Catching Up: Farmer Dave’s Visit, May 11

 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/IslandAdventureWithFarmerDave11

Catching Up: the passing of Sam Trowbridge

I was absolutely CRUSHED when I found out about Sam Trowbridge. I’d first seen rumor of an accident via Facebook, and I searched frantically for answers as I’d immediately gotten an awful feeling about what might have happened. It wasn’t long before I learned that what I’d feared the most was true- April 21st 2011, Sam Trowbridge passed away from a head injury while freebording. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and caught an edge doing something routine to him… he lost consciousness immediately and did not suffer.  Nothing can bring Sam back into our lives, but his death CAN make a difference for others. PLEASE remember to always wear a helmet. To learn more about the movement that this tragedy has started, please visit the 4ST Facebook Page and make the pledge.

Sam was an amazing rider, but more importantly, an incredible friend. I loved him a lot more than he knew, and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t wish I coulda told him. He touched the lives of everyone he met and, being wise beyond his years, lived 10x the life of most his age. Sam won Rookie of the Year at the same time that I won Rider of the Year back in 2005. Since then, we became friends through the internet and through communications via Freebord, but it wasn’t until 2007 that we flew him out to SF as a contest winner and I got to meet him in person. Sam left a huge impression on me, and though years later, as my communication with most riders had drifted, Sam and I always kept well in touch. He helped talk me through hard times in my life, and I was able to return the favor in doing the same for him. We understood each other in a way that’s hard to find.  The world is down one limitless human being, and I’m down one more irreplaceable friend that I’ll never forget. May you shine just as bright in the next life Sam… wherever you are now, those around you are lucky to have you.  My love goes out to Steve and Pip Trowbridge, who had brought such a beautiful human being into this world. Even though we all feel robbed for losing Sam so young, I’m glad I had the years with him in my life that I did, rather than none at all.

You can find more of Sam’s great videos here: http://vimeo.com/user771692/videos

It was very difficult for me to mourn yet again over someone special to me while isolated from those going through the same shared experience. So not long after hearing about Sam’s passing, I bought a ticket to Perth, Australia. I was welcomed by the kindness of the MacFarlane Family, the Trowbridge Family, and my freebord brothers with whom I’ve shared years of friendship and banter. I promised Sam I’d make it out to Perth to ride, and though I was a little too late, I’m glad to have fulfilled that promise. I now have a piece of Sam with me- I take him along on my adventures, just like we talked about doing together one day.

And now, Perth.

    

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/Perth11

my filming ability was very limited so I chose to make a video that attempts to portray more how it ‘felt’ to be there… fuzzy and surreal.

It was properly titled “Fuzzy Memories- Perth”

Catching Up: Sister Visit!!!

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/IslandAdventuresWithSister11

Catching Up: 25th Birthday

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/25thBirthdayParty#

 

Catching Up: Robin’s Visit, Feb 11

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/RobinSVisit11#5684173950535367138

 

Catching Up: I’ll carry you with me, wherever I go

  

this will always be home….

 

Catching Up: Christmas and New Years in Thailand, Dec 10

 

 

Happy New Years…

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/NewYearsWeekendOhTen2OhEleven

 

 

 

 

Catching Up: Christmas at School, Dec 10

 

 

 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/ChristmanAtSchool10#

 

Catching Up: Bonnie’s Visit, Dec 10

I’ll be going back and sharing some key points over the past year. I’ll just post a few pics, but provide a link below to the rest in the album.

 

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/107768279091135310437/BonnieVisit10

 

I love you Bonnie- it was great to see you

A year to date….

over here in The Land of Smiles, it’s December 3rd- a date that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I hate to make it sound so morbid, but the truth of the matter is I will never forget the feeling of my heart smashing into a million pieces when I got the call from Ralphy about Stephen Hartmann’s passing- and it’s remained as fresh in my mind as the day it happened. My brain couldn’t process or accept it the first couple times I struggled to listen to the voice message while on a remote island, accessing a weak wifi signal through my ipod.

Stephen Hartmann- born June 29th 1962, passed on to the next chapter on December 3rd 2010. In the meantime he lived the life of 10 men and touched the lives of countless others. He’s the best friend I ever had and will live on as a prominent voice in my head until the day I catch up with him.

In January of this year, I flew out to California to join friends and family in honoring the incredible life that he lived I brought with me this tribute video and gave the hardest speech I ever had to give:

“Stephen was truly an amazing person. There’s no one I’ve met along the way that has affected me the way he has. He was the definition of ‘the closeness of family’ to me. He was the older brother I never had… But he was so much more than that to me. There wasn’t a fork in the road or an idea I had that I wouldn’t want to bounce off him first. He expected the best version of myself out of me, which inspired me to deliver it. A friend with that virtue is priceless.

        “Work hard play hard”, that’s what he always said. I’ve never met a man with a stronger work ethic. He’d fly around the office like a mad man, doing the work of 10 people all at once- then still have the energy to come home, invite some friends over and mix up some margaritas… everyone would always have such a good time… then of course he’d be cleaning up the event while it was still going on- classic Stephen move.

        I invited him to my uncles birthday party one time, and him and Ralph came down to LA for it. And within a couple hours I noticed I hadn’t seen him for a while and I started looking around. I ended up finally finding him outside in the backyard sweeping in a fury! His OCD had kicked in and he couldn’t help himself when he saw all those leaves!!

We once went to this fancy office for a meeting, and the guy who’s office it was stepped out for a minute- the second he did, Stephen jumped forward and straightened this guy’s name placard that was on his desk… apparently it was a little crooked and he couldnt stand it. It was the look of satisfaction and relief on his face after he’d fixed it that really made the moment memorable.

        The best was our conversations though- lobbing opinions back and forth, inspiring and developing business ideas, being baffled by inefficient ones or bad customer service, contemplating cultural and social dynamics.. we could go on for hours and we did- even our ‘early morning jousting’ left us both shaking our heads with fat grins on our faces.

One of the first we times we hung out, which was our first trip together, was a road trip up to San Francisco. The moment we got onto the freeway until the moment we pulled up to our hotel was just one long non-stop great conversation- we didn’t even bother changing the CD once that trip because the music was down so low the whole time it didn’t matter. We NEVER ran out of fun inspiring things to talk about, and that lasted through out our whole friendship. We’re both Tiger signs and we both act like it. Stephen got really into the Chinese Zodiac signs and when he got his first book on it he asked eeeeveryone what year they were born. He even wanted to know the signs of friends of mine who he hadn’t met- I assume he wanted to analyze their statistic compatibility.

He was quick to judge, which I always gave him a hard time about, but the worst part is that he was almost always right! He had a very high standard in human relation and how you treat your friends and those around you… that’s one of the things that made him so special. His Book of Law about accountability, reliability, and loyalty was very strict (but in the greatest way possible), and he personally followed it to the ‘t’. He’d always tell me that there are enough good people out there and that life is too short to settle for mediocre friends who don’t recognize the importance of those kinds of things.

       Stephen was my best friend, and I feel so fortunate to have been able to share the years that I did with him. When I started traveling and living abroad, we skyped so much that he made jokes saying he saw me more often when I was on the other side of the planet than he did when I was living in town. We’d end every skype conversation or email with “I wish you were standing in front of me right now”, which we jokingly coined as our catchphrase that we said we would sell to Hallmark one day

       Anyway, so I’ll start to wrap it up with one last Stephen story which is so representative of the generosity he showed towards those he loved. Back when we went to alot of electronic dance events together, he called me one day and was telling me about a festival coming up that was headlining ALL of our favorite world class DJ artists. I was all excited until he mentioned that it was in actually going to be in Miami. Rolling my eyes I asked him what the point of even telling me was? He responded “because I just bought you, me, Ralphy, and Maria plane tickets and we’re going”. I was SO excited and at a loss for words over this random act of kindness- which for stephen, was exactly why he did it. He LOVED helping out those who recognized and appreciated it- he got such joy out of seeing the excitement of their experience and knowing he was responsible for it. That’s just one of his great qualities I’m so happy to have been exposed to so that it could rub off on me and help me to become who I am. That’s why I stole his car one year on his birthday- he was furious when I pulled up to the house… until he heard the professional sound system I’d had installed in it

       Stephen being gone has rocked my world more than anything I ever thought could have. He has been such a pillar in my everyday life and woven so tightly throughout so much of what I know as my identity. I’ve felt lost… empty… broken… angry… robbed… dispaired… and the look he’d have on his face if he saw me like that because of him has been the only thing to pick me up and dust me off. For all of us that feel like an important piece of life is now missing, it’s up to us to fill in those gaps and carry on all the positive influence that he added. Stephens voice lives on in my head with an opinion about every choice I make- and to me, I feel so lucky to have such a guiding light. I’ve had that voice in my head for over 1/2 a decade, but it’s a lot stronger now and I listen to it now more than ever. 

       Thank you Stephen- for the ultimate gift of the time you gave me while you were here. See you in the next chapter.

I truly wish you were standing in front of me right now…. so I could tell you all of this just one more time.”