As I mentioned a few posts ago, this has been a hectic summer… the Husband and I have done a lot of travel.  Earlier in the summer, you saw posts about the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon as well as many restaurants we’ve visited.  The month of July was packed with trips to San Diego, Santa Barbara and Charlotte as well as visits to Las Vegas by friends and family which you’ll hear and see more about in the coming weeks.  At the end of each day and week, we were tired or even more busy so our blog posts fell behind.  My laptop post-it “to write" list got longer and longer as the days and weeks passed.  I had big plans for August to get back to blogging as my travel would be slowing down…

…And then our world changed.  I feel like that sounds dramatic, in a negative way, but it simply just is.  While I was in DC celebrating the birthday of one of my dearest friends, another very close friend called with the last thing I ever expected to hear.  Her husband who was a very, very good friend of ours, and a mutual friend died in a tragic accident.  Two days earlier we had been making plans to hang out and then they were gone.

The first few weeks after their deaths was a blur of shock, sorrow, and remembrance.  As the weeks passed and more blog posts piled up, I was hesitant to write.  So many of these posts, new and old, included or were inspired by our dear friend Andy…

We’ve always tried to keep our friends’ lives and identities pretty private, unless they had a blog themselves, which is why you often only see hands or profiles or hear us refer to them as “our friends” instead of describing who they were.  As such, I won’t tell you much about him or about what happened… However…

Andy was one of those guys that once you met him, even more so if you got to know him, your life was changed for the better.  No words I can use will ever do him justice.  His love for life, his amazing wife, their home of cats and dogs, academics, technology, food, and travel… made me smile every day. 

Andy and I read a lot of the same Las Vegas food websites and blogs.  When one of us would get word of a new restaurant or foodie event, we’d email the other – and usually try to plan to go together.  He and the Husband would often exchange technology news and information.  And the four of us, would often dine out and catch up on each other’s past and upcoming travels. 

With this loss, there is a large void in our lives that we’re learning to live with day by day, however, Andy will always hold a very special place in our hearts.  Even after we write our last blog post of a restaurant or travel associated with Andy, he will always be an inspiration to us in our foodie and travel ways.  We will love him and miss him always.

Lyrics of “Afterimage” by Rush

Suddenly, you were gone
From all the lives you left your mark upon
I remember
How we talked and drank into the misty dawn
I hear the voices
We ran by the water on the wet summer lawn
I see the footprints
I remember
I feel the way you would
I feel the way you would
Tried to believe but you know it’s no good
This is something that just can’t be understood
I remember
The shouts of joy skiing fast through the woods
I hear the echoes
I learned your love for life,
I feel the way that you would
I feel your presence
I remember
I feel the way you would
This just can’t be understood..