This was a message sent to an old H.S. classmate from Texas
that got married. Actually this is his wife, but they were both friends. People turned me on to Facebook recently, and
I need to learn to stop pasting and forwarding, or I'll never get to sleep tonight, and I'm exhausted after watching a couple's two dogs this last week. But home, and nice to be
in my place where I can take things easy. And Paste. And
forward. And email. And go to bed, like now when I feel like it. See from you on ItsYourTurn tomorrow.
Hi Karen. After graduating college at UT, I was in a band as the lead singer for several years. Gotta be a parents' worst nightmare for one of their kids to graduate then join a band. Some of the best money I'd ever made though, and nice young lladies that I "almost" became "committed" to. Long stories, sort of. One girl I was involved with, I moved to NYC with in 96, but she had some definite plans to move up in the world of musicians. She hooked with Kurt Loder from MTV (I met him once when she was with him and we were all welcoming some other friends who had moved to NYC from Austin). I worked a few TV shows, films etc, then got a job with the company that provides the backline gear and rehearsals for bands going onto SNL, D. Letterman, Mad. Sq. Garden, and even "met" Joe Pesci once in an elevator at a hotel I was delivering a keyboard to. Funny, funny stuff that I had to keep from laughing out loud. Ultimate Joe Pesci comments about another rider in the elevator.
In '99 I got a job working with computers. Learned a lot, went through a lot. Actually, in the Spring of '99 not long after I got the new job in computers, I was given a "possible" diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Symptoms went away, and I went on with learning about computers. Actually, the company I worked for had bought an ISP a few years before, and one of the "clients" of the older ISP was the public hospitals of NYC. I had to manage their firewall, email, provide 3000+ pages of where everyone was surfing on the internet through their system. (I know, odd series of laws that NYC had, but the public hospitals couldn't have the firewall on their own network...long series of laws that they had to abide by, and I had to make sure they were following with their internet usage.) Anway, the Spring of 2001, my company told me they weren't going to keep the public hospitals as a client, too expensive to manage on my end. And, I had my "defining" Multiple Sclerosis exacerbation where I couldn't feel anything from the hips down, was exhausted and ready to go to bed at 7pm everynight, people noticed that I had lost a lot of weight also, so I was in the hospital for 11 days having steroid treatments. Steroids did magic for me, but my job was still going away, so among the few interviews I went through was one on the 77th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. "Fortunately" I wasn't qualified for it, though I had experience in virtually everything computer related. However, the dot com boom was falling, and many people were looking for jobs also in NYC. Then, the Fall of 2001, what can I say. My job was supposed to end in October, but they "extended" my job by one more month. Whatever. 2001 was not a fun year.
In the Spring of 2002 I joined a church in Manhattan, and the next Fall I started singing with their choir, and stuck with them until I moved to Colorado in the Summer of 2007. The choir was one of the best memories I've had singing. Great group of people to be around always. Yet, Mom and Dad wanted to buy a second place, and me to live and manage it for them, so here I have been. Long stories, but always good to see from the Edsons, won't forget those "Music Man" days. I was in the MM after that at some Jr. College a year or so later, and didn't lose a beat singing. Somehow, singing has always been part of my life. Things here in Colorado won't ever be the same as the choir I sang with in NYC, or singing for that band in Austin, TX, but singing and music are still there for me. I tried the "acting" bit a few times in Austin, and in NYC, but I just wasn't up for constantly looking for work. There was a lady who had done Law and Order a couple times in NYC that I knew, but she was always busy. She has family near here in Colorado, but I haven't pursued much beyond where my folks and other family are at. One of these days, maybe, but most people are married and have children now, at my age. My Mom tells me that she had an uncle that was single his whole life, was always a great person to be around, so maybe that might be my fate. After all, we can't be young forever. Something like that.
Enough of my life-ponderings Karen. Always good to see from you and Eric, and reminisce about our younger days performing. Say hi to him, or don't. Good to see from you at least Karen!
I sent this the other day to someone also from Alvin who went to our church there where my dad was the pastor. Sort of a lot to fill everyone in on, but this is something of a summary.
Yes, it is AK from Alvin, TX. (And yes, my Dad did preach there. ) Looks like a lot has happened for a lot of us since. A (short) summary: I went to UT in Austin, graduated '89, Jarid graduated from UT in '93. I was in a band for 7 years after getting my Bach. Degree at UT (Radio-TV-Film), Jarid is a Civil Engineer in Alaska, married a lady in 2000, with three kids who lost their first father in a small plane crash, Jarid and Cara had a baby boy in 2002. (One) of my girlfriends decided to move to NYC in 1996 whom I followed, but we didn't stay together but for a year longer, I moved back to Colorado last Summer (2007) where the folks have lived since 1996. Folks moved to Colorado, I moved to NYC, and Jarid moved to Alaska, all in 1996. Not that we were trying to get some distance between us, but things just seem to happen that way. It's been nice to be around the folks since two Summers ago, and a lot of my Dad's family here in Northern Colorado. Stay in touch! I'll look through your photos a little to get something of a history on you and the family. Nice to see you married now! Say hi to your family you grew up with in Alvin for me. I've somewhat stayed in touch with Tammy S, sort of. I know her daughter Kelly had passed away a couple of years ago.
