Photographing James Brimeyer

James Brimeyer could give Daniel Craig a run for his money.




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The Amos Family

A very good friend of mine, Julie Amos has recently in this past year lost both of her parents.   I cant even imagine what they are going through especially considering how amazing their parents were.  The Amos family had such an impact on my life that my regret is that i never got to tell them that.  The Amos family was one of those families that you wanted to go visit, and hang out at their house because there was so much love in that house.  Sometimes the love was hidden in very competitive board games, or games of any kind, but Bob and Ellen Amos welcomed everyone to their house no matter what time of night or day it was and they were happy to have you.

I was around 15 when i met Julie Amos and I think we had a love, hate relationship in the beginning which quickly grew into much more.  She is one of the most talented, beautiful and caring person that i know, and her parents were just as so.  When i was 15 my own family was having very difficult times, my father with working very hard on his sobriety and my mother was working very hard to keep the family together and to maintain some sense of stability for us all.  The Amos house was where i went to escape that.  It was my safe place.  I don't think i ever really explained to Bob or Ellen what was going on in my own personal life but they welcomed me with open arms and treated me like one of their own.  Maybe somehow they knew that my home life was in trouble.  Ellen was the constant supporter for her kids, Bobby, Gene and Julie, in everything that they chose to do.  She loved them with every ounce of her being and just wanted to see each of them as happy as they could possibly be.  

It wasn't until I went to see Julie in a high school play which she played the roll of Rizzo from grease, it was the first time i really was able to see just how talented she is.  My other friend Anna was there and were recorded the play and as we watched the video mostly all you could hear was me and Anna saying Oh my god she is amazing, it was a great night and a great memory.  A few years later we were able to see Ellen star in a local production of Nunsence, and we instantly where Julie's talent came from.  Ellen was hysterical in the show and she loved the spotlight.

Bob Amos was a quiet and soft spoken guy, but when he spoke, people listened.   I dont think i ever heard him raise his voice or say one negative or derogative thing to or about anyone, he was a good soul.   I can remember being over at the Amos's until the early hours of the morning playing games and he would be in the other room just watching his programs being very content just to hear the noise, and chaos that was going on just in the other room.  For me being in that chaos of love helped get me through some of the most difficult years of my life.

Its funny that with so much competition, and yelling and playful debating that went on in the family, there was so much love for each and every one of them.  A love that will last longer than a lifetime and that will be instilled in everyone who had the distinct pleasure of spending any time with the Amos family.  They were the real deal and i am a better man for having spent time with them.

The Amos house was one of those homes that just had the smell of a welcoming house.  There was always something to eat, something being cooked, something be thawed out for us to snack on.  The running joke that lasted forever is that Ellen would hide the good ice cream and offer us kids the ice cream that was in the outside cooler with frozen chunks of ice in it.  We quickly learned where she hid the good stuff, but she would still offer the ice cream from the outside freezer, but we were on to her game.

Ellen would rollerblade with us, or try to, she would play lazer tag at midnight running around her back yard, she was present and involved, and I thought that was amazing.  When she was with you, she really was with you and committed to being in that moment.

I use to spend a great amount of time with Julie Amos and Anna Ritgers, they were very much my friends and very much my family when i needed them most.  We did not always agree on everything but we had a great time together.  I think for me and Anna just being over at the Amos house was entertaining on so many levels.  Bobby, the oldest son, gave the word competitive an entire new definition.  He was aggressive and wanted to win any game he was playing.  Gene the middle child was the peacemaker.  She was always so put together and well spoken and always smiled.  My friend Julie has all of them wrapped up in her.  Being the youngest she has all their qualities.  When she needed to be competitive you could see the light go on so fast, but so did the compassionate side of her.  She listens and hears your stories of pain.  I contribute their amazing qualities to the parenting skill of the Bob and Ellen Amos and they have all grown into what i think to be amazing, caring people.

Bob and Ellen will be missed greatly.  I am not sure how many people they will ever know that they had such a huge impact in our lives.

My heart goes out to the Bobby, Gene and Julie.  I know they loved their parents so deeply and to loose them so close together has got to be devastating to them.  It's just another lesson that they have taught me that life is so fragile, they lived, they loved, they laughed, they danced, they argued, the made up, but most of all they loved.  They loved, they loved, they loved and there was no mistaking that this family loved one another.  They loved everyone and I personally feel like a better man just from knowing them!

So thank you Bob and Ellen Amos for so many things that you may never know that have changed me as a person.  Thank you for accepting all the craziness that we all brought into your home.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  The entire Amos family will always have a very special place deep inside my heart!

You will be missed by so many!