Wahl Posts: Same thing, different day

Well, if you are up to speed on the blog posts, you are probably well aware that this has been one hell of a week. Sorry for swearing.

Seriously though, Tuesday is a blur. I had a headache at the end of the day from crying until I literally could not cry anymore. I then spent Tuesday evening out to dinner with friends from high school. It's funny how an event like someone dying can thrust you into holding on to friendships that can often times grow distant after years apart. It was so so good to get together with my girlfriends, though. We took turns going around the table sharing what was new in our lives from the past couple of years. In all, three of us have graduated, one of us is a nurse, one of us is a teacher (okay that's me), one of us is attempting to move up in a sport, and three of us are seriously dating. That was catching up in a nutshell. We then went to Buffalo Wild Wings in Har Mar Mall (glamorous location, I know) to meet up with a huge group of people who were gathered to honor and remember Sean.

Like I said in the last post, I met Sean in 8th grade. That was the year that my girlfriends, guyfriends and I spent countless hours causing trouble at Har Mar. It happens to be a block from my house so it was convenient, and kind of a meeting point halfway for all of us friends. Needless to say, there were many nights spent at Har Mar and toward the end of high school, many dinners and late night trips taken to Bdubs. Did I mention that Roseville had one killer football season the year I was a senior? We went to State for the first time in YEARS-- only to get sorely defeated by Eden Prairie in the first round. I say this in all honesty... It would not have been done with out Sean. He carried the team as a running back, quarterback, defensive end, kicker... He did it all. We had a lot of celebratory late night meals at the beginning of senior year. I'll never forget those times. Specifically when we went to Applebees in Maplewood after seeing the dumbest scary movie (Silent Hill) at Marcus on Halloween night. I remember Sean made fun of me because I came to the movie dressed like a lumberjack for Halloween.

Sean and my friend, Lauren after Roseville defeated White Bear to go to the State Tournament~ 2006

Everyone that I spoke with on Tuesday had just the best things to say about Sean. It was actually really nice to gather and just remember a really great guy. As we all were hanging out and talking about old times, I was trying to remember some of the more fun memories I had of my friend. I remembered the last time I saw him downtown, about a month after I turned 21. I was at some bar, we bumped into each other and talked for a really long time. He was always so easy to talk to. I also remember his junky old Cadillac that served as a vehicle for many through out the years getting to and from places. I remember Christmas break of my freshman year of college when he came over to hear all about Bethel. I tried to get him to transfer so many times. He would have been an all-star at BU.

I remember when Sean called my dad to ask if it would be okay to use the weight room at school when he was home from Purdue. It was always fun to see his familiar face and to catch up on life. All my guy friends at school made fun of me and would ask if I had a crush on "Sean Ma-tee" (couldn't pronounce his last name of course). I would get mad because it was as if they couldn't understand me having a good guy friend. I remember getting destroyed at our senior all-nighter when Sean decided to sumo wrestle against me. I remember he went and sat next to the principal when he received his diploma at graduation. I remember watching him pump air into a freakin' blow up doll that he tossed into the crowd at graduation!! He was just a goofball. And so fun to be around.

Lauren and I got together the other night and made a shadow box frame for Sean's family that I am actually quite proud of. Along with that are some other picture's I've found from the past few days of Sean from the high school days. Enjoy.