Remembering Bryan
This site is dedicated to Bryan Taylor who passed away April 16th, 2001, at the young age of 21. This man was a wonderful friend who was loved by many up at Northland College and the town of Ashland. I met this great guy my junior year/his freshman year and we became fast friends. Through the two years that I knew him, we shared a lot of long talks, loud laughs, strange experiences...and a lot of, uh, refreshments. He was "SLUSH", or FBI man. During many a party, my head held his hats safe, my shoulder kept him upright(which is funny cuz he's a Tall, tall man)and my attidude kept him in check(lol).The night before my graduation last year, he told me he wouldn't be able to attend due to work. We said our goodbyes then and didn't bother to exchange addresses/email cuz as he said to me, "you'll be back and we'll catch up then". That was the last time I would see him.
I moved back to Maryland and it was around March when I made plans to return to Ashland and see c/o 2001 graduation. Upon a phone conversation with my 'sis' Shan, the topic of Bryan came up. After that, I lost all focus here at home. I couldn't wait to see everyone, especially Bryan because he was my favorite venting buddy(other than Shan and Ned, of course)!
Then Shan called me that tragic Wednesday night of the April 18th and told me the news. My world crashed hard. I had never felt such a miserable, empty cold as that day(I still get chills when I think about it). It was such a shock that this wonderful, loving, high-spirited man was ripped from the earth so suddenly.
My return to Ashland in May was bittersweet. I was happy to be "home" yet saddened by the changes. The first thing I wanted to do when Shan came up was see Bryan's site(he was buried in Ohio, his homestate). I figured there would be a memorial where the accident happened. The events that took place on both days I went there were incredible(I'll explain more in the photos).
Bryan was extremely beautiful, warm hearted, kind man and I'll miss him so very much. I will never forget his warm hugs, quirky comebacks and surprise visits! He will always have a place in my heart and my mind.
LOTS OF LOVE BRYAN!
FIGGYBEAN
*This site will be continually in the works as I try to make it the best that I can!
Bryan and I (first year of friendship)
This the first picture we took together. It was his 20th birthday and we had thrown him a surprise party(the background picture was of when he first walked in the room). That day was so much fun and a great memory because it was the first day this group of freshmen, and Dave(a cool friend from my class) and I really started to hang out.
Surprise, surprise!
During my senior, I was swamped with projects and so I rarely spent any time with Bryan. It wasn't until my final semester that we got the chance to hangout! I remember the first visit to my room in a long time. I was sleeping when I heard this knock on my door...7 am! I was so pissed. I opened my door, and because I had no contacts on, I had no idea who it was. So I stepped closer. Standing there in his usual plaid flannel, had, jeans, construction boots and mischeivous grin, was Bryan. And like old times greeted me with a funny, "Hellooo". I was so shocked that I couldn't help but laugh and hug him. And like old time we were joined by Dave, blocked the hallway and scared people off with our perversion! Good times...anyway after that we hung out a lot! When Spring Fling came along, I was partying at the townhouses and lo an behold, guess who should appear?
THAT
was such a fun night! I'm surprised I remember it!
It was hard, but I had to do it. I needed a sense of closure to what happened. I wasn't in Ashland when it happened, I had gotten the news secondhand, the online paper didn't tell much, and I couldn't go to the funeral. It was difficult to comprehend that Bryan was gone. So the day before 2001 graduation, shan and I set forth to find the accident site. At first we couldn't find it, then a nice elderly couple passed us and showed us the area. By this time, the same painful cold surrounded my body and I was barely breathing. Shan asked the owner of the land if we could place the memorial we had brought, and she agreed. As we looked for a place to put the flowers, Shan pointed to a mound. Upon arriving at the spot, I broke into tears and nearly passed out when we found there was still broken glass everywhere. The pain intensified to a point where I though I would explode. Thankfully Shan was there to comfort me.
The next day, just before graduation, I felt the need to go up there by myself. I wanted to pray and gather my thoughts without anyone around. So, I borrowed a friend's car and headed there. To my surprise two people were there placing their own memorial.
I was a little peeved but as I headed toward them and found out they were his girlfriend and close friend, Autie and Sarah, I cried once more.
Standing there as close to Bryan as we could possibly get, we swapped stories of the time we knew him. It's funny, Bryan never introduced, or talked about, his gal pals. We figured, it was just like Bryan to wait til his passing to bring us three together. Despite the sadness we felt, just thinking about what a goof Bry was, helped bring laughter and smiles to our face.
And
our adventure trying to leave the site? Well, Bryan is probably still laughing at what fools we made of ourselves!
It's funny, I was so nervous to be heading up to Ashland again but now, I'm so glad I did!
That night, after graduation I met up with Sarah and we went to the bar Bryan frequented(and Sarah worked at). There I saw the memorial and placed for him, and met more people who knew him last. It was a good time and probably the way Bryan would have wanted to be remembered.
