december 1st, on the way home from florida.
the temperature dropped to 32 F°, i was in summer clothes covered by a coat, with carrying a suitcase.
walking on my tiptoes, 15-minutes walk was like forever.
But my heart was warm, thinking about my snacks and ice cream at home.
I start understanding how john did this for the past two years, rain or shine, to new york .
because, it was a way home.

and now I remember !!

there is that one time..
when I spend a couple hours alone with John..... in my car
He was so sweet and funny...always smiling, of course
how could I forget that night....

it was one Sunday evening after school.. after Flannery's....
John had to catch a plane at JFK.. and he still had no idea about how to get there but the cab.

So I said I will drive him there..
After some more beer.. He suggested we leave the party because of the unpredictable traffic in Queens....

He was so friendly to me although we didn't talk a lot during school time.

We talked about classes
We talked about professors
...We started worried about the time
We talked about classmate.... AKA gossip ha ha...
...We really worried about the time... and started talking about his next flight schedule.. which I believe it's in the next morning...or something...

And then,
John did something that I was half surprised and half in horror....
He laid back and lift his leg+his shoe up in front of my car console...

"Arrggghhhh.... My car..My wax !! I just cleaned it !!!!!!! You (westerner) !! put your feet and your shoe away right now !!!!! "
I was screaming

in my mind.. of course

then we talked about this and that.... but I knew he was worried that he will miss his flight.
Still, he keep saying "it's OK, elly. You dont have to rush... if I'm late, I will figure something out"
Still, I felt so guilty at that time.... because I thought it shouldn't take more than an hour for a trip to JFK on Sunday evening.
Finally, we got to JFK by 2mins before the check-in time..
and John said to me...

"You see? we get here in time.. I know I can trust you and you know what you're doing"
We say goodbye and smile at each other... but I think we both were sweating at the inside.....ha ha

But one thing I learned from him is the kindness and his calm for the situation... I need to learn that, seriously...
Oh.. can I write more?
I had this dream last week... another weird dream of mine....

it was my last day in NY.. We just finished school....
I went to hug all my Asian Gangsters.. and I ran across street to the other bus stop in front of Pratt to say goodbye to Chris, Adileh, and John..
then everyone's face becomes John's face.. even the extras (at that bus stop)
just like that movie--Being John Malkovich ?!

That's it... that's all I wanna share with you guys about my little memory of John..

John Dymtrow, It was a short time.. but your signature smile has already imprinted in my heart... I will miss you and your way to enjoy life...... YEAH !! BABY !!

Always good for a laugh...

One of the things that I will miss most about John is how unintentionally funny he was. Though I have many memories to choose from, this is one that always makes me smile when I think about it:

It was on the evening after "Thunderdome" and a group of us had gone to the Lemongrass Grill for a celebratory dinner. Earlier in the evening we had exchanged Secret Santa gifts and apparently John had won a 2 gallon bag of rainbow-colored Pepperidge Farm Goldfish cookies. All through dinner he was chucking them at us across the table... after all, what else are you going to do w/ all those goldfish!

The evening concluded w/ some of us saying our goodbyes on the corner of 14th St & 6th Ave. It was Sunday and nearly 11pm, so we were all heading home in different directions. I asked John where he was going since his flight was at 5am. He said that Po had his luggage in his trunk and was going to give him a ride to the airport... after he finished his date! I asked John what he was going to do in the meantime since he (being from Florida) was dressed completely inappropriately for December in NYC - he had on a thin leather jacket, scarf, and gloves. He just smiled and said he didn't know but he would figure something out. So that's how I left him that night... freezing his !@# off, wandering the streets of lower Manhattan, carrying a giant bag of Rainbow Goldfish cookies ;)

John's Favorite Quote

John loved this quote from James Dean. In fact, I wanted to steal it as my own quote after John said it was "his" quote.

John really did dream big (bestselling writer, chief design manager of Starbucks, PhD) and definitely went with the carpe diem too.

I remember when he busted out to Las Vegas when Amy, Lana and I were at a conference. He didn't come for the conference--just to chill and relax with us. Of course, he stayed at the Hooters hotel and casino. While we were busy in conference sessions all day, John was hittin' up the poker tables at Hooters. Then he took us for an awesome buffet at the Wynn. It was so fun.

Well, I'm going to appropriate this quote too. And even though it's attributed to James Dean, I will definitely always think of it as John's.

love you all, Carly

John, I will never forget our "going to school" song! Miss you!!!

Letter from John

You guys are all awesome.

I am not sure what I am going to do not going to New York every other weekend and interacting with you all. Everyone of you has made an impact on my life in such a positive way.

You guys coming to Florida was so awesome and special even my family, friends, colleagues commented how great you all are...

jojo...you made the trip extra "special". Everyone of you there was touching and amazing.

I never had such a group of awesome friends that could travel together and just relax and chill so naturally and not to mention be soooooooooooooooooo much fun... by the way, all of you with "I love john" shirts are completely insane, and i love that too.

All of you are welcome back, as a group, alone, whatever. Anytime, you always have a place and a friend in Florida.

And to follow suit: I love you guys and look forward to many future adventures, please keep me in the travel loop, and I will try to make as many flannery trips as possible. But watch out, I may not tell you I am coming until I arrive - just to keep it interesting, but I definately will not make it until after July.

To end with some quotes, i thought of to sum up this last weekend.. (surprise, surprise)

"Live Large and Party Hard!!!"

"It is one of the blessings of friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."...Ralph Waldo Emerson ( I know nonme of us resemble this remark, but funny anyway...lol)

"My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, you've had a great life."...Lee Iacocca - I am so blessed to have more than doubled that.

You guys rock....You have made every shitty trip, something I will cherish for the rest of my life. You guys have made this experience unforgettable

Love you guys, thank you...yes I know I am wordy.