tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post5892410500756175565..comments2024-03-28T22:15:17.067-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Happy birthday, Kier.Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-77009231739533968942023-06-13T07:43:14.722-05:002023-06-13T07:43:14.722-05:00It was wonderful to read this again. Thanks again!...It was wonderful to read this again. Thanks again! kstrejcekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11741345759794466988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-50195318629253942882020-06-14T10:55:55.417-05:002020-06-14T10:55:55.417-05:00how could you not have become good friends-you bot...how could you not have become good friends-you both had the good sense to lock that cretin fitch in the closet. nice piece.pgwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804745965409667786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-25791393079310216122020-06-14T08:23:34.518-05:002020-06-14T08:23:34.518-05:00Great read. Started out like a novel. Beautiful fr...Great read. Started out like a novel. Beautiful friendship — so glad for you both that it has lasted over the decades. Thanks for sharing your story. Teared up when I read the letters to grandpa comment. Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15373960140777556685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-83732476536210181712020-06-13T20:59:01.698-05:002020-06-13T20:59:01.698-05:00You clearly made an impact in your corner of it. M...You clearly made an impact in your corner of it. More than a lot can say. Be proud!Coeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130250489695215525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-76684718545307430012020-06-13T19:05:32.121-05:002020-06-13T19:05:32.121-05:00Best wishes for your birthday.Best wishes for your birthday.privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18413982311699012802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-29215825968439420872020-06-13T18:00:05.373-05:002020-06-13T18:00:05.373-05:00Pretty much. At 19 i was a father of 3 with a mort...Pretty much. At 19 i was a father of 3 with a mortgage and a plan to conquer the world. Didn't work out that way. Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-29452576678805373642020-06-13T13:18:19.989-05:002020-06-13T13:18:19.989-05:00"That's how I felt last week, turning 60...."That's how I felt last week, turning 60....better than okay. Great. Not great in the usual sense of the term. Not famous...but greatness is overrated. Hemingway was great at 60 and shot himself in the head at 61." <br /><br />Please don't go down that same road that old Ernest took. Not even if Orange Julius stays in power. We need more of these great "Young Manhood of Mr. S." tales that were not included in "You Were Never In Chicago." And you are so lucky to have a family, to still have an old college chum, to have other friends, and to know the joy of loving your work as a wordsmith. Like George Bailey in Bedford Falls, you might be the richest man in Northbrook.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-46285754740085941542020-06-13T12:55:22.760-05:002020-06-13T12:55:22.760-05:00Somebody get this man a Fez! Well done Neil, and ...Somebody get this man a Fez! Well done Neil, and a belated thanks for helping lug my drums up those Tuts stairs. Happy Birthday Kier!!Steve Jarvishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267437884918102303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-42468832982798576302020-06-13T10:26:05.746-05:002020-06-13T10:26:05.746-05:00Lot of great novelists couldn't write somethin...Lot of great novelists couldn't write something this beautiful.Connellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18406704590565406630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-76394667489554087342020-06-13T09:49:35.439-05:002020-06-13T09:49:35.439-05:00Had tears in my eyes by the end. Not least because...Had tears in my eyes by the end. Not least because I was braced to read that he had passed-occupational hazard of being our age. So glad he’s still alive and kicking! What a beautiful birthday gift. Coeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130250489695215525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-17524739543766740032020-06-13T09:46:41.067-05:002020-06-13T09:46:41.067-05:00Fantastic. (How do you have a grandchild that old?...Fantastic. (How do you have a grandchild that old? You must have been a child bride.😀)Coeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130250489695215525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-19426152166512242622020-06-13T09:01:55.356-05:002020-06-13T09:01:55.356-05:00You certainly learned how to write. Happy birthday...You certainly learned how to write. Happy birthday Neil. FMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-41001328268839853482020-06-13T08:43:22.662-05:002020-06-13T08:43:22.662-05:00This is beautiful. Kier sounds like a dear person...This is beautiful. Kier sounds like a dear person, I wish I'd gotten to meet him. This piece paints a sweet picture of your friend, and also gives us so much more insight into your story. Thank you. I once heard Seal say that he does not print lyrics on his CD/album jackets so the listener can hear what they want to hear. I like that. The Clash song is apropos of the times. It speaks of being white European men visiting Jamaica, loving it, not wanting to leave but not being safe there due to their white privilege that makes them into obvious targets amidst the gun play of the island. On that note wishing you and Kier's family peace and blessings today.Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-81082122674107432172020-06-13T08:34:59.914-05:002020-06-13T08:34:59.914-05:00You are correct about the song. We also played Hey...You are correct about the song. We also played Hey Joe with Seth singing.kstrejcekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11741345759794466988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-39737972746643031542020-06-13T08:33:02.017-05:002020-06-13T08:33:02.017-05:00Wow! This is the best gift I've received this ...Wow! This is the best gift I've received this year!kstrejcekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11741345759794466988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-87807252822307468812020-06-13T08:21:33.089-05:002020-06-13T08:21:33.089-05:00Perfect.
johnPerfect.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06215684866966011198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-77799205668111737372020-06-13T07:40:31.609-05:002020-06-13T07:40:31.609-05:00Fortunate to have some very good friends but none ...Fortunate to have some very good friends but none nearly as close as my college roommate. Similar story as Neil’s. <br />A few years ago we met in Gainesville to catch a Gator game. I brought two bikes so we could ride to the stadium from our motel. We rode right through campus. Passing our old dorm I said, “Your realize we were doing this fifty years ago.” Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-92032666103497807282020-06-13T06:40:23.244-05:002020-06-13T06:40:23.244-05:00I'll be 61 in a few months, if i make it. 60 h...I'll be 61 in a few months, if i make it. 60 has brought with it the health problems of a life hard lived. Just having survived a frightening and life threatening event, i began to wonder and worry about those that i love and if i had loved enough. I decided that being the brave and silent sufferer wasn't going to help prepare my kids or grandkids for the inevitable. So i began to try and explain that they needed to prepare for the pain to come. <br />The responses were mostly of the Buck it up and Fight On positivity that i expected. <br />Recently my Air Force Airman Granddaughter stationed in the U.K. sent me a message that let me know that i wasn't a complete failure. <br /><br />G-pa,<br />I’ve resorted to FB messenger because the whirlwind that is me is horrible at adulting. There are so many letters addressed to you shoved in books, drawers, or envelopes, with so many words left unsaid because I can’t bring myself to miss home. I’ve missed home before, and the pain can be unbearable, so I choose to have conversations with you- in cars , in letters, on walks —- i talk and the hurt goes away. <br />I’m an emotional creature and as I’ve grown I’ve learned to board up this little heart of mine, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry because you're here now and time is against us. <br /><br />I asked God for help not too long ago - I prayed for you, because that’s what people do when they’re scared. AND after a long heavy day of worrying and hurting, I tried to walk it off. I walked and walked and found myself at the church yard in my town. I saw a butterfly float on by - and for some reason this brought me peace. I told Cameron not to startle it and to just stand still - only for this butterfly to fly right up to me and land on my arm for what felt like forever. I finally felt like I could lay down what was hurting me. I asked God for a sign that things are going to get better, but didn’t acknowledge the sign God had just given me - it wasn’t until I walked maybe 15 more yards - and I SH@T you not - there were angel wings in the dust of the parking lot. I said to myself “huh that’s funny if it had a head it’d be an angel,” and poof there it was - a perfect circle sitting above the wings I had originally glanced at for only a moment. <br /><br />G-pa<br />I sob every time I think of a world without you in it. I mean chest concaving , pill in throat, kind of sobbing. You have been the light at the end of the tunnel for as long as I can remember. <br />I always wished for cookie cutter grandparents but instead God gave me you - this perfectly imperfect genius of a grandpa who has inspired me from when I was just a wee lad with pig tails and a pink jumper. Inspired me to never settle and never stop reaching for things that bring me happiness because you only get one, one very uncertain life full of beautiful experiences. AND I just want you to know how thankful I am for all of ours. I remember every walk for donuts and big laughs at comics, your life lessons, the songs in the car, your kindness, the way you talk to people or how you REALLY listen because you know what it feels like when people don’t. <br />I learned how to be humble by observing you. <br /><br />Everyday I miss watching movies and talking hypotheticals - i miss watching you at your happiest cooking food and listening to birds while drinking coffee - I miss listening to the trees talk while you tell me all about how to be a good person , a smart person , and a kind one. I know how much you’ve sacrificed and how much you love and you will always be eternal in my memory and in my heart. <br />I never want to let you go but it’s selfish of me to not tell you how much I love you before you do. <br />You’re my favorite person on this planet and I dread the pain you’ll bring me but I’ll rejoice in knowing that you’ll always be with me. You are so incredibly loved and I see you for the beautiful human being that you’ve always been. I can’t imagine what you’re going through but I pray and know you’ll pull through. You’re not going anywhere GPA so quit all that yapping I’ll see you soon gpa I love you<br />LisaPaul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.com