Dallas, TX. Trusting a stranger. April 2004
The day I met Colby he entrusted me with the key to his apartment. I was deep into Season 2 of The Greatest Year of My Life—the blog version, anyway—and I was down in Austin when my UCLA friend, Diana Rader, suggested I call her pal Colby if I ever made it up to Dallas. That simple suggestion by Diana has led to many wonderful moments: a free Shawn Colvin concert in downtown Dallas about an hour after meeting Colby at his Greenville apartment; more than one Colby show in Dallas. (Did I mention he's a talented musician, too?); a brief collaboration at Colby's apartment, eventually leading to a songwriting credit on his solo album Everly Lane for this song. More than a decade after he handed me the key to his Dallas apartment—where I crashed on his couch for about a week—Colby unleashed his kindness once again when he offered to DJ our wedding last October in Austin for gas money and a hotel room. What a wedding gift! Colby's generosity led to moments like this—that's Colby smiling behind the DJ console—and this—the dance floor was rockin'!—and this. (My lady loves to dance.) And then there was this: Colby on the dance floor with his wife, Amy—who was his girlfriend when I met them 10 years ago. So glad you're still in my life a decade later, my friend. You have our eternal gratitude for the wedding tunes, PA system and light show. But most of all, I'm just grateful you were even at our wedding. Happy birthday!