Don’t see why not. My understanding is there will be a gathering after, if you miss the service itself.
Yeah, if you’re leaving Anaheim at 2, it’d probably take at least 90-120 min just to get to Topanga. So probably better to just wait and head up for the gathering afterwards.
K, I’ll keep an eye out for details on the gathering.
I’ll be coming from the north, Santa Clarita. If anyone is up there & needs a ride, or in the San Fernando Valley from about the 405 to the west edge of the valley, send me a message. I don’t have much of a back seat, but I can squeeze two more adults back there for a short trip.
I’ll drive. I’ll be leaving around 10am most likely.
Just in case people haven’t been checking, we’re supposed to get rain starting tonight (Friday) & trailing off through Saturday morning. It should be gone by the time of the memorial, but keep an eye on your predicted drive time, since L.A. cannot handle wet roads very well.
Dear Christien,
Thank you for being such an amazing person. For caring about others so much, and for the humor and voice you brought to the movie podcasts. You were one in a million. We miss you dearly.
I’m sorry I can’t be there, but Christien will always be in my thoughts and in my heart. May his legacy live in us for as long as we do.
And to all my friends going there to remember Dingus, I’ll be with you in my thoughts and feelings.
Leaving Anaheim now. Might y’all be able to tell me where the post-ceremony gathering will be?
Edit: I made it, late, but yay!
I’m sad that I can’t be there today. This is what I wrote shortly after he passed.
Late last year I had found out that my friend Christien Murawski had become terribly ill, but that he was in the hospital receiving care and looked to be on the mend. I’d had a migraine earlier this week and when I’d finally returned to the online world on New Year’s Eve, I found out that things had taken a turn for the worse and that he had passed away that morning.
I have had a hard time writing this – I’ve started and scrapped it a dozen times – trying to figure out what to say about him. I never met him in person, but we’d corresponded back and forth on a message board, through email, social media, over the last 10 years or so. He was an actor and an avid moviegoer; I’d listened to him on the Quarter to Three movie podcast for many years as he and other friends talked about a movie they’d seen that week. He happened to make an off-hand mention to another radio show/podcast I listened to, and I was the only one who got it, so I felt like I had to reach out – and the friendship was born. We’d exchanged some letters and holiday gifts over the last few years; we’d reference the Kornheiser show, or Wrath of Khan, or Bloodsport, or any other ridiculous thing.
He was the kindest, most accepting soul and his voice was such that you felt you were invited into the conversation no matter what the topic was.
I had always hoped that some day, for whatever reason I might be out in Los Angeles to meet him in person, and now it’s not to be. But with some people, just their words - text and voice - they shine so strongly that no meeting, no physical handshake is needed to make a connection.
I will miss my friend.
From down to up!
The memorial was amazing and the gathering of friends and family is continuing right now. Hoping to post thoughts later as time permits, but for now I’ll just say this: I firmly believe we’re doing what Christien would want. Gathering, remembering, enjoying one another’s company, sharing both joy and grief. It’s what he’d do if the situation was reversed.
Thanks for the pictures. Looking forward to hearing more. Lots of love to you all.
Nice to see the pictures from the event.
