Day 80

"We don't even like to party"

Paul Bogdanovich

This is the one and only Paul Bogdanovich...more commonly known as...Bogey.

I don't rememebr when I first met Bogey. Honestly, he feels so much like home that I can't imagine my world without him. This guy has an energy that is incomparable. His passion for life, for music, for adventure will knock your socks off. He turns it all the way up to 11. No joke. If Bogey is around....you WILL have a good time. But he is more than just fun. He takes care of people. Always checking in to make sure that everyone is having as great a time as he is...and if you're not...he'll figure out a way to make it better. He's caring and considerate and has no patience for needless drama. He surrounds himself with the most amazing people and walks a perfectly balanced line between positivity and realism. And he has changed my life in so many wonderful ways.

We'd hung out casually for several years, but that all changed on Easter in 2009. I was visiting my family in Arlington when I got a call. Bogey had an extra ticket to the first night of Coachella. (If you don't know what Coachella is...I'm sorry. :-) It's a music and arts festival in Indio, CA that takes place in April every year.) The headliner that first night was Paul McCartney. Bogey knew that I was a HUGE fan and told me that, if I wanted it, the ticket was mine. I'm pretty sure I dropped the phone. And if I didn't, I should have! A chance to see Paul McCartney? At an outdoor music festival? You have got to be kidding me! Of course I went! But I was nervous. A house full of people of which I only knew a few. Unknown territory. What I didn't realize was that when I walked into that house, I was meeting a group of people that would come to be my nearest and dearest friends. I was meeting a new family. A family that would be with me for the rest of my life. A family that we affectionately call "The Coachella House Mafia." Why, just yesterday all of us in the CHM put down payments on our tickets to Coachella next year...which will mark our 5th year together. And I am overwhelmingly grateful for that.

I mentioned earlier that Bogey surrounds himself with the most amazing people. Maybe its that they're drawn to him. To his light, his energy, his passion. Maybe its because he reminds us all that we are here to live. To really live. To take chances, see the world, experience new things, and really live our lives to the fullest. Yes, we have to work. We can't play all the time. And Paul Bogdanovich works harder than most people I know. He works hard. And plays hard. He has found balance. A balance between responsibility and recreation. And that is one of the greatest lessons he's taught me. Why work your fingers to the bone all week and then do nothing with the time off? It should be filled. Filled to the brim with love and laughter and travel and adventure. Filled with days and nights you'll never forget. And he has given me so many of those.

He helped me to turn my fear into a sense of adventure. So much that just yesterday...with just the slightest nudge from Bogey...I bought a flight to Chicago! I'll be joining him and a few other CHM'ers (the luminous Mary Davis and oh-so-lovely Dave Herrmann) for an adventure at the end of June. This trip is my 30th birthday present to myself. "Work to live" he said. And we will. We will no doubt have yet another weekend that we will never forget. 

Because of Bogey I have seen countless concerts, been on a number of exciting trips, and met some of the most important people in my life. We've been through a Super Bowl win together (GO PACK!) and he's even invited me into his family's home for Thanksgiving when I couldn't go home to be with my own. And in a way, he is partly responsible for bringing me and the love of my life together. Like I said, he changed my life. 

When I am old and grey, looking back and flipping through the book of my life, I know it's pages will be brighter and bolder just for having known him.  

Day 80: I am grateful for Paul Bogdanovich. For the lessons he's taught me and all the wonderful ways he has changed my life.  For all the adventures we have had and for all the adventures yet to come. I am grateful for his wonderful gift of the Coachella House Mafia. For the love, peace, and acceptance I feel when I am with each and every one of them. I am so so grateful.