(he's a him!)

To Brunch For

Hi, I’m Tanner.

  • And I’m a millenial so just a heads up that i’ll be on my phone through all of this.

  • Also, I’m sorry for what I’m about to say.

  • But before I say what I’m about to say in case i’m sorry to say it, I want to warm you all up with a little light-hearted detour to talk about what’s become one of my favorite topics to talk about in the last seven years....

    • DEATH

  • Now I don’t mean to brag, but I have a lot of experience in death, and grief, and even trauma. 

    • It started with my dog and my grandpa dying in the same month back when I was in first grade, and it’s continued all the way up to this Wednesday when I “celebrated” the seven year anniversary of the first of two of my friends to die in their sleep. 

    • And if any of that sounds confusing, I’m not sorry because I’ve got news for you: 

      • death is very very very confusing.

  • Speaking of which... this confusion about death? I’ll be honest and confess that I’ve only truly started to grapple with it and all of death’s messiness in the last few months.

    • Which might be weird considering my dad was murdered almost eight years ago… 

      • so in other words, I should have had plenty of time to grapple with the messiness of death by now.

        • Which might be even weirder considering everything I said earlier about death being a favorite topic of mine and everything right?

    • But you know what? That’s ok.

      • Because none of us will ever know everything there is to know about death.

        • At least until we die ourselves maybe… which hopefully isn’t for a very very very long time.

          • So in the meantime, I personally think the best way to deal with death is head-on.

            • And I think you all think the same thing or else you wouldn’t be here at this brunch today.

              • Unless of course you wandered into the wrong brunch in which case I am so sorry for being such a downer on your lazy sunday.

  • But for everybody else who is at the correct brunch right now, then I should be preaching to the choir. 

    • I don’t need to tell you what you already know.

      • But I will. Because I’m a man. And I have a microphone. And a lot of the time, that’s what men with microphones do.

        • We tell you what you already know…

    • Our House is about death. It’s about life. But more importantly it’s about all of the hard times, the fun times, and the healing times that come in between the first times and the end times.

  • Two years ago, I had the pleasure of getting recruited into Our House by Jamie Dennig (and knowing Jamie, I’m sure at least half of the rest of you out there had the same pleasure as well), 

    • and two years later, I can safely say it’s been one of my favorite parts of LA since moving out here from Detroit.

  • Now being a part of Our House hasn’t always been easy… this past Camp Erin was particularly uneasy...

    • and shout out to my fellow September cabin 1 big buddies, James, Connor, Jonathan, and Marley who know exactly what I’m talking about because they also just barely made it out of that weekend alive...)

  • But being a part of of Our House has ALWAYS been rewarding…

    • Like when I got to run a whole 5k with zero physical preparation while listening to my dad’s favorite Cat Stevens album.

      • Thank you Run for Hope.

    • Or when I got to see little kids joking with each other about how much fun a magical bus between here and Heaven would be so that they could be with their loved ones for just one more day.

      • Thank you Camp Erin Grief Hike.

    • And even when I got to see one of my favorite twitter comedians bomb live in front of me right after I told a bunch of people he was one of my favorite twitter comedians. 

      • Thank you last year’s Night for Hope and Demi Adejuyigbe.

    • But ESPECIALLY when I had to miss this year’s Night for Hope so I sent a friend to replace me with plenty of her own death experience and then her telling me after the show how uncomfortably inspiring it was to be around a group of people who were so comfortably open about death.

      • Thank you Associate Board.

    • And also I guess when I made a bunch of adults cry on a random Wednesday night.

      • Thank you, Big Board. And sorry again about my cough and runny nose that night.

  • But even if somehow for some reason, none of these parts of Our House sound rewarding to you at all (in which case, I’m still a little worried that you’re at the wrong brunch),

    • Then hopefully at the very least, you can take away this simple lesson baked into the mission of Our House: 

      • We don’t get to choose the day we or our loved ones die.

      • But every day we and our loved ones have to choose to keep living.

    • So now it’s up to each of you to figure out what your reason for making that choice is.

      • Because only then, can you ever hope to help others make the same choice.

        • And that’s why you’re all here right? You like helping others or some shit like that?

PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE

  • OKAY

  • Now that that little light-hearted detour is done, I’ll actually say what I’m about to say no matter how sorry I may be for saying it.

  • EXCEPT

  • I lied.

  • For the first time, I’m not sorry to say it.

  • I’m actually really happy to say it. 

  • So without further ado, I’d like to happily say a list of reasons why I personally choose to live every day and hopefully help others to do the same:

    • Grandpa Pat 

    • Oscar

    • Grandpa Sal

    • Buckwheat

    • Grandma Pinky

    • Dad

    • Tucker

    • Mitchell

    • David

    • Mr. Scott

    • Chaz

    • Emmy

    • John

    • AJ

    • Mr. Trustey

    • Anna

    • Jake

    • Mr. Boyle

    • Mr. Malinowski

    • Grandma Honey

    • Dave

    • Gary

    • Mr. Eatman

    • Jed

    • Codi

    • Mr. Neumann

PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE

    • And finally...

      • Blue. Giraffes. Blue blue giraffes.

      • Blue. Giraffes. Blue blue giraffes.

      • Blue. Giraffes. Blue blue giraffes.

thank you.




Tanner Cipriano