Happy St. Patrick's Day, Jeremy [12 Mar 2005|09:09pm] The Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 12, 2005 seemed to be trouble from the start. ( Backstory from Wednesday ) On Saturday my mom called 5 minutes after my alarm went off and told me I had until 9:30 when my dad, brother Lance and cousin Jeremy would arrive. She would go downtown to watch the parade at noon. And she wanted to give me a bit of a warning: Jeremy is moving to California at the end of the month, as I know, and is having a bit of trouble with his on-again off-again girlfriend Lonnie, as I know. They've finally ended it, for good, and after Jeremy got out of work at 11 last night he went to the bar and partied all night, not sleeping. He drove to my parents' house at 7 AM, passed out for a few minutes, drank a few "deuce deuces", peed a few times outside and eventually went inside. My dad was disappointed and said, "You better not embarrass me. I don't want you to do this if you don't want to. You can sleep all day here if you want." Jeremy insisted that he do it, said he wanted to. But, I don't think he did. My dad has paid Jeremy's dues in the group for the past 3 or 4 years and calls him to make sure he comes. I'm sure Jeremy wants to come, but is just busy and maybe even doesn't want to all the time, I'm not sure. Either way, I think my dad wanted him there more than he wanted to be. I should also note that Jeremy is my mom's sister's son, so it's not like he's my dad's brother's son or anything, he's encouraging another family member to come. Maybe this doesn't matter, but I think the relationship is different this way and thought I'd point it out. My mom said she just wanted to warn about all this and know that my dad wasn't that happy. Jeremy was about to leave behind his whole family and (ex) girlfriend of 3 years to live out a dream in California. The family is a bit worried since our track record, as a family, isn't that great when "going out west". My mom's brother Richard's daughters got screwed up when they went out. Her uncle messed up somehow too. And Jeremy's dad went out there in the early-mid 70's and did lots of heroin and speed and ended up losing all his teeth. He cleaned up though and lived the rest of his life as a great man, actually, but died of Hepatitis two years ago. The point is, Jeremy is nervous, everyone around him is nervous, and he was still going to do the parade, drunk. I sat on the couch waiting for my dad and heard him honk outside and do a U turn to park beside the building. I threw on my boots, didn't think to grab a hat or gloves, and went to the truck. When I got in, I saw Jeremy asleep/passed out in the other seat. My dad was anxious and we took off to eat a breakfast buffet at the Days Inn Hotel downtown. Nothing was said of Jeremy's state on the drive, but we did hear his Nextel go off with a, "What it is, motherfucker?!" We couldn't find the phone at first and wondered where the voice came from. I saw the phone on the ground and Jeremy continued to sleep. We parked in the back parking lot of the hotel. And Jeremy awoke with a jerk. He seemed fine, and we walked in. Once inside he talked to me about my "luscious hair" or something and I could barely understand what he was saying, fully realizing how drunk he still was. We sat down and saw the other AOH members, most were wearing Irish wool sweaters, unintentionally matching. At one point a man with bagpipes stood up and played and someone's daughter, who's in one of the Irish step dancing schools, went up near him and began to dance. People clapped to the beat and, well, it was ridiculous. Don't imagine a crowd of 100 or even 50, or even 30. There were about 20 of us in a section of the restaurant at Days Inn Grand Rapids. Lance and I went up to get food and ended up taking all the eggs, without realizing it. Jeremy came back after us with a plate full of bacon and potatoes. ( Jeremy and I talk... ) We drove to Veteran's Park to line up for the parade at 11, so we could wait an hour. My dad wasn't going to march. He didn't plan on it because of the cold and his legs bothering him. This bothered Lance and Jeremy. I forgot to tell them sooner. It was cold, very cold. I wore a hat my dad let me use. ( License plates, bums and banners... ) Then Jeremy borrowed my phone and called Lonnie; he left his in the truck. He continued to talk to her for the entire parade. Often times getting upset and shouting. He and I marched beside a piper, a woman dancing and a drummer. ( The parade was quite boring, but fun ) Shortly after, Lance pointed out that one of the bums who wanted free booze had followed the parade, probably still looking for the booze. Sorry dude, the only free drinks we have are hot chocolate and coffee. Lance drank so much that he had to let it out in the parking garage before we left. And now, my parents are on their way to get me and take me to Quinn & Tuite's Irish Pub. Goodnight and remember, the real St. Patrick's Day isn't until next Thursday, aka Tom/Beth/Anthony's birthday and the next Pseudo show... So I just got back from the pub and I saw my speech therapist from 2nd grade with Justin and Lance's 2nd/3rd grade teacher. As it turns out, my parents see them about twice a year. My speech therapist, whom I haven't seen since 2nd grade, was surprised to see me. So surprised she gave me a shot of Jameson and was happy to see me down it fast. Odd. Her husband said, "She just wants you to start slurring again!" Okay, I did not slur my words. I had a slight problem with the letter "s". I recently realized it's similar to Adam Arkin. You might remember him from "Hitch". Yeah, if you listen carefully, he has a slight "s" problem. That's what I had. Then George came, as did Jeremy. We were all considerably more sober. Jeremy also told me that Lonnie had been planning on getting back with her ex the whole time he was in prison. While Jeremy and I drank, Lonnie was with him at Club North down the road. The jailbird's name: Jeremy. 23 no!s| post comment

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