OK..   now I need to make up for my short post yesterday. Lots to relate. Yesterday was an important milestone for all of us. We took Max back to Pratt to finish his freshman year.  We’d all worked pretty hard over the past few days to get everything worked out.. housing, registration, packing.. Max had the biggest job.. getting ready to be back out on his own. We’re all very proud of  him for jumping back in.. I know he’s  ready…  

 We got up yesterday around 6 to finish packing the car. We had decided to take the Prius. It took some doing, but we managed to get everything in. That Prius is an amazing car.  

The drive down to NYC was uneventful. Max slept the whole way and Diane and I talked peacefully.

As always.. the drive was easy until the last 20 miles..  which took an hour.   We got to Pratt around 1- ish.

The moment we got out of the car Max started running into old friends. It amazed me how connected he was considering the short 3 months he was there last year.   It felt good to be walking around  the campus. It’s such a cool and beautiful place.. The students there are all so into their craft. It’s a perfect place for Max.

Artwork everywhere !

Lots of trees and green spaces on campus.

Stabile hall.. where Max lives

We got him moved  into his dorm room ,104 Stabile Hall,  the same building as  last year. 

In room 104

An enterprising Stabile kid asks for help

We met his roommate Mankey who’s just moved here for Korea.. then we walked around with Max as he looked for more friends. It didn’t take us long before he found  his friends Dave, Chris, Ryan, and Tin. The last three guys are sharing a very cool dorm room which we got to see.

Tin’s shoe collection

They had a kaleidascope.. cool !

Best of all it was air conditioned !… it was like an oven on the streets.. over 90 and humid.. yuck.

We all went out to grab lunch at a Middle Eastern place on Myrtle St which is filled with restaurants from every part o the world. It was great seeing Max there with his friends

Chris., Tin, Max and Ryan

Around 5 we decided it was time to hit the road again.. Max walked us out to our car.. we all hugged.. and that was it.. I had been  worried about that moment for weeks… but  when it came, .. It felt really good. . I know that Max  going to love being back in school and is going to do well. It felt right.

 Saying goodbye

Max waves us goodbye.. 🙂

Diane and I started back on the long drive home.. We talked  and listened to the radio the whole way back. The second  of the two tearful moments for the day came for me as we listened to ‘this American Life’ around 9PM .  Ira Glass was doing a show on ‘break ups’. Somewhere in there he  played “Love Hurts” the song by Boudleaux Bryant.. Something about that song just hit me. reminded me of Sam.. reminded me of everything.. and I choked up

 Love hurts, love scars,
Love wounds, and marks,
Any heart, not tough,
Or strong, enough
To take a lot of pain,
Take a lot of pain
Love is like a cloud
Holds a lot of rain
Love hurts, ooh ooh love hurts

 
Glass played the version from Nazareth, but I’m partial to the version from Graham Parsons and Emmylou Harris on Grievous Angel.

The first tearful moment was when I saw Max go and say goodbye to Sam’s rock in our yard  . Love hurts.

 
OK.. so .. those two moments were really hard. yet the day  was very good. Life keeps moving somehow. We got home around 12 and went straight to sleep.

 
Diane woke up early this morning to head up to see her yoga friends at Lucy’s in Richford. I woke up totally alone in the house for the first time in…  actually.. I can’t remember. Diane was in Richford, Max was at Pratt, Gabe was at Dylan’s, Chai was at Jen’s and Sam…. Sam was everywhere around me.   I spent the morning puttering around the house, cleaning, doing laundry, fixing the computer… generally not doing much. My mind was peaceful .It was nice.. Gabe showed up around 11 with Dylan and Steve. They’d made shirts last night at Dylan’s.. Very cool

 

The three of us decided to tube up the Winooski. I drove the van up to the canoe access and biked back. The three of us grabbed tubes and jumped into the Winooski. The water was low and slow.. It took us two  hours to do the 1.5 miles to the canoe access By the time we got there we were f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g.  It was actually  nice being cold after yesterday’s heat.

We got home around 4.. around 5:30 we took off for the Friends of Sam event  at JDK. The FoS had organized a skateboarding night in the basement of JDK. Our good friend David (the ‘K’ in  ‘JDK’)  had offered the use of the skate park in JDK’s basement as part of the fundraiser.

JDK is a design firm that does high concept design for companies all over the world. You can tell that they’re very good at what they do. Their offices are a like a museum of design. Really beautiful !  There was artwork everywhere ..

David at his desk

Downstairs, there were about 80 kids there form 6 till 9 skating, eating pizza, drinking Red Bull  and bidding on hand made items in a silent auction.   It was great seeing all the stuff that folks had made in Sam’s honor. We had Sam shirts, buttons pins,. Artwork, shirts, jewelry.

Sumner made this shirt

Britteny’s artwork !

Jen made this cool mirror

We have a new batch of Samshirts.. More are available at Talent Skatepark !

Nate paineted his first guitar as an auction item.. Amazing !

Our friend Scooby and his friend (didn’t get his name… eeek) were DJ-ing with real vinyl they were truly excellent. The whole place was jumping. 

I don’t know how much they raised.. but I think it was a good night for the Friends of Sam.. I think they’re using the money to buy school supplies or some kids who can’t afford them.  

Hannah, Dave and Adah say goodbye

Jaki baught Sumner’s shirt

Gabe goes for the ring pops

JDK-ites

Kids out mingling

We’re so proud of these kids. Sam would be so proud.

-me