what erik said to marianne

(Andree here) Happy New Year's Eve, everybody.

You probably know what tomorrow is. Erik's birthday. It would have been, anyhow. One year I bought him Jim Goad's The Redneck Manifesto as his gift.

Well -- Erik's not here to party with. Not exactly. But he does keep dropping in. You recall me promising you Marianne's story? Here's what E had to say to her, in no uncertain terms:

Erik visited me in a dream. Therefore, I was not surprised when, at Erik Rising, Dad Purdom spoke of Erik having communicated wisdom about transition to him duringa dream. Likewise, I was unfazed when a grieving colleague in China wrote me about Erik visiting him in a dream, smiling and telling him not to work so hard and to take care of himself.
It made sense to me. Erik cared. Despite the fact in my dream all I got was, “Check the sizes.” Yep, that’s it. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, as apparently a relatively brief professional association and friendship didn’t warrant more than a three word directive…thank you very much. I’m not even complaining about the slightly bemused, slightly smart-assed challenging look he issued when I had told him I couldn’t check the sizes myself as I didn’t know how. The look that said, “You can and you will.”
OK, so it’s true that when I took his advice I discovered this was something urgently needed, so much so that it caused a reorganization of the entire line of product that was vital for not only our launch but our survival as a new company. (But….really, Erik….three little words?)
Then again, maybe the look spoke volumes.

Believe me, Marianne, it always did. I'm comforted to hear it still does.

andy collen: 2008 is the year of e

E, chilly but undaunted at the southern end o' the hemisphere.

(Andree here) Andy Collen, of Andy and Amy at Happy Trails Animation, sent this letter along to the family a couple days ago. He says things here that I knew you'd all feel deeply so I asked if I could post. And he said yes.
Merry Christmas, everyone. E would have it no other way but merry.


* * *
Greeting Erik and Family,

I say this because somewhere out there Erik is listening and I wanted to give a 'last of the year' rant.

As the year comes to an end I look back and see loss, and health issues. As Erik used to always say it is a giant hair ball of life that we are trying to untangle... or maybe not. Just sweep the darn thing under the carpet and don't tell anyone. As I sit and try to think about the first time that Amy and I realized something was wrong with Erik, was when he and Nancy took us for a walk out the the fire pit to show us some materials that they had saved and wanted to reuse in a studio. They wanted us both to have these rather large stainless steel barriers. When Erik said that they would like them to be in our studio I could see in his eyes that it was something special that he wanted to live on through others. Amy and I felt very lucky that they were willing to give us or let use take care of something so unique by Erik.

Over the years Erik had told Amy and I about so many of his other friends that he wanted to connect us up with. I am only sorry that we did not have the time to make that happen. I did get a chance to catch up with a few folks at the Erik Rising party. Nancy sure does know how to organize some cool events. You know Nancy, pot luck is always nice too. That last night fire pit at the party was great having all those folks that I heard so much about sitting sharing Erik stories what a send off. I know Erik is not really gone he is just with each one of us now. We all have a piece of Erik in us all. Something I am going to cherish forever.

As I begin to reflect on things to come for Happy Trails... I always felt like we were one of Erik's pet projects... he was always trying to push us along. I see that his influences have brought on some interesting changes for us. It is his questions and discussions about the industry that made us begin to think in new directions and take some risks like he did with so many. It is with those risks that we are headed for some kind of 3 year contract with folks like EMI records, Warner Brothers Music, Disney, Lionsgate Entertainment and many more. Our little day by day survival studio is about to turn the corner and become a cutting edge content provider for some pretty amazing clients. But the one thing I know... is that I need to find my fire pit. Something to keep me tuned back into the smaller things in life... the things that really matter. Erik had a way of Yin and Yang... trying to find balance. It was when he started to include Amy and I into his excuse to get away and sit by his glowing fire-pit cook some meat on a stick... and talk... just like the Native Americans did... and before them the Cavemen. You could see the fire light dance on the rocks... turn your head and look up and witness a sea of stars. Which would then bring us back to... US... a speck on a planet that is a speck in a solar system... that is a speck in the universe.

To me this year is all about Erik... I will Chalk in my history book as 2008 the year of Erik. I am lucky to have been part of his universe and he will forever be part of mine. Rather then feeling sad I am honored and feel privileged to have the experiences that I have.

To Erik I say thanks for all the help big buddy. And to his family I say thanks for including Amy and I. On to a new year which will bring new stories and I hope some great Fire Pit meals.

Andy

mom and dad's christmas letter

(Andree here. Ornament by Dean) Mom and Dad sent along their Christmas letter wondering if it was postable. And of course it is.

* * *

Christmas letter 2008

This year started so happily. In February we went to Chile, Argentina and Easter Island with Erik, Nancy, Lyric and Jaeger.

It was a wonderful adventure.

With the glow of this happy time still upon us, life changed dramatically. The family and many friends came together to help Erik fight a dread disease and then ultimately help with his transition.

Erik died in August.

In September a lovely crowd gathered to celebrate his being at “Erik Rising”. It was a beautiful, fantastic day---many spoke of their personal relationship with Erik. Through tears and sadness we managed smiles upon telling stories about Erik.

We have a deep gratitude to all that helped Erik and us. We have discovered the depth of love that is out there for Erik and have become the recipients of that love.

Of course, we continue though each moment has taken on a different hue. As we celebrate Christmas and the Holidays this year, we will work at enjoying every second. Should Erik look upon us during these Christmas holidays, he will smile --- especially when we tease and challenge Lyric and Jaeger.

Terry and Donna

from across the pond

(Andree here) I'm very grateful to Marianne Kay for the post I'm about to give you, as it largely consists of messages she's transmitting from colleagues in China. Let's get right to them:

Marianne opens: Allow me to share excerpts of emails sent by colleagues in China. I’ve not asked their permission to post so I have omitted names but allow these excerpts to show that others overseas, whom you might never meet, were as deeply moved by Erik as those of us who were fortunate enough to have been able to share our memories and our grief at Erik Rising. I know they, like we, will never forget him. Please read their words:

* * *

Actually I don’t know how to describe my feelings. There were too many to express for this friendship between Erik & I. I just couldn’t accept such a great man passed away. I kept asking where God is. I don’t care how many miracles He made. All I begged of Him to was to put a magic on my friend Erik, but it seemed that He was not existent. Or maybe, just maybe He had more important assignments for Erik to spread his spirit in another world, but it wasn’t fair because we need the giant here too.

I met Erik in a dream last week. He was smiling to me and said “ Hey, don’t worry, or life will kill you.” He told me don’t work that hard and asked me to take care of myself. You know, he always said there are many puzzles in my head and I tried to organize all the pieces together. He wanted me to relax from work and take care of myself. I do miss this guy. He was like a meteor in this world; his life wasn’t long but it was shining and made the surroundings sunny.

I’ve never met Erik’s family but I do wish I could meet them someday. Erik talked a lot about them. I wish all these friendships could take the sorrow from Nancy and children.

It is really difficult for me to take this sad news, and still couldn't get my emotion recovered since I received your email yesterday morning. In fact, I was just thinking about paying a visit to meet him and his family in Oct.

He is such an important person in my life and always devoted himself to help. No selfishness at all.

It is a real hurt to lose a good friend like Erik and he will be always on my mind as my mentor forever. Seriously, we all owe him a huge deal for his contribution…

The news of his death hit me really hard. I would like to express my condolences for the loss of him. There were so many things that made him special to me. It is very difficult to lose this good friend. He will always be in my heart.

* * *

(Andree again) Marianne had an excellent story of her own, and it deserves its own post. Stay tuned. And the family's continued warm wishes and gratitude to you all as we move closer to the holidays.

sean found these!

(Andree here) Sean found these a day or two ago. These were taken overseas a couple of months before E's diagnosis, as Sean notes: "He was certainly not feeling good at this point, but as you can see.....full of smiles."

As the holiday approaches, our first without E here (or you could say, his first without us there), there will be new and old photos and stories to share. Don't be shy, mail 'em in! Just let me know it's okay to post.

"do not forget me"

(Andree here) I imagine we'll have some stuff to add in a bit, but the family wanted to share this photo we found. He looks so much like Dad here it's uncanny.