January 8th, 2011 by Conor

LIVING with Danny.

I had the pleasure of LIVING with Danny for an entire summer. I emphasis living because that is Danny’s unique ability: to bring life, and light to everything and everyone around him.

It was the summer of 2005 and Danny moved out to Boulder, Co to live with Conor and pursue their small but growing brand, FLIGI. Living with Danny was pure entertainment. Danny was always full of life and was always seeking new ways to have fun. His laughter as he navigated through life that summer will forever be burnt into my memory. There were many great memories from that summer ranging from bar hoping, tubing on the canyon river, playing music (I listened, as Danny managed to decipher right away, I have no musical talent), to actually working hard and debating various topics. One memory from that summer though stands out more than any other… the “shave that thang, duuuuuuude” moment.

For those of you that did not know Danny during this period in his life, allow me to provide you with a little backdrop on Danny’s man grooming and style preferences. Danny was clean cut and always need to have a certain level of “freshness” to him. Sporting the freshest clothes and always looking nice and “tight.” If my memory serves me correctly, Danny had a well maintained chin strap grown that was maintained daily (if not multiple times daily) with his straight razor. I remember thinking to myself….”really, a straight razor?!?! Who actually uses one of those on themselves?!?!?!”

Regardless, of Danny’s own preferences, he had some choice words for my preferences that will forever be in my memory. I recall getting out of the shower in our apartment. We were all getting ready for a Boulder summer night out on the town. I walked out of the bathroom with nothing on but a towel around my waist. I was applying deodorant to my underarms and Danny was sitting on the couch and watching TV. He turned his head, looked at me, and his eyes lit up wider than a full moon, and a HUGE smile appeared on his face. I remember thinking “is the towel still on?” I looked down and thought “OK, towel is still on, check.”

“What, Danny?” I asked.

Danny’s response, “Jezzzz, duuuuuudeeeeeeeee. Shave that thang already.” Then Danny burst out into laughter and continued with “Does it have a name?”

“What?” I asked.

In reference to the extra long arm pit hair I had amassed under my arms during the winter hibernation Danny continued with “the small animal you’re hiding under your arm, duuuuuuudeeeee!!!!” and then he continued to laugh hysterically.
I remember thinking to myself, “WTF, who is this kid?!?! Who does he think he is too make fun of me in my apartment.” But then I reflected on status of my underarm and I remember thinking “Man this thing is ridiculous” and started to laugh as well. Needless to say, the pits got a little trim action about a ½ hour later.

This story may not be as funny or memorable to others as it is to me. But, I think it sums up my favorite quality of Danny; the ability to help people identify their own flaws and address them with humor. His comments were not hurtful or spiteful and never have been. They are just comments intended to get a good laugh, as always do, and will when returns to us.

Danny – and Conor too – are like therapy for me. Each time I get together with them, I am reminded that the things I think are a big deal in life (e.g. money, social status, public accomplishments), are not really that big at all and the small things in life (natures beauty, love, family relationships, friendships, laughter, etc.) deserve soooooo much more attention then I give them.

It is frustrating to know that Danny can’t communicate with us – and more importantly – with his mom, dad, brother, and girlfriend at this moment in time. But I like to think that he’s on a new journey, a new adventure in which he is resting and dreaming. In those dreams, I know he is planning and coming up with the next big thing. I can’t wait to hear from him again, learn about this most recent journey, and what is on his plate next. The laughter that will accompany those dreams and plans will be the icing on the cake.

Danny, get well soon my friend! We can’t wait to hear what is next…..