Make Time: November 2014

Monday, November 17, 2014

Back Home Again

After driving 20,000 miles in four months, I'm finally back in Chicago where I started. I got into town around 2pm on Saturday and picked up my friend Maggie and her buddy Mandi at a bar near where I used to live in the city. I brought them back to Maggie's beautiful apartment near downtown, which is where I would be staying until Monday. After dropping my things back at Maggie's, I drove up to meet some friends who were at a Vest Fest party. Everyone in this party was wearing a vest, which was entertaining by itself, and it was fantastic to see most of my old crew in one place. Tons of laughs. Lots of stories. And enough dancing to tire out James Brown. We didn't end until around 5am, and then I got some sleep at a friends place before heading back to Maggie's around 9am. On Sunday I spent the morning and afternoon hanging out with Maggie and eating some of my favorite deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's. As luck would have it, my sister Taty is in Chicago right now as well, so she came over to Maggie's and then her and I drove out to the suburbs to attend my goddaughter's birthday party. What a great homecoming - being around my friends and then loved ones immediately upon my arrival in Chicago. Makes me feel like this is a special place for me, and possibly the place I should start my business. I'll be working with many people here in the city over the next few weeks in order to decide if Chicago will be my home once again. I'm more than excited about being here, and I'm going to make the most of my time here at the end of my year of travels.

At Vest Fest with my boys Jay and Eugene

View from Maggie's apt - so beautiful

My goddaughter Avery at her birthday party :)

Great sign up in Leslie's home

These cupcakes were AMAZING!

Colin is my favorite - such a goofball

Des Moines Damon Datoson

The drive from Denver to Chicago is 14 hours, which I actually considered doing in one trip, but then I remembered that I have a friend in Des Moines, Iowa, which is only 9 hours distance from Denver. Damon Dotson is from Okoboji, Iowa, where I started out my road trip four months ago. I've met him a number of times over the years, but we have just recently become closer. He's a phenomenal musician and he's done very well playing all over the US. I texted Damon the day before I left Denver and asked if it would be possible for me to stay at his house for a few hours on my journey back to Chicago. Of course he said he would love to have me stay, so I set my GPS for Des Moines and after 9 hours I showed up at Star Bar - the scene of Damon's gig that night. Absolutely fantastic seeing Damon! He's a great showman, and he had this entire bar singing and dancing around him and his guitar. We had a few drinks after the show and then headed back to he and his girlfriend's home. His lady's name is Ali, and she is also fantastic and full of positive energy. I love being around them - so uplifting. We had a fun night talking about travels, music, and life...and we didn't fall asleep until after 4am. I then got up around 8am and was back on the road around 9:30am, finally en route to Chicago....

Amazing song which always inspired me on the road

Damon Dotson after his show in Des Moines

Black Keys

It's funny - when I was pulling up to see Fr Jerry at the hospital in Ottawa I got a message from Jasmine asking if I wanted to join her to see The Black Keys in Denver on Thursday. Now usually I would have just continued on my way to Chicago, because I was already halfway there, but instead I decided to head back to Denver. Seeing Fr Jerry in such a terrible state reminded me that I need to live life to the fullest, and if heading back to Denver felt right, then that's what I was going to do. So I visited Fr Jerry around 10am on Wednesday morning and then backtracked another 8.5 hours to Denver. As I was getting closer to the city I called in an order for a pizza, but when I showed up to pick it up they had forgotten about my order. The manager at this pizza place then told me that my pizza would be up shortly...and it would be free. Nice! Love when little things like this happen - makes me feel like I'm in the right place at the right time. So I headed back to Justin and Leah's home with my free dinner, and settled in and hung out with the two dogs and cat. Justin and Leah were out when I got home, but they came home shortly thereafter and we had a great conversation before heading to bed. On Thursday morning Justin worked from home because he had a repairman coming to check on the houses insulation. The home they bought was made at the end of the 19th century, so it unfortunately needs a few updates. As Justin and the plumber were sifting through a small crawl space upstairs, they found some very old newspapers which were fun to read through (funny picture below). During the day I read and enjoyed being back in such a loving home, and then in the evening Justin and Leah had to leave for a networking event.

Jasmine drove 6 hours up from Ridgway for the show. The Black Keys are her all time favorite band, and she was more than happy to make the journey to see them play. It was great seeing her again, and I've also always liked the Black Keys, so it was great to see them play. We had a blast, and part of me wishes there was romance in our time together, but that's just not the case between us. Regardless, we laughed a ton and had a blast meeting people everywhere we stopped before and after the show (not to mention during the show). The next morning Jasmine left around 5am in order to get back to work, and later that morning I made my way towards Chicago. I have absolutely no regrets in coming back to Denver - what a great show and a fun experience!

Reading The Denver Post from December 29, 1907 - My friend Justin found this in a crawl space in his new home

My painting hanging in Justin and Leah's guest room

Justin and Leah before they were heading out for the night

So cute

All the animals in the house posed for me

One of my favorite songs while on the road

Another amazing song

Father Jerry

One of my teachers in high school was a priest named Fr Jerry. He is kind, generous, considerate, and most of all, a great teacher and friend. For many years Fr Jerry was a heavy drinker, though he became sober 18 years ago and has not had a drink since then. Unfortunately he smoked for many years after becoming sober, and his diet isn't necessarily the healthiest. Since teaching me in Chicago, Fr Jerry moved to a small church in a tiny town in Kansas. About a week ago I received a call from a high school friend of mine who told me Fr Jerry was in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to some serious health issues. My plan was to drive from Denver to Chicago, so I decided to see my old teacher. First I had breakfast in Denver with a guy named Ethan, who works in real estate and who could be a potentially great partner if I opened my business idea in Denver. I'm extremely excited about the potential to work with Ethan, and we had a fantastic conversation over a quick breakfast. I then jumped in my car and drove 8.5 hours to Ottawa, Kansas. Once in Ottawa I drove directly to the ICU unit at Ransom Hospital, where my former teacher was staying. It was hard to see Fr Jerry in such a tough position. Apparently he came down with a case of pneumonia, and his breathing has been very restricted ever since. At the time I arrived Fr Jerry had a full face breathing apparatus on his face, and nurses were coming and going. Luckily he was lucid enough to speak, so we caught up a bit and then I decided to keep my friend company throughout the night. I slept in one of the chairs in the hospital room, although with the nurses coming in and out all evening I didn't sleep very much. In the morning Fr Jerry was feeling a bit better, and he told me to go to his church where another priest would give me breakfast. As I pulled up to St Boniface Church, which is a few miles away in the town of Scipio, I couldn't help but notice its remoteness. Fr Dave was at the church when I arrived, about 7am, and he showed me through the chapel and then I grabbed some breakfast, a nap, and then showered before heading back to the hospital to check on Fr. Jerry. I was elated to see Fr Jerry didn't have the full-face breathing apparatus on anymore. His energy wasn't any better, but it was good that he didn't have such an encumbering thing on his face anymore. We talked for a bit and then I decided to continue on the road.

I'm glad I was able to spend time with Fr Jerry. He was always there to listen to any of my problems, and I felt lucky to be there to support him in his time of need.

The dogs the night before I left Denver

Fr Jerry the day I got to the hospital

Quilt in the rectory of the church

In Fr Jerry's room - love that he still had a sticker from my high school there.

Just outside the church

Inside St Boniface

Monday, November 10, 2014

Long Lost Cousin

My grandma Ruth, who is 100 and lives in Las Vegas, grew up in Philadelphia. She was one of three children - two girls and a boy. Her brother's name is Harold, and he has a grandson named Drew, who lives near Boulder Colorado. Drew grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ - relatively close to Philadelphia. He went to Rider University, which is very close to Princeton (where I went to school). He left after his freshman year of college to move to Boulder, Colorado, where he had always wanted to live. He worked some jobs there for a bit before finishing up school, but he already knew his dream. Since Drew was a young man he always wanted to own his own ice cream parlor. He'd worked in many ice cream shops in his youth, and then when he started preparing for his own venture he worked in many of them, including Cold Stone Creamery. Then after many years of preparation and much planning, Drew opened his own ice cream parlor in Louisville, which is a just outside of Boulder, Colorado. The name - Sweet Cow. Since the day he opened the doors, it has been a huge success. Currently Drew and his partner have three stores and they are planning to open another three very soon. He is not only an inspiration to me as I set out on my entrepreneurial journey, but he is an extremely kind, caring, and generous man. I met with him three times while I've been here in Denver, including a morning work meeting at one of his stores. Drew's passion for delivering a quality product within a happy and clean environment is clear to see from his store and his employees. Sweet Cow has become a bit of a Denver/Boulder phenomenon, and everyone I speak to LOVES it. I'm extremely proud of Drew, even though I didn't even know him before this trip to Denver. We had numerous conversations about what it takes to start and succeed in a new business venture. I'm excited to have Drew as a mentor and a sounding board for my business!! This is an incredibly good sign for me, because I'm really feeling like the world is coming together to help me see my vision through to success. More to come on that, but wow what a great weekend here in Denver/Boulder.