miss you

 

i really miss this guy...

my way of coping is to pretend like the worst never happened. i'm finding that my way just doesn't work this time. 

it's just not fair. andrew fought harder than anything i've ever encountered.

he is truly my hero.

i choose to remember his laugh, his sarcasm, his strength and the joy he has brought to my life.

Rest in Peace.

perfectly happy

here are a couple pictures from wednesday night. i can't even begin to describe how special the night and honor was. my memories of the dawg days are unparalleled and extremely cherished. so to be asked to return and have another chance to step on the court at good ole' Hec Ed, i was nervously excited. it's funny, besides the first few games of my freshman year, i never became nervous at the thought of stepping on the court and becoming the center of attention. so why, on a night that a MVP performance could only be derailed if my wheelchair broke down, was i nervous to step on the same floor that i've flopped, sprinted and chest bumped on for four years?! i dunno either...but that's why i brought my teammates with me. as soon as i stepped on the court, i felt at home again and i couldn't stop smiling. the video and script was perfect. when i realized that both Coach McGuff and Coach Bonvicini were keeping their teams on the floor, i felt extremely special. the best part of the night was the best part of every game day. husky fans are like no other in college sports...well they actually share the same passion as any fan of their favorite college, BUT according to me (and it's my blog, SO) Husky fans are the greatest! so naturally the best part of the evening was sharing it with our loyal fans. whether they've been following the team for a year or since the program's first year, these guys love their Huskies. the love and applause i was showered with was amazing. it was the most perfect night and i am so thankful to Megan Osmer, Shannon Kelly, Elliott Silvers, and Colleen and R.B. Caulkins. thank you to the program and my teammates for the continued support. and thank you to my family for EVERYTHING.

i'll post more pictures and a copy of the video when it becomes available. it was so, so awesome...i'm still smiling.

i love

this girl! happy birthday, kayla...

 

video by the equally beautiful, 

breanne watson.

my friends are insanely good-looking.

gay blogging

seriously people, it's time. our country is thought to be a progressive one, yet this issue keeps us dated and old fashioned.  this is a basic human right, in my opinion. you don't have to agree but why stifle another's happiness.  if you don't want a 'gay' marriage, don't get one!!!

ok, i'll get off my soapbox...

hello brother

 this is steve gleason circa 2005. you may remember him from his days at wazzu, donning the crimson and gray and making a trip to the rose bowl.  most know him for his legendary blocked punt during the very first game played in the superdome since hurricane katrina ripped through new orleans a year earlier. many saints fans regard that play, seen below,  as a symbol of their city's relentlessness.  that play vaulted steve into cult hero status among saints fans and forever cemented him as a figure of the great revival of a post-katrina NOLA. 

i'll admit, i don't remember steve as a coug or a saint. i've never met the guy but respect him as a fellow athlete and an important figure of new orleans, my absolute favorite southern city. i found out about steve because of the dark passenger that we share. he became a brother to me through ALS. another example of a finely tuned athlete that dedicated his life to strengthening his body so he could excel at football's highest level. steve enjoyed a successful career and was embarking on retired life with his new wife and plans for a family. however, slowly his body began to change. i bet he thought, 'wow, i had no idea that retiring and relaxing could cause my limbs to become so heavy' and 'what the hell is this twitching?!'. i hear ya...i thought that too!!! soon his worst fears were confirmed. steve, like me, had been robbed by a disease that i (maybe we) knew little about. ALS crept into our bodies and tore down the temple that we had been working on since the second we fell in love with our sports. ALS will try to steal every living ounce of you and it won't stop until it does. thankfully steve and i have another thing in common. the years spent dedicated to our sports were not spent alone. just as my teammates and friends held me up after our coaches vicious conditioning tests years ago...they continue to support me now as ALS tests me in a whole new way.

likewise, steve's teammates and friends continue to support him as his limbs weaken. ALS is threatening to rob steve of everything but i guarantee that steve and team gleason are mounting a grand defense. 

doctors and scientists are closer than ever to delivering a treatment to stop and maybe even reverse ALS. PALS (people with ALS) around the world continue to lean on their friends and family for support while patiently waiting for a miracle. until that day, each of us resembles that blocked punt that helped to fuel new orleans ' post-katrina resurrection. a spark lying dormant within us only waiting to be set free to start our own great revival of a post-ALS world.

thank you

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you w...ill gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

sunshine

 

 you are my sunshine, my only sunshine 

you make me happy when my skies are gray

i hope you know how much i love you 

MeeeYowww

Old Dawgs, New Tricks

this is who i hung out with this weekend. it's easily one of my most favorite weekends of the year.  if i had it my way, i would cram each one of them in my house, their families and all, and live together as most of us did in college.  they know me better than i know myself, they always have and i used to hate it but i am so thankful for it now. i love you guys!

that's cheryl...she keeps it classy.

i have no idea but i love it!

lollipop carli...her flavor world be a mixture of granola and hummus.

sweet six - carli + sug spice = almost perfection

best combo in the history of the world. i'm serious people

LeAnn, Dunc, Jill, Franza, Heather, Sug', Emily and Carlito...thank you for not letting me quit the team. i'd be lost without you guys.