Sunday, June 1, 2025 – Day 292
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Good morning from Illinois Beach State Park.
First off — a public service announcement: the ticket lottery for The Masters opened this morning! You have until June 20, 2025, to submit your application. Mine is in. It doesn’t cost anything… at least not this part.
Now on to the good stuff.
I’m sitting here this morning with so many memories chaotically running through my head. As I replay individual moments, I start to weep — with happiness. I still can’t believe how emotionally intense yesterday was, for me and, I imagine, for many others too.
I received a message following the event from Joy, a friend from Crystal Lake. I never even saw her in the room, and we didn’t get a chance to talk. But she sent this beautiful text that sums up the day:
“Thank you for a wonderful party! The love in that room was palpable — what an honor to be invited 💕. Andy, I tried to get close enough to talk to you, but I needed a machete to get through the crowd of admirers! Let’s get together soon for a beer and rehash the bash! Love you guys, Joy”
Joy, I’m sorry we missed each other — and to anyone else I didn’t get a chance to talk with long enough (or at all), I’m truly sorry. I knew going in that this would happen. I did the math ahead of time: with the number of people attending, minus time for speeches, videos, a bathroom break, and a round with the cough machine to reset my voice — I had about 60 seconds per person. Just enough time to say hi, share a strong hug, squeeze in a few words, and then move on to the next beautiful face.
We anticipated this problem and pulled a trick from my mom’s playbook. Back when I was growing up in a house of ten — five of them ravenous boys — Mom had to ration food at dinner parties. Her secret weapon? The FHB rule: Family Hold Back. And no, the “F” word is not the one on my license plate.
The idea was that family would take very small portions and pause on seconds, until guests could have seconds. Yesterday was the same. I knew I’d see most of my family over the weekend anyway, we had time together Friday and we’re meeting up again for a family breakfast today. That gave me a little breathing room to spend more moments with friends I don’t see as often — to hug, to say thank you, to say I love you, and have a short conversation.
When I woke up this morning, I actually felt pretty good — much better than yesterday’s rough start. I sat on the edge of the bed, feet planted on the floor, just soaking it all in. Cindy was already up, quietly shuffling through the generous gifts you all brought. Thank you, sincerely.
But as she held each item up to show me, I started tearing up all over again. The pseudobulbar effect is real — yesterday and again this morning it had a front-row seat. I let the emotions roll for about 15 minutes before pulling myself together and sliding into my morning routine.
Right now, in the quiet of this morning, my head still feels foggy — kind of like a post-bender haze. I think back to what I drank yesterday, and I’m pretty sure I only had two, maybe three beers. So what gives? Maybe it’s an emotional hangover. That would make sense. The day was wonderfully intense, nonstop, and filled to the brim.
After my morning retching session yesterday morning (a routine I wouldn’t recommend), I was calmed by a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich…thank goodness…that would end up being my one and only meal of the day. I never even saw the appetizers. Even after the event ended, I stayed in the banquet room until 5:30, soaking up every last moment — saying thank you, sharing more I love you’s, and grabbing a few final hugs to take home with me.
I passed on dinner with the family…went to the hotel room and laid down and found a tv show (Gunsmoke) that didn’t require any brain effort and I just laid there and decompressed. By 8:30…it was time to pack it in.
I hope to see a bunch of great photos today and see what I missed and relive the day. Sure…I was there…but I felt like I was floating over the room all day!
Yesterday’s event will take a few days to write about and I look forward to talking about it. Hopefully, I’ll get some photos to share…I didn’t take photos during the event.
Thank you everybody for coming to celebrate me, it is a party that will live forever.
Have a great Sunday.
Love you guys!❤️
