Afterglow 2011 - Day 8 Saturday

We couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Timmy. That was the hardest part of the week. The burial was hard but at least I knew that I could come visit him during the week. Now that we were going home and leaving him here that kind of meant that it over. We all felt really upset about this but for some reason my Mom wanted it documented with a picture. I'm not one to judge because I do a lot of goofy stuff myself, but why would I want to capture this?

I don't remember if the Uncle Greg Family (including Stefani) already got a picture on the dock but I guess we'll never know. That's because I don't feel like going back to check and also because I'm using logic. If they had already taken a picture on a different day, why would they bother to take another one today? That doesn't make sense. So I'm going to go with my instinct here and say this one was the one and only time.

There is a lot of sitting around on the final day because everyone has this real reluctance to leave. And why shouldn't they? Afterglow is the greatest place in the world for many reasons, one of them is that you get to hang out with your cousins for a week. How cool is that?

The truth is that I document everything because I'm a journalist. This website is my life. And in life there is good and bad. When all is said and done you can just hope that there was more good than bad. No reason to shy away from the truth, even though it sometimes hurts.

The drive back home from Afterglow is always tough too because you realize that you won't be seeing this place again for a whole year. But the car ride can be fun if you have good people and good tunes like Kevin's car. Looks like a pretty sweet place to rage for a few hours.

Well, that right about sums it up right there. Leaving Afterglow is so sad and depressing that we have come up with a diagnosis for it - The Afterglow Blues. Even the greatest actor can't fake the pain Brian is showing on his face. That's real hurt. That's real sadness. It sucks.

I'm usually the last to leave the cabin, so that thing about me not being the one to blame was total hogwash. But for sentimental reasons and wanting to take a final picture I make sure I'm the final inhabitant. Well except for Gail's flowers. I left those here.

The good folks in Cabin #2 are always the last ones to be ready to leave. I in no way blame myself for this. We always like to snap some last minute family pictures before heading home. That is why these good folks were hanging around outside of our cabin that morning.

After packing up the next step is to reset the cabin back to the way we found it. It means rearranging the furniture and turning the geese rightside-up. That's probably the saddest moment because it's the one that reminds me the most of Timmy. The geese was his thing.

We always know that we only have a week up here and that we eventually have to go back home. But it doesn't get real until we start packing things up, or in this case letting the air out of the whale. It's a deflating moment. Get it? I'll be here all... wait. No I won't.

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