I was walking into the Georgia State Arena the other day to tutor. I passed by this girl and had to do a triple take. She looked so much like this girl Robin from college who went to France with me and with Jonathan. I grabbed my phone, opened it, and then realized that he was the only person who would get it. It's been a while since I habitually grabbed my phone to call Jonathan, and it didn't even hit me that he was who I was grabbing my phone to call until I had opened it to dial.
-Elizabeth Crews

Beepers...

So I have a new favorite show now.... 30 Rock... Tina Fey's new sitcom about what goes on behind the scenes of a show similar to SNL. It is hilarious. Amy recommended I watch it ages ago and I have just now gotten around to it. I think you would find it hilarious. Anyway, the last episode I saw was about Tina Fey's character reuniting with an old boyfriend who works at a beeper store called Beeper King. Everyone gives her grief for dating a beeper salesman and she keeps making the point that he is not just an employee but is not the Beeper King. Very funny stuff... and it totally reminded me of your days working at the beeper/pager store in Clinton. I can't even remember the name of it. But they had those horrible, horrible commercials that were just beeps. Ugh.

Meeting Kay Arthur

So I started a Kay Arthur Bible study this week. It is really cool because she is teaching through Matthew and all of her teachings were recorded when she was here in Israel - so I can totally visualize most of the places she is discussing. Anyway - starting this study reminds of that weekend when we were in high school and we went to a Kay Arthur retreat with the church. I don't remember everyone who went. I think Amy. And I know Ric White. I distinctly remember him because he spent the whole trip to Chattanooga teaching us those crazy mind games and pulling practical jokes on us. I specifically remember one really long story where most of us girls were crying about how he reminded some poor women in the mall of her dead son and then it was all a joke. At any rate - at the very first session with Kay, she asked us to all take out our Bibles. You were sitting on the front row. And I think this retreat must have been during Spring Break because Mom and Dad had given you a new Bible for you birthday. Although now that I think about it, it could have also been just after Christmas. OH well. Anyway - you were very very proud of that new Bible. So Kay starts teaching. And she asks us to open our Bibles to a specific passage - and then as she scans the crowd - she totally calls you out for playing with a computer game instead of opening your Bible. I think I remember you trying to protest but she kind of went off for a minute about bringing your Bible and how important this time was and that we weren't here to play games. That this was serious business. Eventually you were able to tell her that it was an ELECTRONIC BIBLE! And that you were paying attention. She was shocked. I remember everyone laughing about it. And how you sat on the front row every session - and every session she made some comment to you about your fancy shmancy Bible. :)

Making Movies

I saw the preview for this movie the other day and totally thought of you. I could totally see you getting a gang together to recreate all the old movies. Its a part of the legacy that you left that this is also the kind of thing that David loves to do. You would be very impressed with his filmology (I don't think that is an actual word. Sorry.) skills.

Chicken Nuggets

Mark was eating McDonald's chicken nuggets for lunch today. It reminded me of the last time I ate chicken nuggets. You were there. It was 12 years ago - after swim team practice. We stopped at McDonald's on our way home. I don't remember what you had but I had chicken nuggets. When we got home, Steve was there to tell us that they were moving to Georgia. I think I cried for an hour. After he left, I got sick - throwing up sick. I didn't go to school the next day I was so sick. And on Wednesday I think I went in but only for an algebra test. I have a picture of us with Steve from that night. My eyes are so red. I am pretty sure the chicken nuggets aren't what made me so sick but I associate them with violent vomiting and I still can't eat them.

Change

So I've decided to take this blog in a slightly different direction... I find myself thinking of Jonathan at the most random times... often multiple times a day. I will see something or someone and instantly want to call or email him with a funny story. Oftentimes I will share the story with someone but they just don't get it the way I know Jonathan would... so I have decided to use this blog to write these stories to Jonathan. I still welcome your memories and/or comments on similar JD memories.

Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

Happy Birthday, Kirsten.
As a special memorial to Jonathan, a friend gave us a rose bush. It is named for a French artist and a town in France which Jonathan visited.
The roses are beautiful and yellow but the blooms are rather intermittent. So when it does bloom, I just sense that Jonathan is smiling about whatever is happening in our lives. Today, on your birthday (October 15), there are 3 beautiful blooms all opened at the same time!
We all love you.
Mom

Tom and Huck

In May I bought my nephew, Charlie, a 99 cent DVD of Tom and Huck. As I bought it, I thought to myself, "Jonathan would approve!" When Jonathan was moving to California, I went over and helped him pack up his stuff. The first thing I noticed was that Jonathan had a whole lot of stuff...a lot of it junk that he hadn't used in years and would probably never use again. He had huge plastic tubs of wires and another one full of bungee cords. He had a full set of bowling pins and a couple of roller racers that he and The Blob (aka Mark Metcalf) and, I think, H. Ross had picked up out of some garbage pile. But amongst all of this random stuff in his room, Jonathan had a beautiful set of Mark Twain books. In fact, Jonathan had so many different copies of Twain's books that I asked him about it. I knew that Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were his favorite books, but I didn't know he was as obsessed with all Twain's stuff. In fact, he had certain copies of the books that were to stay in Jackson and were to go with him. The nicer ones were to stay so that nothing could happen to them. When I asked him about it, he stopped what he was doing, looked at me, and just smiled saying "Oh yea, I'm a big fan!" The only response I could give was, "Yea, I see that." From that moment on, Mark Twain became synonymous with Jonathan to me.

I bought my nephew this dirt cheap DVD of Tom and Huck because his Spongebob DVDs had been packed up when they had moved. In fact, it was just one of four DVDs that I bought him. From the first moment he sat down and watched the cartoon version of Twain's stories, Charlie was hooked...more like obsessed. The other three DVDs ended up in the garbage. He didn't want to watch them at all. My mom called to tell me how Charlie's vocabulary had been enhanced with words like steamboat and raft. This DVD also introduced him to another word Jonathan would have been proud of him saying: Mississippi. Anytime we would ask Charlie about Tom and Huck, he would talk insessantly about what happened in the story and who the secondary characters were in relation to Tom and Huck. We even got the two-year-old, picky eater to eat turnip greens, pork chops, and cornbread by telling him that it was Tom and Huck food. After four months of watching Tom and Huck 24/7, the DVD no longer played. Luckily, Wal-Mart had another copy of it, and Charlie is back to watching it every time he's at Mama's. Needless to say, Charlie, like Jonathan, is a big fan. While Jonathan wasn't exactly a kid's kinda person, I think he would smile and approve of the fact that another generation of little Mississippi boys are being introduced to the wonder of Twain's stories like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
-Elizabeth Crews

Jim's not the only one...

So this is a picture of Craig Robinson (Darryl from "The Office") and I near the shuk (market) in Jerusalem. Rhonda and I just happened to bump into him in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (supposedly built on the place where Christ was crucified). He was pretty much wandering the city aimlessly after ditching his traveling pals in the underground tunnels in the City of David. We walked him through the church and down the Via Dolorosa. We enjoyed some hummus and sodas and chatted for awhile.

Anyway, if you look closely at what Craig is wearing - you will immediately get the Jonathan reference. Um... yes... that is a FANNY PACK! Jim Randall, we have a friend for you! :) Ok so I am basically laughing inside the whole time we are walking around... and then when he gets out money to pay at the restaurant, Craig even says "I know. I know. A fanny pack. Please don't say anything." At which point I burst into laughter. And Rhonda is saying "Yes he did." I opted not to tell the whole story but did point out that I was glad he knew how lame it was.

Fanny packs are actually quite popular here in Israel - and not just for tourists. Men wear them around their waists and also sling them over their shoulder like a purse. Apparently somebody finally got smart and developed a man purse. I will take pictures to show you. JD would love it. And of course mercilessly tease any guy he knew who chose to wear one.

Throughout the years I knew Jonathan, I came to rely on him for things. When I needed a voice of reason and logic, he was the first person I called. When I wanted to procrastinate and not study, he always had something to do whether it was play games or just sit at the concrete tables on campus and tell stories for hours. When I needed to vent, he would listen then simply say he was sorry for whatever it was that had gotten me worked up. When I craved Haagen Daz, he rode all over Jackson with me looking in every grocery store, food mart, and gas station until I found it. When I needed somebody to laugh with me over whatever stupid mistake I'd made, he was always first in line to join in the laughter. These are the things that any great friend would do. The memories are specific to Jonathan for me, but the gestures are typical of best friends. However, there is one way in which I came to depend on Jonathan that will forever be Jonathan specific.

Today I found myself frustrated and asking God why Jonathan was in Heaven when I needed him in Jackson. My sister and I went to New Albany for the fourth. We got in last night around 11 pm, and I began to unpack the car. Knowing that she would be taking her car to work and I would be leaving for Atlanta, I went through her car thoroughly in order to get everything that was mine out. Once the car was empty I realized that my keys weren't where they were supposed to be (in my purse). I searched every crevice of her car and house. They were nowhere to be found. I called Jeff at 11:30 at night to tell him to look for my keys in New Albany. (in typical Jeff fashion, he said he was asleep and it could wait til morning). This morning I woke up and called New Albany; they had not found the keys. I again searched the house, every bag, nook and cranny. The keys were nowhere to be found. As I began looking up the numbers to locksmiths, I kept saying to myself: "The valet key is in the car. Seriously, it would take JD five minutes to open the car and solve this whole dilemma!" I can't tell you how many times Jonathan let me into my car. In fact, Jonathan and his little car entry thingy that he picked up on the side of the road on the way to Illinois became legendary at MC. He would get calls from friends of friends of friends asking if he would come let them into their car. He always did. I was with him once; he walked up to a fretful girl who he had never seen or heard of, said: "Hey. I'm Jonathan," and began to try to jimmy her door open. We laughed about it all night. The best was when the girl awkwardly tried to pay him.

After three hours of looking, I finally found my keys out on the driveway where I had dropped them accidently three days ago. In my head I could hear the sound of JD laughing with/at me as he always did when I had a Crewslike moment. I wonder if I'll ever have a morning like today and not think first of Jonathan. In a way, I hope not. After all was said and done, it felt good to hear Jonathan laugh again (even if it was just in my head).
-Elizabeth Crews