin Kevin passed away most unexpectedly on Saturday. He was autistic and was born with a heart condition, but was otherwise in good health. He even ran cross country (the above picture is myself + terry and him after running Crazy Legs in late April). By all accounts, my aunt/uncle were in Iowa for the Iowa game and went to wake Kevin up and more or less, he was unresponsive. So it sounds like he basically slipped away in his sleep, which is better than struggling I guess.
So I've been in Madison tending to those affairs all week and am finally back in Chicago. It was cool to see as many people come to the visitation and funeral as there were. 1000+ for both events. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for a parent to lose a kid like that (and have long since stopped even trying to wrap my head around it). You'd see people going past the casket in the visitation and you could almost tell that in a small way, they were thinking about what would happen if that were their kid there. Needless to say, funerals for kids are about the hardest thing to watch go down. I spent more time organizing/getting things in order for this one than I ever have for a funeral, so by the time it all went down, I'd gotten past that initial barrier of the whole matter.
My aunt and uncle seem to be getting on okay (as well as I suppose you could expect for something like this). I think traumatic is a gross understatement. There isn't much you can say to them, but I think they just appreciate people being around them more than anything you could possibly say. It's not like in a movie where some character gets to utter some profound line that encompasses the weight of the matter.
Anyway...that was that. This weekend, I'm off to Milwaukee. I took a long weekend (vaca days to burn) so Shelly and I are going up there to tour breweries and more or less, just be not-in-Chicago for the weekend.
Comments (4)
I can't even fucking imagine what your Aunt and Uncle must be going through.
My son has some health issues and some times at night after he's gone to bed I go into his room and watch him sleep. When I do that I think to myself what it would be like if he wasn't here and it nearly crushes me with a feeling of dread that is unfathomable.
My house is filled with noise all day long (except when he sleeps) and to think about that noise not being there is unbearable.
My deepest condolences to you and your family my friend.
Posted by Microwaved | October 27, 2008 10:46 AM
Posted on October 27, 2008 10:46
that sucks man, and I feel bad for them. I can't think of anything else to say besides that. I can't fathom that, and I have a kid too. Angie's grandpa just died today too, guess it was a crumy weekend all around.
save for the metallica concert last night.
Posted by mike f. | October 27, 2008 11:34 AM
Posted on October 27, 2008 11:34
Thanks y'all.
How was the Metallica show?
Posted by Dave McAnally | October 29, 2008 11:45 AM
Posted on October 29, 2008 11:45
I had my face rocked off at the Metallica show. The Sword were pretty cool. they have a song in Guitar Hero II and it looks just as hard to play live as it does in the game ;) Down was so-so. The singer (former Pantera frontman) sure likes to beat himself in the head with the mic alot. Metallica was true to form and put on a pretty sweet show. They played a lot longer than I thought they would. Lots of old stuff, and really new stuff (St. Anger & Death Magnetic). I don't recall anything from Re-Load or Load (save for The Memory Remains). not even 'Fuel'. I had awesome seats. I bet Ryan's face was equally rocked off. I took some pics with my whopping 2.0mp camera on my blackberry if you want them. a few turned out decent. the link below shows their set list. Hit The Lights was pretty freakin' cool.
Posted by mike f. | October 30, 2008 10:08 AM
Posted on October 30, 2008 10:08