The Parts of Himself
Hi friends, hope you’ll pardon the time since my last post. Today’s is a short one.
Ten years ago this spring, during my final semester at Providence College, I made a documentary about the life of my friend Jake Neumann.
Jake died that fall riding his motorcycle in Tempe, Arizona. He was just 21 at the time, a senior at ASU. Jake was as magnanimous as they come, spiritually awake, wise beyond his years, and just a wonderful friend. I still miss him and think about him often.
I spent the months following Jake’s death interviewing his close friends and family, combing through hours of home video, along with thousands of pictures, compiling any and all footage of him I was able to get my hands on. I remember stowing myself away in one of the film department’s editing bays for hours at a time, trying to learn enough Final Cut Pro to scrape by. Five months later, with the help of my twin brother Max, I had a documentary I was proud of.
I called it “The Parts of Himself.”
This morning, Jake’s mom texted Max and I the following message:
Today Jake would have been 32. So this morning I watched The Parts of Himself and got to see him, hear him, and feel him through everyone there as well as Jake himself. What a joy! What a blessing! What a rush!! I cannot thank you enough for this gift that I will have for a lifetime until I meet him again.
I’ll admit I haven’t thought about the documentary in a while, but of course it all came rushing back.
Happy birthday my friend. The gift was mine.