The Afterburn: 'I've loved you since the seventh grade'
"Sam, give me your best hangover remedy."
The first words I echo the morning of my wedding on June 29 as my younger brother and best man sprints out the front door of my house in Sidney, gets into his black Dodge pickup and drives to Sonny's Super Foods to secure any and every hydration-filled beverage.
A quick power nap, three bottles of fluids and we're moving by 11:15 a.m. Wedding photos are at 1 p.m.
Not the strongest decision by a groom, whose bride has been at the alter for nearly 20 years waiting for you, to stay out until 2 a.m. the night before his wedding. However, when you're with your family and friends you haven't been with, and have stuck by your side for 35 years, it was hard not to fall for the temptation of going between bars in Sidney the night before the best day ever. Weddings tend to bring a lot of good back together.
But something happened between the regret of too many beers, shots and Captain Morgans and diets at Boss City Brewing, Hoondogs and The Rock. As I stand, hunched over at my bathroom sink looking into the mirror, a tear drops from my left eye.
Not the kind of tear you get from the major headache you're suffering from, or the thought you may have to sprint to the toilet, which I understand if you thought was the case. This tear held memories, joy and appreciation.
It was almost as if my life flashed before my eyes. Again, not from the death-like feeling I was going through from the night before, but the realization of how blessed Avery and I are to grow up in Sidney. We shared our first "date" together while running for the Sidney cross country team. She invited me to look for "ditch kitty" (a cat Avery says lived in the tunnels of the ditch on Verde Lane) when Avery was in the seventh grade. I was a freshman in high school. We never did find that kitty after an hour or so searching.
Our first real date, 16 years later, may be our most memorable. It also happened in Sidney and Cheyenne County.
The day started with a run through Sidney on a sunny, 36-degree day. After the run, and battling through soreness, we both decided we didn't want the day to end. We split to clean up after the run and would meet back up that evening.
We decided to go watch the UFC fight at Dude's Steakhouse in downtown Sidney. We aren't the biggest fight fans and we couldn't even tell you who was fighting that night or who won the fight. It was an excuse for us to be together. After we enjoyed a few beverages with the legendary Sidney bartender, Stewie, it was off to the old KSID studios in Legion Park. Avery always wanted to see what the studios looked like.
This part you have to keep between you and me. If any of my boss, coworkers, or future coworkers, read this. I recommend not doing this. During the tour, we snuck into the programming log and changed out two hours of music to tunes we grew up listening to, primarily punk rock. The playlist reminded me of the days hosting "The Drive Home" with Adam Bartling when I got my start in radio. This was before 987 The Big Boy.
With our playlist set, we locked up the studios, got back into my black Ford F-150 and cruised to our newly created show on the backroads until the sun rose the next day. With our 10-month-old daughter, Olivia, here now, sunrises and donuts from Neal at the Rolling Pin Bakery have a different look and taste, but still hold b-e-a-utiful memories.
The joy we felt seeing our parents, Joe and Cathy Arterburn and Steve and Stephanie Mika, our siblings Jack and Emily, Sam and Alexis, Emily and Ben, and Zach; friends Mike and Kelsey Wilson, Dave and Shaunda Collins, Brooke and Brandt Banzhaf, Justin and Valerie Richards, Cole Frerichs, Dexter Hansen, Schyler Adams and Tim Leininger dance to those same songs from that playlist four years ago (this time played by Projekt: 3D co-owner Don Davis) was enough to even make this radio DJ silent on the microphone.
That tear from my left eye back in my bathroom, as I prepared to commit my life to my best friend, held appreciation. Appreciation for the love and support we felt from friends who surround us. Unbelievable friends like Stan and Melissa Norgard from Boss City Brewing, Matt and Molly Highby at Highby Outdoors and the Osbourne Loft, Kaela Cole with To the Moon Balloons, Dave and Carol Porter at DP Electronics, Kiersten Richards and Randy Woodis at Beans & Steams Coffee House, Shannon and Steve Smelley, Flood Communications CEO Andy Ruback and his wife Theresa, and the list goes on-and-on.
It was the heaviest tear of happiness I've ever felt and it extended onto more than just our wedding day. The support we felt from you, in Big Boy Country, has been overwhelming. The love you've showed to a radio personality you wake up with in the Nebraska Panhandle, northeast Colorado, southeast Wyoming, or wherever you may listen from, is enough to make him tear up again as he writes this in his backyard on a 104-degree day with his wife watching our daughter try to crawl out of her crib.
Like Avery told me in her vows, "I've loved you since the seventh grade," I've loved waking up with you on the radio since high school. Thank you for that. Thank you for making every single day the best day ever.
It may have only been for a split second, but it was talked about. How we could turn our wedding day into a community event, a Big Boy event, to show you how much you truly mean to me, Avery, Olivia and our entire families. With a roll of her eyes, Avery said let's save those celebrations for Downtown Sounds, mower rides and dunks into our community pools.
Just to note. My reputation of not always showing up on time precedes me, but I did make it to the wedding venue east of town by 12:15 p.m. Just in time and feeling 110%. However, some will say I was still 15 minutes late.