Well that was fun; I was sick all day yesterday. Big Thank You to our bud Paul Rodriguez for saving the day on a moments notice. He took over all my responsibilities for the day, and even helped take care of me. I was in bed all day and night. It figures something would slow down the positive momentum from our amazing weekend. I’m much better today, although not quite “all there” mentally or physically. Tomorrow I’ll be kickin’ ass again though, I know it.
The Art Benefit Auction for Nick was so unbelievably cool. The vibe was unlike most art shows. The studio was alive and breathing. It was… fun! Our friends did an amazing job promoting the show. There were so many people we didn’t know there. At one point there were wall to wall people in the main area. People were browsing each of the 70+ beautiful pieces hung along the walls. Everyone was there to get some unique art; I even witnessed several bidding wars. There were dozens of paintings, drawings and photographs on canvas. Skydive Camarillo even donated a tandem skydive! My absolute favorite piece of the night sold for $150. Of course I was eyeing the bidding sheet, hoping it wouldn’t sell. I wanted it to take it home. But somehow, my second and third favorite pieces didn’t sell, and I made sure to grab them at the end of the night.
After a sufficient amount of bidding time had elapsed, yet before the auction closed, the band Alive at 27 played a set for us. The singer is our friends Carson, Monica and Parkers’ cousin. They rocked! Very talented musicians, just getting started with this new band. Check them out on YouTube. They donated half of their T-shirt sales to us. Thanks guys!
And thank you most of all to Carson Hill, Monica Hill, Parker Forbes, Jared Driscoll, and Dave Barton. Not only did they mastermind this entire event, collect art for months, create their own pieces for the show, promote the show relentlessly and gut their tattoo studio to put it on, but they’re really cool people with huge hearts. They really stepped to the plate to help us out when we needed it most. Thanks guys!
We stayed the night at Carson’s house in Oxnard. Being in a new bed, in a town we’ve never seen, spending time with friends who we rarely see was such a treat. Like I said, it was refreshing. We felt enlivened and recharged. The next day happened to be Jared’s 30th Birthday. And instead of driving back to go skydiving, he stayed to hang out with us. We went to a yummy breakfast at a cute little seaside breakfast joint.We walked along a jetty-side walkway down to the ocean, and just hung out together talking shit and sharing stories. My friend Ina even put funky pink and blonde extensions in my hair. We will be back, Oxnard. Only next time, Carson and Jared won’t have to carry Nick up and down a flight of stairs in his wheelchair. He’ll be walking those stairs!
Now that we’re home it’s back to business as usual. Swimming, relaxing, doctors appointments, ya know, the fun stuff. He returns to formal physical therapy tomorrow with Bill at Apex PT in Murrieta. Then, Friday is the big day! Finally, he will stand on prosthetics for the first time. We’ve been waiting forever. He’s about to start a whole new journey.
Nick Fener 