It's been nearly two weeks since I learned of the passing of Ted and I've had plenty of time to laugh, cry and think about his life, his death and how he will forever be remembered.
Having someone so close to you and so young be taken from this earth will never make sense, so instead of focusing incessantly on his irrational death, I'm choosing to focus on keeping him alive through good memories and doing everything that I can to help Brandi, Logan and Faith any way that I can.
When I sit back and reflect on my memories of Ted, there are a lot of them. Quite a few from high school, but most of them from when we lived together in college for two years. From Ted's obsession to make "perfect" mac and cheese to eating dinners right off the stove out of the pot to rolling his ankle during every game of intramural basketball that we played together, Ted has been a part of many fun and hysterical memories from my time at Northeastern.
While all of those memories are very vivid, the memory of Ted that stands out the most is Spring Break 2000. Brandi was living down in Florida on an internship program and Ted planned to go do to see her during break. Moody and I wanted to spend Spring Break with Ted, so we concocted an amazing plan for the three of us. We'd turn Spring Break into an NBA road trip, which would conclude in Orlando so Ted could see Brandi. It was awesome.
I know most people take MLB road trips, but the three of us will be forever connected by our love affair with basketball and the Celtics, so we were psyched for the trip. There was one hiccup though...how would we get down there. Ted had his old van and Moody had his car, but neither vehicle was as reliable as my Ford Ranger. So, reliability won out over comfort and we elected to take my Ranger.
You might not think this is a big deal, but try putting two large men (Ted and I) in the front of a non-extended cab Ford Ranger and Moody in the middle (along with the stick shift) for a 24-hour voyage to Florida and you may change your mind. It was uncomfortable, it was awkward, it was insane...it was what made this trip so memorable.
From Ted drooling all over himself as he slept to Ted and I chain-smoking cigars with the windows rolled up while Moody slept, the time we spent in the truck was the best time of the trip. I swear I've never laughed so much.
Below is a photo from when we stopped in DC for a Wizards game. We took time to check out a few things, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Here we are standing in front of The Three Soldiers monument.
Anyway, I have countless memories from this trip and just the thought of the three of us piling into the Ranger and going from city to city makes me smile.
As I mentioned in a previous post, a college fund has been established for Logan and Faith. If you'd like to donate to The Ted Everidge Memorial Fund Ted please visit ForeverTed.com for complete details.
Also, Moody and I are in the middle of planning a benefit pub crawl of sorts going from Farmington to Boston and back. I'll post details here and on ForeverTed.com once they're available.
We'll never forget you Ted.
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