(no subject)
I think I'm finally ready to post about this publicly...
Last Saturday night, around midnight, one of my best friends, Ty Snyder (or Ty Sny as we called him), died in a car accident. I, being the night owl that I am and not wanting to go to bed (and completely unaware of what had just happened), didn't go to bed until around 7 AM. Then I got the call at about 9:30. It was Ashley. Needless to say, when she told me, it felt like I had been blindsided by a bus. As soon as I hung up the phone, I called Evan (who had tried to call me 10 minutes before Ashley, but I was sound asleep and didn't wake up). He ended up picking me up and we both went out to Doug L.'s, where a bunch of fellow friends of Ty were getting together. It was so hard walking in and having to face all those friends of Ty so soon after hearing the news. But it was nice just being there amongst people I could lean on for support and also offer my own support to. We reminisced, sharing memories of Ty and just staying as positive as we could. A few hours later, Pat asked everyone if they'd want to migrate to his house to watch the Steelers game, which everyone said yes to, with the exception of me. I didn't feel like watching a game, I just wanted to go home, but ended up leaving with Shane (who I had called shortly after arriving at Doug's to give him the news and had come over). We picked up his friend, Curtis, and we all went to Pizza Hut because we hadn't eaten anything all day and the hunger was no longer imperceptible. It served well as comfort food. They then dropped me off at my house, where I went back to my room and cried off and on for about a half an hour until Evan showed up. Then Shane and Curtis came back to my house, and we all hung out for a while. I don't remember why Shane and Curtis had to leave before coming to my house, but I do remember that they intended to come back after dropping me off. And actually, I don't remember anything after Evan left -- the rest of that night seems to have completely detached itself from my memory, except for calling McDonald's and telling them I'd need a couple days off.
Come to think of it, Monday and Tuesday are almost complete blurs, too. I do remember that I was doing better than on Sunday and somehow able to stay positive. Monday I was told that the viewing would be on Wednesday and the funeral on Thursday, so I went in to Mickey D's that night to talk to the manager and tell her I'd also need those two days off. She asked if I'd be able to work on Friday and I told her I'd let her know.
Wednesday, I went to the viewing. When I arrived, Ashley met me outside crying, and I had to fight back tears myself. There were actually two services, one from 2-4, and the other 6-9. I went to both, and in between services, we went out to eat at Ty's favorite restaurant, Hooters, where Ty not only would go to eat all the time, but had lots of friends. After the viewing, we all went to Doug L.'s for a hangout that started out good, but eventually turned into the mother of all drama fests with the help of alcohol, which there was plenty of. It seemed to start as soon as Evan left with Pat to briefly stop over at Ed's house. But when they got back, Evan took me home, and I went straight to bed.
Thursday... let's just say I was a wreck. People weren't really concerned with how they dressed. Ty would've wanted us to go in whatever we were comfortable in, even if it was just a t-shirt and jeans. A few people did, including Evan, who went in a red Incubus t-shirt, jeans, and sandals. That was their way of honoring him, by wearing what they would always wear while hanging out with him. (Not everybody dressed down; a lot dressed up.) My way was a bit different. Ty's favorite show -- or at least in the top 3 -- was How I Met Your Mother. Anyone who's seen that show knows that in it, Barney is always telling Ted to "suit up!" It's also one of mine and Evan's favorite shows, so the three of us would always make jokes about someday suiting up and going somewhere. So to honor Ty, I suited up. During the ceremony, family and friends were given the opportunity to stand up and share a favorite memory of Ty. I told the one about when a bunch of us were in Ty's room one time while Nick was back visiting from the army, and Ty and I were playing guitars: that's a whole other story, though, which I will save for later. I was fighting back tears the whole ceremony, and finally just exploded as soon as it ended. I cried for probably at least a half an hour non-stop. Everyone -- and I mean over 20 people -- went to Hooters afterward. I wasn't going to, as all I wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed, but when I finally started to calm down, I slowly changed my mind and caught a ride with Evan. All I ordered was a 10-piece hot wings with extra hot sauce and a Wild Cherry Pepsi (they didn't have Coke products, unfortunately), which I managed to eat all of without getting anything on my suit. Go me! lol. While I never really felt like eating, I was undeniably hungry, and getting that in my stomach felt good. Also, I now see why everyone is talking about Hooters' hot wings -- they are the best damn wings I've ever had. Finally, Evan took me home at about 5ish, and I went in and tried to take a nap, but couldn't sleep at all. So I got up around 10 and called McDonald's to tell them that no, I would not be able to work Friday.
So that's been my week. What a way to start off 2009, huh?
Last Saturday night, around midnight, one of my best friends, Ty Snyder (or Ty Sny as we called him), died in a car accident. I, being the night owl that I am and not wanting to go to bed (and completely unaware of what had just happened), didn't go to bed until around 7 AM. Then I got the call at about 9:30. It was Ashley. Needless to say, when she told me, it felt like I had been blindsided by a bus. As soon as I hung up the phone, I called Evan (who had tried to call me 10 minutes before Ashley, but I was sound asleep and didn't wake up). He ended up picking me up and we both went out to Doug L.'s, where a bunch of fellow friends of Ty were getting together. It was so hard walking in and having to face all those friends of Ty so soon after hearing the news. But it was nice just being there amongst people I could lean on for support and also offer my own support to. We reminisced, sharing memories of Ty and just staying as positive as we could. A few hours later, Pat asked everyone if they'd want to migrate to his house to watch the Steelers game, which everyone said yes to, with the exception of me. I didn't feel like watching a game, I just wanted to go home, but ended up leaving with Shane (who I had called shortly after arriving at Doug's to give him the news and had come over). We picked up his friend, Curtis, and we all went to Pizza Hut because we hadn't eaten anything all day and the hunger was no longer imperceptible. It served well as comfort food. They then dropped me off at my house, where I went back to my room and cried off and on for about a half an hour until Evan showed up. Then Shane and Curtis came back to my house, and we all hung out for a while. I don't remember why Shane and Curtis had to leave before coming to my house, but I do remember that they intended to come back after dropping me off. And actually, I don't remember anything after Evan left -- the rest of that night seems to have completely detached itself from my memory, except for calling McDonald's and telling them I'd need a couple days off.
Come to think of it, Monday and Tuesday are almost complete blurs, too. I do remember that I was doing better than on Sunday and somehow able to stay positive. Monday I was told that the viewing would be on Wednesday and the funeral on Thursday, so I went in to Mickey D's that night to talk to the manager and tell her I'd also need those two days off. She asked if I'd be able to work on Friday and I told her I'd let her know.
Wednesday, I went to the viewing. When I arrived, Ashley met me outside crying, and I had to fight back tears myself. There were actually two services, one from 2-4, and the other 6-9. I went to both, and in between services, we went out to eat at Ty's favorite restaurant, Hooters, where Ty not only would go to eat all the time, but had lots of friends. After the viewing, we all went to Doug L.'s for a hangout that started out good, but eventually turned into the mother of all drama fests with the help of alcohol, which there was plenty of. It seemed to start as soon as Evan left with Pat to briefly stop over at Ed's house. But when they got back, Evan took me home, and I went straight to bed.
Thursday... let's just say I was a wreck. People weren't really concerned with how they dressed. Ty would've wanted us to go in whatever we were comfortable in, even if it was just a t-shirt and jeans. A few people did, including Evan, who went in a red Incubus t-shirt, jeans, and sandals. That was their way of honoring him, by wearing what they would always wear while hanging out with him. (Not everybody dressed down; a lot dressed up.) My way was a bit different. Ty's favorite show -- or at least in the top 3 -- was How I Met Your Mother. Anyone who's seen that show knows that in it, Barney is always telling Ted to "suit up!" It's also one of mine and Evan's favorite shows, so the three of us would always make jokes about someday suiting up and going somewhere. So to honor Ty, I suited up. During the ceremony, family and friends were given the opportunity to stand up and share a favorite memory of Ty. I told the one about when a bunch of us were in Ty's room one time while Nick was back visiting from the army, and Ty and I were playing guitars: that's a whole other story, though, which I will save for later. I was fighting back tears the whole ceremony, and finally just exploded as soon as it ended. I cried for probably at least a half an hour non-stop. Everyone -- and I mean over 20 people -- went to Hooters afterward. I wasn't going to, as all I wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed, but when I finally started to calm down, I slowly changed my mind and caught a ride with Evan. All I ordered was a 10-piece hot wings with extra hot sauce and a Wild Cherry Pepsi (they didn't have Coke products, unfortunately), which I managed to eat all of without getting anything on my suit. Go me! lol. While I never really felt like eating, I was undeniably hungry, and getting that in my stomach felt good. Also, I now see why everyone is talking about Hooters' hot wings -- they are the best damn wings I've ever had. Finally, Evan took me home at about 5ish, and I went in and tried to take a nap, but couldn't sleep at all. So I got up around 10 and called McDonald's to tell them that no, I would not be able to work Friday.
So that's been my week. What a way to start off 2009, huh?