Post by Alex "Graham Cracker" Bell on Jul 29, 2013 17:04:38 GMT -5
I can't believe I made it to All Stars! Thinking back, it's been a craaaaazy couple of years. It all started at the reunion party for Season 2....
The reunion party took place at a bar with all the Season 1 and 2 contestants. I was at the party, hanging out with Michael, who became a close friend during the season and in walked the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. My jaw actually dropped as I just stared at her. She walked over to us and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Kim!" She said beaming. At that exact moment, my vocal chords decided not to work.
"I'm Michael and this knucklehead is Alex." he replied back. She shook his hand then held it out for me to shake. Her hands felt so soft, and the purple nail polish went perfectly with her sleek black dress.
The rest of the night, the 3 of us were talking, laughing and joking just having a good time. Slowly, people started to trickle out of the bar and we couldn't help but laugh when Elyse and Jason left the bar together. Finally, it was just us three and we knew that it was time to wrap things up.
I walked Kim to her car, and brushed my hand up against hers. We stood there in silence, both too shy to say what we wanted to say until finally I looked at her and just gave her a huge kiss. I've never felt anything more right in my entire life. We finally separated and she got in her car and left.
Michael stumbled over and said, "You dog you! I hope you got a number for that!" I just stood there, realizing that in everything that happened, I didn't. I had no idea where to find her and I would probably never see her again. I smiled thinking about the awesome night and took Michael back to his hotel.
About 3 months later, CBS contacted me about joining a group of previous contestants to help write analyses about Sausage Island 3. I agreed because I knew a bunch of my Survivor friends would be doing it too. After the first episode, I logged on and saw that Kim was there. My heart skipped several beats and I was thrilled. I private messaged her and we agreed to go on some dates.
Things were going great between us. I took her out several times and we decided to make things official. After about four months of dating, I was going to surprise her with some flowers. I pulled up to her house and saw a car there that I had never seen before. I figured that it was a sibling or something and dismissed it. I rang the bell and heard some shuffling inside. She answered the door, but only opened it a crack.
"Alex! What are you doing here?" She almost sounded nervous.
"I brought you some flowers. I thought I'd surprise you. Is this a bad time?"
"Oh you know, I'm just busy with-"
"Kim! Hurry back, we've got so many more positions to try before my shift tonight." I heard a man say, a voice that sounded familiar but couldn't place.
I looked at her confused, then shoved the door open and saw Boston Rob from Sausage Island 1 standing there naked. My jaw dropped and I threw down the flowers and turned to leave.
"Alex, wait!" Kim called, but I got in my car and left.
After that, I couldn't even stand to see her. I wasn't very active in the season 3 discussions because it hurt so much to see her. However, I made up for it by hooking up with Stephanie at the season 3 reunion party.
They asked me to do it again for Season 4, and after some prodding from Michael, I agreed.
One night, I was video chatting with Michael and he was telling me how excited he was that his wife was expecting their third child. I heard a weird noise on his end, and he got up to go check. I heard a loud BANG! and a thud. After that, I heard some quick footsteps and a door slam. I immediately called the house but no one answered. I called Ellen, and told her what I think happened and that she should get home if she could.
It turned out, that someone was attempting to steal from Michael's house and the intruder shot him. I felt terrible for Ellen as she was going to be left with 3 kids, all by herself.
About 3 weeks later, I flew out to Michigan for his funeral. It was a very somber affair, but it was still nice to see Elyse, Candice, Christa, Lex and Brett again, even if the circumstances were less than ideal. We all let Ellen know that we would do what we could to help her.
Michael's death hit me hard. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I just wished there was something that I could have done to prevent it. I started going to bars alone and drinking by myself, frequently closing out bars. I started to miss work and if I did show up, I was frequently drunk. I had hit rock bottom.
One night, I received a phone call from the CBS rep. "Alex, we're casting for Sausage Island All Stars now and after your performance, we think you'd be great!" I knew that it would be fun, but even after a year, I was still reeling from Michael's death.
About 2 weeks before I was supposed to leave, I decided that I needed to get my shit together. I threw out all the booze in my house and started hitting the gym. I knew that it wouldn't make that much of a difference in two weeks, but I felt better just being there. I knew that I had to prepare myself mentally and physically and did everything I could to win this money, for Michael.
The day of, I drove myself to the airport and departed for that fateful island one last time. Seeing the familiar and unfamiliar faces made me want to win this game. For Ellen. For Michael. For myself.
The reunion party took place at a bar with all the Season 1 and 2 contestants. I was at the party, hanging out with Michael, who became a close friend during the season and in walked the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. My jaw actually dropped as I just stared at her. She walked over to us and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Kim!" She said beaming. At that exact moment, my vocal chords decided not to work.
"I'm Michael and this knucklehead is Alex." he replied back. She shook his hand then held it out for me to shake. Her hands felt so soft, and the purple nail polish went perfectly with her sleek black dress.
The rest of the night, the 3 of us were talking, laughing and joking just having a good time. Slowly, people started to trickle out of the bar and we couldn't help but laugh when Elyse and Jason left the bar together. Finally, it was just us three and we knew that it was time to wrap things up.
I walked Kim to her car, and brushed my hand up against hers. We stood there in silence, both too shy to say what we wanted to say until finally I looked at her and just gave her a huge kiss. I've never felt anything more right in my entire life. We finally separated and she got in her car and left.
Michael stumbled over and said, "You dog you! I hope you got a number for that!" I just stood there, realizing that in everything that happened, I didn't. I had no idea where to find her and I would probably never see her again. I smiled thinking about the awesome night and took Michael back to his hotel.
About 3 months later, CBS contacted me about joining a group of previous contestants to help write analyses about Sausage Island 3. I agreed because I knew a bunch of my Survivor friends would be doing it too. After the first episode, I logged on and saw that Kim was there. My heart skipped several beats and I was thrilled. I private messaged her and we agreed to go on some dates.
Things were going great between us. I took her out several times and we decided to make things official. After about four months of dating, I was going to surprise her with some flowers. I pulled up to her house and saw a car there that I had never seen before. I figured that it was a sibling or something and dismissed it. I rang the bell and heard some shuffling inside. She answered the door, but only opened it a crack.
"Alex! What are you doing here?" She almost sounded nervous.
"I brought you some flowers. I thought I'd surprise you. Is this a bad time?"
"Oh you know, I'm just busy with-"
"Kim! Hurry back, we've got so many more positions to try before my shift tonight." I heard a man say, a voice that sounded familiar but couldn't place.
I looked at her confused, then shoved the door open and saw Boston Rob from Sausage Island 1 standing there naked. My jaw dropped and I threw down the flowers and turned to leave.
"Alex, wait!" Kim called, but I got in my car and left.
After that, I couldn't even stand to see her. I wasn't very active in the season 3 discussions because it hurt so much to see her. However, I made up for it by hooking up with Stephanie at the season 3 reunion party.
They asked me to do it again for Season 4, and after some prodding from Michael, I agreed.
One night, I was video chatting with Michael and he was telling me how excited he was that his wife was expecting their third child. I heard a weird noise on his end, and he got up to go check. I heard a loud BANG! and a thud. After that, I heard some quick footsteps and a door slam. I immediately called the house but no one answered. I called Ellen, and told her what I think happened and that she should get home if she could.
It turned out, that someone was attempting to steal from Michael's house and the intruder shot him. I felt terrible for Ellen as she was going to be left with 3 kids, all by herself.
About 3 weeks later, I flew out to Michigan for his funeral. It was a very somber affair, but it was still nice to see Elyse, Candice, Christa, Lex and Brett again, even if the circumstances were less than ideal. We all let Ellen know that we would do what we could to help her.
Michael's death hit me hard. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I just wished there was something that I could have done to prevent it. I started going to bars alone and drinking by myself, frequently closing out bars. I started to miss work and if I did show up, I was frequently drunk. I had hit rock bottom.
One night, I received a phone call from the CBS rep. "Alex, we're casting for Sausage Island All Stars now and after your performance, we think you'd be great!" I knew that it would be fun, but even after a year, I was still reeling from Michael's death.
About 2 weeks before I was supposed to leave, I decided that I needed to get my shit together. I threw out all the booze in my house and started hitting the gym. I knew that it wouldn't make that much of a difference in two weeks, but I felt better just being there. I knew that I had to prepare myself mentally and physically and did everything I could to win this money, for Michael.
The day of, I drove myself to the airport and departed for that fateful island one last time. Seeing the familiar and unfamiliar faces made me want to win this game. For Ellen. For Michael. For myself.
