Secret Lives of Seahorses!

So proud of my beautiful fiancée/bandmate … and of the...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:32:00 -0400

So proud of my beautiful fiancée/bandmate … and of the very handsome @willnoon peeking over her shoulder!

Photo by @ethanluck

Don’t forget to watch Emily perform with FUN. tonight...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:18:02 -0400

Don’t forget to watch Emily perform with FUN. tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman!!! 11:30pm EST

Eulogy

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:19:58 -0400

I consider myself an extremely private person. Most of you that know me well know me because you’ve experienced life, both joys and sorrows, alongside me and not through thoughts that have been posted via social media. Posting something personal on this blog is not something that I do frequently. I do, however, feel inclined to make an exception in this case. I had the difficult honor of delivering the eulogy at my grandfather’s funeral this past weekend. He was my greatest friend and role model. Truly the most amazing man I have or will ever know. So, while it feels a little weird, I’m going to post the transcript of the eulogy. Hopefully anyone who reads it can get a small glimpse of the kind of man Frank Maresca was.

————-

First and foremost, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for being here this morning. I want to thank you for coming last night and paying your respects and sharing in the grief that we all feel. Thank you for the prayers and thank you for telling stories about what my grandfather meant to you. We here to celebrate the life of a wonderful man. The most wonderful man I have ever known. For those of you that don’t know me, or maybe only knew of me as a five year old, my name is Justin. I’m Frank’s only grandson.

As you all know, this has been a whirlwind of a week. We have been consumed with both grief and responsibility to an immense degree. When I first considered eulogizing my grandfather, I thought it would be a piece of cake. I could go on for days about my grandfather, about the man that he was, recounting memories of all the times we spent together. Talking about him in a few minutes, however, is a challenge I feel uniquely ill equipped to handle. How do I honor the life of such a great man in only a few short minutes? It’s an insurmountable task, but I’m going to try my absolute best. To be honest, I wish I was more prepared. I wish I could do this without these notes, but until this week I never contemplated a eulogy for my grandfather. I know it’s naive, but he was invincible to me. I just never actually thought about having to be here doing this.

We have this ceramic Christmas tree at my house. We’ve had it as long as I can remember and my mom loves this tree. My Aunt Janet painstakingly crafted it for her and mom always talks about how much it means to her. Not only because it’s a beautiful decoration but because it represents all the work that Janet put into making it for her. And for this reason, when the box where it was carefully packed in the attic was brought down at the beginning of December, we were always extra careful where it was placed. Well, last year, things got a little crazy around our house. My sister was getting ready to leave for a year of mission work, and was having a bunch of people over for a holiday party. Furniture was being moved around, this was being moved there, this was being moved over here, and, in Kristen’s stress and haste, she picked up the tree but failed to secure the base, and it dropped to the floor, smashing into pieces right in front of my mom. This accident became the catalyst for a huge argument that had so little to do with the tree itself and a lot to do with stress and emotions running high. But it was a huge argument to say the least, and it left both Kristen and my mom feeling horrible. (I feel that I should point out here that we don’t fight in our family. Rarely does anyone even raise their voice at another, which is why this felt so big) We swept up what we could find of the pieces and put them in a plastic bag, mostly because it seemed too final to part with them, but honestly, the tree was unfixable. When I mentioned trying to mend it, my mom was reluctant, because, she said, that now every time she saw the tree, all she would think about was the huge fight that it’s brokenness led to that fight right before my sister left for India. What once was a symbol of something great was now a reminder of something painful.

When my grandfather heard the story and saw how upset my mom was about it, he, in typical grandpa fashion said “bring it over, let me take a look at it”. Knowing the gravity of the situation, my mom told him that it was truly beyond repair but agreed to bring over what was left of the pieces anyways. Days passed and weeks passed and grandpa kept asking about the tree, to which mom would reply “Dad, I don’t even think we have all the pieces. It can’t be fixed”. “Bring it over anyways”, he would say. So one day, mostly to humor him, my mom brought him the bag of broken ceramics, minus one big chunk that mysteriously disappeared, and proceeded to forget all about it. That is, until one day my mom walked in the door, and grandpa was holding the base of the tree, completely mended and without blemish. No sign of the huge missing chunk. It was perfect. He must have spent days working on it. When he handed it to my mom, he said to her “This is for my granddaughter”.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Saint Teresa. When asked about her work in Calcutta, about all the amazing and selfless things she did, she would always say that “we can do no great things; Only small things with great love.” So what is truly important is not how much we accomplish but how much love we put into doing it. You all knew my grandfather. You all knew his humble, gentle spirit. Though I know him as the greatest of men, I can guarantee that he would have never considered himself such. He just did what he felt like any man should do. Love. An outpouring of love into everything that he did. Into each member of our family. As I listened to all of you talk about my grandfather yesterday, a common theme was undeniably present. When times were tough, or when someone needed someone to count on, Frank was there. And he didn’t do any of this out of obligation. He did what he did because he loved you all. He put everyone else first because that’s the man he was, all the way until the very end. When my grandfather fixed that ceramic tree, he wasn’t just putting the pieces of an object back together. Through his love for my mom and my sister, and through his actions paired with his immense skill for mending what was broken, he transformed what was a horrible memory into something beautiful. When we looked at that tree this year, we no longer saw a painful memory. We saw my grandfathers selflessness and how through it he picked up the pieces and created something beautiful. It was a small gesture with great, great love.

When someone close to you dies, you find support from all over. People have been telling me all week, with the best of intentions, to hang on. To let the sadness take hold of me, and that it will be hard, but that, in time, all things will heal. That he was 90 years old, and that he lived a great life, and that he’s in a better place. And sometimes I just want to scream. I’m not upset with them. I know they mean well and they are only trying to help. I know that he was 90 and that he had a great life. I know that I’m 28 years old, and I am so thankful to the Lord to have had him in my life for this long. I have friends who have lost their parents by this age. I am SO thankful. I never want to sound ungrateful. But, in that same measure, I just don’t feel like they truly understand the relationship that we had with my grandfather. We did everything together. The moments that our family looked forward to the most were the times we could all be together. Eating together, playing games, ringing in the new year. When he passed on from this world into the next, into the arms of our Father, we didn’t just lose a member of the family. We lost a best friend. We lost our confidant. Our biggest fan. I lost my role model, and the man who taught me what it means to be an honorable man, and to love your family above all else. The man who taught me how to live through actions rather than simply with words. The man that everyday I strive to be more like, and if I can become a fraction the man, the father, the husband that he was, I’ll be doing alright. A man that wanted to protect us and reassure us all the way to the very end, where he used the last bit of strength he had to throw his arms around my grandmother, who after sixty years of marriage he loved like the day he first laid eyes on her in that hospital room, and reassure her that it was all going to be okay. Everyone should be so fortunate to know a love like that.

We lost the glue that held us together. And no amount of time from here to eternity can fill that void.

We are brokenhearted in a way that words cannot describe. And yet this loss; this devastation; is married to the promise that we will all one day be reunited. In a place where loss is what is dead. Where all things live. Where death is just a memory and tears don’t exist. It is with this promise that we go, heavy hearted, onward in this life, knowing full well that this is only the beginning of the story: that we just can’t see past the horizon. Yet.

In the closing of the final Chronicle of Narnia, C.S. Lewis writes — “As He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion, but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

We love you, Grandpa. Never will there be as honorable a man as you. We will miss you every minute of every day until we see you again.

“As He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion, but...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:51:00 -0400

“As He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion, but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.” -C.S. Lewis

I lost my grandfather today.
He was my hero. My best friend. The greatest man I have ever known. He was honorable. A man who always did the right thing even when it wasn’t the easy thing. He loved his family with great passion and intensity. After sixty years of marriage, he still referred to my grandmother as “his girl”. Before he passed away he used his last bit of strength to put his arms around her, as if to assure her that it was all going to be okay, one last time. Everyone should know love like that. Then he held our hands. And then he was gone.

I know he is in the presence of the Lord. I know we’ll be reunited again. I still can’t help but feel completely devastated.

I love you Grandpa.

Frank Michael Maresca
3/5/22 - 3/24/12

Emily on CONAN with FUN.

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:17:52 -0500

Don’t forget to tune in to CONAN tomorrow night (Tuesday Feb. 21st) to see Emily perform with FUN. 11pm EST on TBS. Alright!!!!

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will..."

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:25:59 -0500

““The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.””

- Zephaniah 3:17

Jamie Pham [dot] Com: From His 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:27:45 -0400

Jamie Pham [dot] Com: From His 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech:

jamiepham:

One of my favorite speeches.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is…

"The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community (even if their intentions are..."

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 06:55:37 -0400

““The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community (even if their intentions are ever so earnest) but the person who loves those around them will create community.””

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We already posted this, but in case you missed it and since...

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:59:46 -0400

We already posted this, but in case you missed it and since nothing crazy is going on this morning, here is a new song from an acoustic session Emily did with ALTER THE PRESS

steeltrain: Justin and Emily or should I say...

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:30:53 -0400

steeltrain:

Justin and Emily or should I say “seahorses”

That’s us!

steeltrain: All of us at a minor minor league baseball game!...

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:44:16 -0400

steeltrain:

All of us at a minor minor league baseball game! Sioux falls pheasants

Fighting Pheasants, that is!

terrible-thrills: for the last 2 days of our album being FREE…...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:05:10 -0400

terrible-thrills:

for the last 2 days of our album being FREE… we are including our female companion album in the giveaway!!! it features the same songs covered by tegan and sara, amanda palmer, scarlett johanson, rachel antonoff (pictured), and many many others. click the link below to get both records, art and b sides for the next 2 days only! and .. reblog, retweet and share to automatically be entered to win a lot of ST vinyl. ok, go spread the word!! thanks! http://bit.ly/freesteeltrainLP

Do this immediately, says Woody

steeltrain: In no way was this posed! The love between a...

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:36:20 -0400

steeltrain:

In no way was this posed!

The love between a father and his child.

terrible-thrills: for the 1 year anniversary of our self titles...

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:58:53 -0400

terrible-thrills:

for the 1 year anniversary of our self titles album coming out.. we are GIVING AWAY the entire thing + 2 unreleased tracks + artwork and liner notes for FREEEEE!! http://bit.ly/k2fSe5 plus — there is contest where 20 people can win all 4 steel train 7inches from the club (no other way to get these). RE BLOG this to entire to win! all info here- http://bit.ly/k2fSe5

terrible-thrills: it’s my sister rachel’s birthday!!!!!! What...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:47:04 -0400

terrible-thrills:

it’s my sister rachel’s birthday!!!!!!

What a wonderful day!

"Do you know what I want? I want justice-oceans of it. I want fairness-rivers of it. That’s what I..."

Wed, 25 May 2011 13:04:12 -0400

“Do you know what I want? I want justice-oceans of it. I want fairness-rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.”

- Amos 5:24, The Message.

I’m annoyed by pretty much everything I read from The Message, but this has got to be the most irritating passage I’ve come across. What an absolutely egregious use of nonsensical, fabricated hyphenations. “Justice-oceans?” “Fairness-rivers?” I honestly cannot fathom how people take tripe like this seriously. This verse in the King James Bible reads thusly: “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” How does that get turned into the above drivel?

Also, there are no antecedents of the pronouns “it” and “that.” You want “justice-oceans” and “fairness-rivers” of what, exactly?

And Jesus said to his homies “Yo, let’s head down to Galilee Beach and chill for a bit. I’ll bet there are tons of peeps down there to teach my fathers message to.” And the disciples packed a lunch and followed Jesus.
-the message?

terrible-thrills: steeltrain: This took about 5 minutes to get...

Sat, 07 May 2011 00:28:08 -0400

terrible-thrills:

steeltrain:

This took about 5 minutes to get it right

this is something

Washington, watch out

steeltrain: Thou shall not pass!!! If there is a video of This...

Fri, 06 May 2011 17:16:01 -0400

steeltrain:

Thou shall not pass!!! If there is a video of This it will have a virus!!!

steeltrain: Sunfest taken by Rachel Antonoff Amazing surprise

Tue, 03 May 2011 13:39:31 -0400

steeltrain:

Sunfest taken by Rachel Antonoff

Amazing surprise

steeltrain: Justin

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:33:57 -0400

steeltrain:

Justin