Sean and I talked a lot in 2008. In February the conversations revolved largely around Chris's deteriorating health. In March, it was about my failed attempts to get time off from my new job to make one last visit. From there - as the inevitable set in - it became about travel schedules and getting to Kansas for his memorial in May.
The weekend in Kansas was nothing like I expected. While we were all sad to have officially lost Chris, most of the time spent was in celebration - and not mourning. It was refreshing. It was - I imagined - exactly like Chris would have wanted. I can't speak for the group, but I think - like me - that they were all relieved a bit to know that the suffering was over. The tumor that eventually took Chris's life was a slow and stealth thief. The grieving process wasn't at all sudden...we had been living through it for a long time. Way too long.
So, when so many of us gathered together to say goodbye - there was far more joy than I anticipated. So many great introductions. So many great Chris stories and remembrances. So many reasons to raise a glass, make a toast, and recognize a man that lived life with the sort of optimism that befit such a gathering.
In the conversations that followed the memorial, Sean presented me with an idea for continuing that positive momentum - at the time it was such a simple concept. Just a few months later we would invite Chris's brothers, family, and friends to Los Angeles to meet even more of Chris's USC family - and we would revolve it all around Homecoming weekend. All of the pageantry. All of the pomp. The energy and enthusiasm of a homecoming tailgate and the USC football team facing off against Washington in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
If Saturday, November 1, 2008 sounds like it was a perfectly-scripted Hollywood setting - it's because it was. A 3:30 kickoff was optimal for a great day of tailgating. L.A. was pure sunshine - even in the throws of Autumn. We took the Ewell contingency to Chano's on Figueroa for the traditional pre-tailgate tacos. We stopped at the liquor store next to Spudnuts for some refreshments - long live Boddingtons and that yellow can. We gave them the tour of all the important places and got to share a portion of Chris's USC existence with them.
I can't be sure, but I think Chris was directing the whole thing. After an incredible day of reminiscing and celebrating, how else can you explain a 56-0 win for the home team? A porous Washington defense you say? Well, that certainly didn't hurt the cause either.
Caught up in the euphoria of one USC touchdown after another...missing my friend who would have normally been right there with me in the stands...just three months removed from the birth of my second daughter...I didn't want to lose the momentum of THAT weekend either. So, I suggested to Sean, Brian and Henri that we make it a yearly event. That once a year we gather all together, celebrate USC football, and celebrate the legacy of Chris Ewell - which was always about bringing people together. Truth be told, it was an easy sell.
I'd like to say that I knew in November of 2008 that we could keep it going this long, but I don't know if I did. Eventually we would broaden the scope of the event outside of Los Angeles, outside of the original friend group, and even outside of USC football. But - no matter what - we have convened every year since and given Chris's legacy a proper salute. Even in the year of the pandemic - when we had more than two dozen of Chris's friends, family, former co-workers and others gathered on Zoom for a long, sentimental watch party for the rollercoaster 43-38 victory over UCLA - retaining the Victory Bell for another year.
Planning for 2021 is already underway. Because...of course it is. Where doesn't really matter. When is a secondary concern. But, who. Who is what it's all about. Who is the foundation. The who that we honor - from Chris to others that we have since lost. The different configurations of the who that show up each year to take part. The who that will ensure that Chris Ewell never becomes just another memory.
That is why we travel. That is why we gather. That is why we have the COCE - The Celebration of Chris Ewell.
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