College Past

Drew and I at Parents Cocktail, Bagnal with a drunk Kat on my 21st, Mountain Weekends

One of my good friends from Carolina passed away last Thursday. He and I had lost touch after College but through four years of school he was one of my dearest guy friends. I dated a Sigma Chi off and on throughout my  UNC days and Richard was his roommate and fraternity brother. Anytime I got dumped (yearly) or was having boy drama Richard would always be one of my first calls. He always answered or would call you back immediately (unless his voicemail was full) and could always somehow make everything okay. 

His funeral was Sunday and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous to see the whole college crew again. But one of Richard's finest qualities was to bring us all together and he succeeded in doing that one last time. The ceremony was wonderful. His friend spoke about High School memories and we were all crying through laughter. I wish I had a copy of the Eulogy by the Priest but it was moving and honest and exactly what you would want at your own funeral.

What I will never understand is why people are taken from us so early. The whole "Everything happens for a reason" debate doesn't make any sense when cancer takes the life of a 33 year old in 5 days. The doctors described it as "incredibly bad luck". How do you come to terms with that? And how as a parent do you recover from that?

Cory, Erica, Catie, Flora, Dumbell, me, Dang, Drew, Allison

We all met up for a drink before we got on the road and it was absolutely cathartic. I probably talked to much and was slightly irreverent .....but the things we remembered and the memories we had will always remain in our hearts. Just like Richard.

Bagnal, thank you for picking the correct Carolina blue school (and not the Citadel). And thank you for our friendship.

Here are a few throwbacks to our UNC days that we had a good laugh over: 

Murder Mart. I had a friend actually write her check out to Murder Mart. Correct name: Key Mart? Not sure anybody has ever called it that.

 Really?

Bagnal, ?, Cory & Allison at my favorite...Pantana Bobs. 

The good ole days 

We didn't have cell phones Freshman or Sophomore year. How in the hell did we find each other? My friend Allison told a story of waiting for Richard to get ready for an hour! No texting from the lobby telling him to hurry the F up. 

Derby Days. Yikes. Our skit was Liz Breyer and I dancing to "Stop, Drop" and Bagnal rapping as DMX. Awful skit!

College Jobs. I was a hostess at Mellow Mushroom before my Junior/Senior babysitting days. Bagnal worked at Jersey Mikes. 

Ken's quickie mart. 

The boxy Kate Spade that my friend Lauren and I used as a cooler for our..........SMIRNOFF ICE. We would tote these around after Bagnal dropped us off driving........wait for it......Lauren's Camaro. ANNIVERSARY EDITION. I can tease Lauren b/c she looks like a Supermodel. 

Carolina Halloweens (Allison, Bagnal, Cory)

Sigma Chi Mountain Weekends

For Richard:

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to

I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again

Won’t you look down upon me, jesus
You’ve got to help me make a stand
You’ve just got to see me through another day
My body’s aching and my time is at hand
And I won’t make it any other way

Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around
Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
To come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you, baby, one more time again, now

Thought I’d see you one more time again
There’s just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I’d see you, thought I’d see you fire and rain, now

Love,

Boylan

That smile. Bagnal & Dang. (Coffee Shop? Linda's?)