Halloween IS the Orange Holiday!

Happy Halloween from JHO and EMO!

It's Halloween - the orange holiday - and I'm really missing John Henry. I really needed a laugh and since I was bored at work today because there were no JHO instant messages coming in, :-( I decided that I needed a little entertainment - JHO Style. So, please enjoy the "Disco Divas" showing you how it's done. John Henry LOVED Halloween, as you all know, so I figured we should all have a smile on our faces today and what better way to get one than by watching him make us laugh. ENJOY!

P.S. I didn't plan the orange shirt - it must have been meant to be! ;-)

Wedding Crashers - as posted by Tara Cruser-Moss

John Henry and I worked at Resorts International in Atlantic City as Cheerleaders for the Griffin Games. We usually dressed in the appropriate costumes but one Saturday we were scheduled to emcee a high-end slot tournament, which required me to wear an evening gown and JH to wear a suit. When we finished up at around 7pm, we decided to walk over to the Trump Taj Mahal for something to eat at the Hard Rock or at the Deli.

When we got to the Taj we walked past a banquet room. We could see the buffet table full of awesome food. JH looked at me with this devilish smile and put his arm out. We ate their food and drank their champagne...it was fabulous! At one point, the bride was dancing with JH and I was dancing with the groom. We closed the joint and nobody ever even knew we had crashed the wedding! It was absolutely one of the best times in my life. What a blast! I regret not mentioning this to John Henry. I had meant to a few times, especially after the "Wedding Crashers" movie came out. This is one of many fun memories I have with John Henry Rew III. He always found a way to have fun in the little things. I can't tell you how many little things we did together that ended up being the BEST TIME of my life. I miss my dear friend... there was nobody like him. I will forever cherish this memory and I look forward to seeing him again so we can laugh together.

"A Look, Which Said As Plainly As a Thousand Words" as posted by Greg Z.

As I was deciding what to do for a posting for Forever Orange, I knew I wanted to gather a bunch of pictures that I had of John Henry. Some I had taken, some that have been shared by family and friends, and also some of his professional head-shots...(SOME OF THESE ARE REALLY BEAUTIFUL!)

I knew I wanted to keep what I actually wrote short and sweet. Like the expression: "a picture paints a thousand words," I wanted this collage of our friend to speak to you, and I trust it will, much more than I could say here today, even if I DID write a thousand words.

I decided to Google the phrase, "a picture paints a thousand words", to see if I got any further ideas or insights. I found this very interesting entry right away:

"A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS"
"Meaning:
A picture tells a story just as well as a large amount of descriptive text."
"Origin:
There are several varieties of this phrase, including 'a picture is worth a thousand words'.
The first time a form of the phrase appears in print is in James Kirke Paulding's New Mirror for Travellers, 1828: "A look, which said as plainly as a thousand words."

I liked that! And how fitting for our John Henry...EVERY LOOK he gave, EVER gave ANYONE, was certainly said 'AS PLAINLY AS A THOUSAND WORDS'...OR EVEN MORE!

So please enjoy these "looks of the love" John Henry gave to you and the world -
and think of all the words they are being said plainly to you!

Comments are more than welcomed here...if you have any words that you want to share that came to you as you looked at these pictures.

meow, meow, meow, meow, I miss you John Henry, meow...
Toonces & Greg (AKA Greggy)

Goooooo....MAVERICKS!

mav·er·ick (māv'ər-ĭk, māv'rĭk) adj. 1. Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence. noun. 2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group.

This week, The Mavericks are in Arizona for the Gay Softball World Series. John Henry had been looking forward to this trip - a chance for a long-anticipated visit to his parents, John and Helen, in Scottsdale, and a fun trip with his softball brothers and sisters.

I'm sure the trip is bitter sweet for the Mavs, but it could not come at a better time. Their visit to the Southwest is a gift for John Henry's family to, again, share in a much-loved part of his life with some of the people who love him the most.

It is so fitting that John Henry would be part of a team called the Mavericks. Anyone that knew him would understand why. One of his greatest gifts was his ability to exhibit his independence and live out loud, not by anyone elses rules, but by his own. This quality was, no doubt, inspiring and infectious to those around him. There is no telling how many people may have been impacted by his unassuming example of this, but I feel that it may be one of the many ripples that emanate out from his life - touching many people for a long time to come.

So...as the Mavericks get out there and play like there's no tomorrow, I'm sure John Henry is with them, cheering them on. The Forever Orange community is all rooting for you, Mavericks, so you better kick ass and take names! :-P