Last Dip
The fall is here
Upon the shore,
A step once tried
To take before.
The water buzzes
Like salt water to mouth,
The haze of sunset
Toes feeling it out.
The summer is gone
Like Ceilidhs in PEI,
A need to give this wave
A best try.
The air hints winter
But veins are warm,
Creating their version
Of the ideal dawn.
A time for goodbye
Upon this last dip,
A ripple takes over
And makes a new trip…
For me, one of the things that comes along with the official end of summer is missing PEI. The biggest thing I miss is simply being away from everything with my family, and that includes a lot of great Celtic music. We go to see Cynthia MacLeod, Fiddlers’ Sons, and Richard Wood whenever we can. Luckily, sometimes these PEI performers come to Massachusetts and we get a bit of The Island here.
Another part of Prince Edward Island comes in the form of a 6’4” defenseman, and it’s easy to see why my family is such a huge fan of Adam McQuaid. Not only is he an Islander who plays tough, smart hockey; he plays for the B’s! He was also nice enough (thanks to my connection, a.k.a. Mom) to get me this pass – signed by John Bucyk himself. I’m really glad I got to be up there for Adam McQuaid Day this summer.
Here’s to Quaider getting back to playing ASAP! Can’t wait for my next visit to The Island!
I had never been to “The Vinyahd” before, but this past weekend the weather was beautiful and my first visit went by too quickly.
Thanks to my connections, I stayed with two great hosts who showed me and JB around MV (I can’t call it “The Island”…that honor will always go to PEI). Here are some of the highlights:
1. Taking my first ferry ride since they opened the bridge to PEI
2. Stopping off to pay respects to John Belushi
1. Gay Head Lighthouse (gotta love the name)
3. Art of Chocolate Festival – Mint Oreos dipped in chocolate, chocolate-covered peanut butter balls, Hershey’s Cake, and a lot of happy faces
5. Nice meal at the Seafood Shanty
6. Seeing my first Alpaca up close and personal
Thanks again to JB’s aunt and uncle for being so welcoming and showing me around The Vineyard. Hope to check out all the Jaws Shooting Locations next time!
If you ask me what my least favorite season is, I’ll tell you summer. My Crohn’s and skin don’t mix well with a hot sun, and there’s no hockey. The Summer of 2011 was a different story and made me wonder if it might make a move out of the number for seasonal position.
First, the Bruins won The Cup for the first time since I’ve been alive. I started the day at what had become my usually Wednesday hangout: Buffone Arena’s hockey rink. I skated from 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM, and played a public hockey session from noon until past 2:00. I then skated and shot the puck around until about 5:00, when the rink manager Nick asked me if I was ready to go watch the B’s win The Cup. I had been waiting my whole life. That night, I watched with my Michigan-converted-Tim-Thomas-worshipping girlfriend and thanks to her, I went to my parents to celebrate with my family. Easily one of the best days of my life.
In between The Cup victory and parade, the Skating for Hope committee met to continue preparing for the event. My team had just won it all, but there was just over a month to get ready for the big day/night/day.
Saturday, June 18th was the day if the Bruins Cup Parade, and my girlfriend and I headed into Beantown early to make sure we got a front row position. Although I had to sacrifice missing my 3rd trip up to Burlington, VT to play in the 32-team wiffle ball tournament simply called Wifflefest, there was no way I was going to miss the parade. Seeing the first shimmering glimmer of The Cup making its way towards my position was the first time the B's ultimate victory started to sink in. And there Lord Stanley was, being held by Timmy Thomas who had Captain Z by his side. Still, unbelievable enough to doubt if it was really happening. But it did. And I’m pretty sure Adam McQuaid saw me wearing the “Darth Quaider” T-shirt my sister Carolyn designed. Sweet.
Skating for Hope preparations continued and with the suggestion of a friend, I even tried to get The Cup there. On July 30th at 10:00AM, I took to the ice at Buffone Arena in Worcester. With a lot of great people behind me, I was able to make it through the 24-hours, played in 3 hockey games, and we raised a lot of money for Hope Lodge. All of the committee members and volunteers took responsibilities while I lived out my fantasy of being on a rink for an entire day. I played hockey with BC and BU Alum that can play about 4,385 times better than I can, and saw some taking the ice for their first times. We had a great Saint John's /Westboro High Alum game in memory of Danny Manning and Greg Montalbano. Family, old friends, new friends, and people I had never met came and supported the event. Even though my words can’t really capture how amazing it was for me, this collection of pictures and clips should give you an idea.
In the month of August, donations for Skating for Hope continued to arrive in the mail and online, and the total amount of money raised by Skating for Hope continued to increase. After a week of rest, I slowly introduced myself back to exercise and not having SFH on my mind. I took time to start writing thank you notes to people that helped, but knew to make them all personal it would take time. At the end of the month, I had another date with Lord Stanley. After stopping at Hampton Beach, NH to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd, I drove through the night up to PEI and arrived there late on a Saturday morning. It was a beautiful “PEI Day”, and my girlfriend and I caught up on our sleep on the sand The Island’s north shore. Saturday night included quick stops at Cow’s, the Charlottetown cannons, and a few races at the CDP (or whatever it’s called now). And Sunday was another Cup Parade. Although on a smaller scale than the Boston celebration, the Adam McQuaid Stanley Cup Festival was just as enjoyable and well worth the trip. I think the best quote of the weekend was JB’s thought about PEI as she was enjoying the beach: “Why would you ever leave here?”
After a 2-day workweek back at Hope Lodge, we celebrated my sister-in-laws birthday with a game night that included my dad mistakenly acting out Christopher Lloyd when his Cranium card said Christopher Walken (video to follow). Then, I went up north again for a full week on PEI. This time, I went with my mother and younger brother, and even though the good weather alternated each day it was a great week full of fun times. Labour Day was gorgeous, and the rest of the week I chatted with a Stanley Cup champion, drive up The Island’s west coast (from West Point to North Cape), went to the PEI Potato Museum, listened to Celtic music by Cynthia MacLeod, Gordon Belsher, and Richard Wood, and finished the week going to the Buddy musical. It went by too fast, and I’m already missing PEI.
Last week was one of recovery from a very intense, unbelievable, and magical summer. I’m ready to skate, play hockey, watch hockey, plan Skating for Hope II, and finish writing thank you notes to all the people who helped with Skating for Hope – thank you for your patience. And, thanks to everyone who made this summer a very memorable one!
Last week, not only did I travel to one of my favorite places (The Island, PEI, Prince Edward Island), I traveled back in time…
It was the late 1950s, and a young musician named Buddy Holly was trying to make a name for himself.
I didn’t know much about Buddy’s life and music career before taking my seat at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown, PEI, but the cast of the show was happy to educate me - and they did a spectacular job doing so.
Not only did Jeff Giles do a wonderful job bringing Buddy and his music to life; the rest of the performers complimented him on every number.
The Apollo scenes and the Big Bopper/Richie Valens scenes were my favorites, but every scene was truly awesome – even the commercial jingles were great!
If you ever get a chance to see any performance of Buddy, don’t miss out. This year’s PEI cast grabbed me, took me back to the 50s, and made me a Buddy Holly fan – I have since bought his Definitive Collection and looked up the chords for That’ll Be the Day. Of course, I can’t sing and play as well as Buddy OR Jeff, but I can feel the words and spirit of a 22-year-old whose life ended far too soon…
With a history of brain cancer, Crohn’s Disease, and a drinking problem; anniversaries have become a natural way for me to remember certain dates: Dates I was diagnosed, dates I was in the hospital, the last day I drank.
The years following my cancer diagnosis (which was 3 days after my 18th birthday, March 31st), my birthday and early April became days of a “Dark Anniversary”. I was drinking for the first 3 of those time periods, and that would make me angry when I looked back to my diagnosis. Even after I stopped drinking, I would occasionally feel sad during the days following my birthday. It usually came out of nowhere and would have me wondering why I was feeling so dreadful until I remembered, “Oh yeah, cancer diagnosis”.
In the years since, I have tried to turn the darkness into stretching out my birthday to a weeklong celebration. Rather than looking back and saying to myself “That wasn’t fair or that really sucked”, I have transformed these days into a time of thankfulness and fun activities.
It makes sense to me that I hung up a Wayne’s World clipping during the summer of 1992. This was the summer that I was battling brain cancer. Two of my biggest weapons in this battle were my family and laughter. I kept both close to me that summer, and I think it played a huge part in the success of my treatment.
No matter how many medical battles I’ve fought, won, or still live with; I realize they don’t compare to the anniversary of September 11th. They are my own personal battles and I was/am able to deal with each of them because of family and friends who have supported me. I didn’t personally know any of the people that were senselessly murdered 10 years ago tomorrow, but I try to use that day of a reminder of how precious life is.
More on this tomorrow…
In the meantime, you can check out:
I was 17. Extreme was my favorite band and Pornograffitti was my favorite album. I’m guessing I made this on one of those rainy days when there was no beach to go, no internet or cable, and we had to entertain ourselves. A year later, my girlfriend at the time colored it on for me.
One of the essays for my application to Boston College stated something like “write about a form of artistic expression that you think is extraordinary and explain why you think so.” I wrote about Pornograffitti and I got in. Thanks, Extreme.
Back in 1990, my friend Mike came up to visit PEI and we made these drawings. Even though I admit Mike can draw much better than I and the Batman movies are far superior to The Punisher ones, I still like The Punisher better – He also has a much more bad-ass symbol. (You can read about my Punisher t-shirts from last year’s blog here and here.)
Today though, I think the real punisher is Jeremy Jacobs. The cheapest Bruins ticket for this season is $70. I understand that the B’s won The Cup, but this is almost double what the cheapest seat was last year. There’s only one excuse for jacking the price up that much and it’s greed. You didn’t win The Cup, Jeremy. The players did, and you were able to pay them because fans buy the tickets, buy the merchandise, and watch the games on TV. And, you made even more money because they won – especially with all the diehard and bandwagon fans buying championship gear. The cost of running this team couldn’t have gone up that much since last season – you just figured because they won you could charge whatever you wanted to. Shame on you for making that decision. When the B’s repeat as champs, will the cheapest seat be $100? Jerk.
You know what the coolest thing about PEI is? It’s the little differences. Examples? Well, in PEI, you could get a bottle of Coke. And I don’t mean a little 10 oz. special edition Christmas bottle; I mean a glass liter bottle of Coke. They also call it pop instead of soda. And, you know what they have in PEI instead of Dunkin’ Donuts? Tim Horton’s. They also have the metric system there, so when the sign says “Maximum 100” you can only go about 60, they don’t know what the f- a mile is. And you know what kind of potato chips they have in PEI? Ketchup Chips. And they drown them in that flavoring, man - you’re hands are red after you eat them. But my absolute favorite? Instead of Oreos, they have Fudgeos – they’re like Oreos, but they have chocolate in the middle. I still haven’t gone into Burger King, though…
I remember when my older brother showed me his Motley Crue Shout at the Devil LP. I couldn’t believe the picture of the band inside, but was blown away when I heard the first two tracks - In the Beginning and Shout at the Devil. The music was heavier and meaner than Van Halen, and I liked it a lot. I remember being one of only a few students in my 5th grade class who knew about Vince Neil’s car crash in December of 1984. This was before we had cable/MTV, so I think we all thought that The Crue was over. Through the magic of being a rock star and money, Vince only went to jail for 30 days and the band continued. In my 10-year-old mind, I figured what he didn’t must not have been that bad if he only had to be in jail for a month – and I was happy they didn’t break up. The next summer, my brother got Theatre of Pain and brought it up to PEI. We listened to it just about every day, and “Home Sweet Home” quickly became the favorite with my siblings and me. When Girls, Girls, Girls came out a couple of years later, I made sure I had a copy the day it was released. I don’t know how many other 7th graders with straight A’s walked around playing the new Crue album at school on the last day (they let us do this as long as we were outside), but I was one of them.
That summer, my older brother did something that would change me forever: Motley Crue was touring, and he took me to my first concert at the Centrum in Worcester. Not only did it quickly make The Crue my favorite band; it made going to concerts one of my favorite things to do. Like I wrote on my blog about meeting Nikki Sixx, I remember hearing about Nikki’s overdose. It was the winter after that first show, and (again because of the time and slow news travel) the rumor was that Nikki had died. Of course he had died for a couple of minutes, but the news of his “kickstart” didn’t reach me until later that day. I remember being relieved and pissed at the same time. I thought “Dancing on Glass” meant not doing drugs anymore, and was upset that Nikki would put his life on the line like that. But, I was happy to find out he was okay, and hoped the close call would make him stop.
And in the summer of 1988, I hung up this picture by my bed in Prince Edward Island. My brothers, sisters, and I often bought “metal mags” to keep up with our rock heroes. I don’t know if this came out of Metal Edge, Circus, Hit Parader, or Rip, but I’m sure it was one of them. We didn’t have the internet, we had magazines.
My older sister got me this autographed copy of The Dirt, and I just finished reading it again yesterday. Say what you will about Motley’s music, this book makes it clear to me that these 4 people were meant to be in a band together. They all have demons that differ in size and shape, and the way they dealt with them was through rock, chemicals, and sex. It’s really a miracle they survived through it all, and pretty amazing that after all the drama, breakups, and headlines, they still put out a kick-ass album a few years ago (Saints of Los Angeles). If you are (or were) a fan of this band, The Dirt is a must read. And if you don’t like the song Home Sweet Home, shame on you…
A friend gave me this on the last day of school one year (1984 or ’85?), so I brought it up to PEI and hung it by my bed.
Van Halen was huge when I was in the 4th grade, and that was just when I was starting to add “rock” to my musical preferences (I had mostly just listened to The Beatles up to that point).
I remember signing their songs, loving their videos, and not wanting to believe it when they broke up.
I finally saw them play live in 2007 when they toured with David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang, but I will write more about that and VH later…
I’m really glad I got to be a part of this and am so happy for Adam, his family, Cornwall, and PEI.
Here’s the online article and, in case you missed it, my YouTube video of the event.
Way to go, Adam!
When I think of PEI, I think of my family. I think of my grandparents and the long trip up every summer. I think of this big rock and how huge it seemed. I think of the smell of the dewy grass when I’d run over to see what my grandmother was making for breakfast. I think of my grandfather sitting in his chair. I think of the beach and Rainbow Valley. I think of wiffle ball with my brothers and Scott. I think of the summers my aunt, uncle, and cousins were up there at the same time. I think of relaxation. I think of the ferry rides and the bridge. I think of the Island hockey players. I think of the racetrack and getting fresh cut fries on the Cavendish boardwalk. I think of how endless the stars seem. I think of Celtic music, Fiddlers’ Sons, and Cynthia MacLeod. I think of driving up the lane before I had a license. I think of not letting brain cancer get in the way of making the trip. I think of deep-sea fishing and Cow’s ice cream. I think of visiting the farm and Hughes trailer. I think of when the only way of communication was CB radio. I think of how I didn’t appreciate The Island’s beauty as much when I was younger. I think of East Point, Dalvay, and The Dunes. I think of how The Island makes it easy for me to let go. I think of stories, memories, and laughs. Mostly, I think of how one of the biggest reasons why I love PEI so much is because I have awesome people in my life to share it with…
One quick call to my “connection”, and Adam got this pass for me back in February. Even though the B’s lost to the Wings that night, it was pretty awesome getting this pass at will call.
A couple of months ago, my boss asked me when I wanted to take my vacation this summer. I told her I wouldn’t know until they came up with the Stanley Cup schedule, because I knew I wanted to be in PEI when Adam had his day.
Here’s my video of the parade and Adam’s speech along with a few pictures. Really glad I made it up here to see all of this…
Driving through Cornwall, PEI earlier today, I saw between 5 and 10 signs congratulating hometown hero Adam McQuaid on his recent role in the Boston Bruins Stanley Cup victory (Oh, you didn’t hear? The Bruins won The Cup. I will never get tired of saying it, writing it, or watching it). It was pretty awesome and I can’t imagine what it’s like for Adam to see them.
Tomorrow, I get to be at the PEI/Cornwall Cup celebration. Looking forward to that, and looking forward to seeing Adam McQuaid in a Bruins uniform in the next few years, and hopefully more!
(Here’s the online version of this article)
Heading up to Hampton Beach today for some sand, water, wiffle, arcades, and Kenny Wayne Shepard at the Casino Ballroom. Then it’s off to PEI to see The Cup with Adam McQuaid!
It’s hard to believe, but in one week I will be in the middle of my 24-hour skate.
While looking through all my pictures for some BC Hockey shots, I also came across these.
I graduated from BC 15 (yikes) years ago and ever since my friends Scott, Carl, and I have had an ongoing video game hockey tournament. These pictures show Scott (holding an original Playstation controller) questioning what he thought was a goal, penalty, or something and later doing a celebratory dance in front of Carl after he scored. It’s been 15 years and as you can see from my YouTube video, we’re not going to stop anytime soon.
For two summers, I taught roller hockey at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac in Lenox, MA. The camp had a really nice outdoor roller hockey rink, and campers from 6-16 played their daily. This are pictures of my and Jeff (who was the head of the hockey program) and all the rollerblades in the hockey shed. You gotta love the Punisher shirt I’m wearing! Whenever a camper didn’t show up for roller hockey, we would have them paged to the rink. Because most of the office staff was British, I sometimes had fun with who got paged in addition to late campers. Cam Neely, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr were all asked to report to the rink more than one time.
After I got my first pair of rollerblades, I knew that I wanted to try them out during my next visit to Prince Edward Island. Right down the street from my parents’ cottage, there is a school that had an outdoor rink. During the school year, they would flood it so the kids could play hockey at recess (why couldn’t I have been born in Canada?). So, this is a picture of me the day I played hockey in Canada for the first time. It was just me shooting alone, but I was playing hockey. When PEI had to give names to all the streets for 911 calls, I guess naming the street near the rink was an easy decision.
A few years after I graduated, my friends and I went to the ESPN Zone in New York. While my friend Drew was taking pictures of me playing the hockey shootout game, a girl came up to him and asked what team I played for. Without missing a beat Drew replied, “Oh, the Boston Bruins.” Her reply was, “Oh yeah, I thought he looked familiar.” I did pretty well shooting, but no one asked me for an autograph.
In 1999, I went up to visit my brother Tom at the University of Vermont on Easter weekend. Here are some action shots of our street hockey game. Tom is in net, and his friend Shane is in the purple t-shirt. Not sure who the other guys are, but fun was had by all.
I can’t wait for next Saturday to be here, and I’m hoping to add many, many more pictures to my hockey collection…
Last year on my way to PEI, I got to drive into Canada on Canada Day…freakin’ awesome. I pulled up into the booth wearing my red Canada t-shirt, and greeted the “crossing guard” by saying, “Happy Canada Day!” He looked at my passport and told me he expected me to be Canadian after what I said. When he asked me what I was bringing in, he laughed when I said hockey equipment. He handed my passport back to me, and I asked him if he could stamp it (not normal procedure) since it was Canada Day. He gladly did, and here it is.
My family reminds me of the 2010-2011 Boston Bruins. They stick up for each other, believe in each other, and embrace each other through tough times.
For the B’s, there have been injuries, losing streaks, powerplay woes, and 0-2 playoff holes.
For my family over the years it has been broken bones, Diabetes, Asthma, Crohn’s Disease, brain cancer, drinking issues, unemployment, surgeries, kidney stones, broken hearts, ER visits, and other “normal” family struggles.
The Bruins have their captain, Zdeno Chara, and netminder Tim Thomas as the two big leaders of the team. Through their actions and words, Z and Timmy have led the B’s to a place they haven’t been in 21 years. They have shown what it takes to overcome adversity, and are on the verge of evening up the 2011 Cup Finals.
The McGraths have my mom and dad, Mary Beth and Paul. When their 5 children faced medical, professional, and emotional challenges, they responded with nothing but unconditional love and support. They made our family stronger when faced with things that might drive other families apart. It all started when they pledged their love for each other 42 years ago today, and each day since they have been perfect role models to what I think is life’s most important lesson: The only thing that really matters in life is the people you have in yours.
Thanks for everything Mom and Dad…I love you. And, GO B’S!!!!!
Scan note: My parents are always writing me notes like this one, which my dad left me before a trip to Prince Edward Island. I keep just about all of them, and I’m sure a few more will make their way onto this blog like this other one did. And the picture (don’t know where the spots came from) is of me with my parents up in PEI.
