Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 29: A Quick Trip To NYC Part 2: A Day In The City

 A Quick Trip To NYC Part 2: A Day In The City

The morning after the show, Paige and I got up at 8:00 a.m. After getting ready, we went downstairs and had an impromptu breakfast with Jill and her family. By the time we got out of their house, it was 9:30. 

 Our first stop was Times Square, which, honestly, was kinda a bust. After that we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge and on the other side we got pizza at Grimaldi’s which was really good. After we finished most of our pizza, we left and headed to a pier.

From this pier we took a ferry to Governors Island. Governors Island is located in New York Harbor, just South of Manhattan. When we had been making plans for the day with Jill before the Cousin Simple show, she gave us a bit of history about it, and for this installment, I did a little bit of research just so I could understand the setting. Most of what I learned is not super relevant to this installment. Obviously there were some Native Americans who lived there initially, the Dutch and the English settled there in the 1600s, and the island had prominent roles in the Revolutionary War, and both World War I and II. In 2003, the government sold the island to New York for public use.

Jill described it as a year round fairground. They have events all the time. On that day, there was a pumpkin patch event, (though it was more tailored for kids than we initially believed). What was really cool about Governors Island was… it was like it was time locked. Like yes, there were smart phones, and people walking around in modern clothes, but the island itself felt very old world. 

Now what I have not been good at in this installment is keeping track of what time we did everything and that is by design. From Jill‘s house on we were on the move the whole time, even if we were just sitting around waiting for the subway, and it was really hard to keep track. By the time we were rushed off the island it was somehow already 6:00 p.m. 

We made it back to Jill‘s house by 7:00 and we played a game of Uno with her, her husband and her kids shortly after we arrived. The funniest part of the night was one of the kids kept calling Paige “young lady,” with way too much confidence.

I went into this quick trip to New York City knowing that we weren’t going to see everything. While the day flew by, we still did a lot of stuff,  considering that we were only in New York for a little bit under 48 hours. Still, I can’t wait to go back and see more! 

To Be Continued… 

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 28: A Quick Trip To NYC Part 1: Mr. Disney

 A Quick Trip To NYC Part 1: Mr. Disney

On Sunday, October 26, 2025, in Orlando, my grandpa, Pop-pop, was doing some work at his partner Sara‘s house, at around 5:00 pm. To his surprise, his phone started ringing. “Hey, Pop-pop,” I said, “Paige and I missed our connecting flight. Can you pick us up?” 40 minutes later, we were in Sara’s car on our way back to her house.

“So,” Pop-pop asked, “what happened?”

“Well,” I replied, “it all started with a Cousin Simple show.” 

Cousin Simple had a show in New York City on Friday, the 24th. Usually, we wouldn’t go to an out of state show, but Paige has a cousin who lives there, so we decided to make a weekend trip out of it. We flew Spirit to save money. On our way to NYC, we went from Columbus to Fort Lauderdale to New York. We landed in Fort Lauderdale at 7:40 am, as our next flight was boarding.  We ran all the way through the airport to our gate, only to realize that it had changed to the gate right next to the one we had landed at. 

Miraculously, we made it to New York, and after a brief lunch, we made it to her cousin’s house. Her cousin, who I will call Jill, showed us to our room, helped us make a rough plan for the next day, and then she went to get her kids from school, and Paige and I chilled until it was time for the show.

The show was at a bar called Pianos, which was about 30 minutes away by subway. We got through the turnstile before being informed that all of the subways were down… because, of course, they were. 

We ended up Lyfting to Pianos, which, I mean… driving in NYC… it wasn’t the best… the bar was pretty small and I wasn’t really sure where they were going to play. But the venue itself was actually upstairs, and it was huge! There wasn’t a stage, so the band was on the same level as the audience, which was super engaging. The most exciting part of the show was when they announced that the next song on their EP, Mr. Disney, would be coming out on Friday, November 7th. Which for those of you who are following me live was yesterday.

This was really exciting because the entire EP was recorded during the gap between last season and this one, and it has been in the proverbial vault all year. While I have heard most of them (my favorite ones haven’t been released), I hadn’t heard Mr. Disney. I’m excited that we are now halfway through the EP, and they will all be available soon!

To Be Continued… 

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 27: Elana

 Elana

On Thursday, October 23rd, 2025, I ate dinner, got dressed up, drove to Luke and Josh’s house to drop off Paige and my parking pass and extra key, and drove to the Exchange at Bridge Park for the 11th annual Thread Of Hope (TOH) benefiting Sam’s Fans. As you might recall, TOH is a fashion show. When I walked in, I was slightly overwhelmed.

See, when I first joined Sam's Fans, almost 10 years ago now, I knew pretty much everyone at the events. Over the last few years, however, the trend has been that there are more people that I don’t know at events as the organization grows. Though, to be fair, I haven’t volunteered as much in the last two years, which I need to start doing again, but my point is,  S.M.'s family and friends are always busy, and other than talking to each of them individually for a bit, I don’t really know anyone else.

At TOH, this year, I ran into two people. The first was one of Paige’s cousins' girlfriends, who I’m going to call Kristen. “Hey,” We both said, hugging each other. “What are you doing here?” she continued. After I explained the connection, she told me that a friend of hers worked for Thread (the store that puts on the show). After talking to her for a few minutes, I went and mingled with S.M.’s family and friends until the live action started. The auction raised $1 million!!! After the auction, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hi Mitchell,” Elana said when I turned.

“Oh my gosh,” I replied, “Hi!”

Elana was in S.M. and my class at OLP and was a great friend to both of us. Her older half sister, Natalie, set me up with my first girlfriend, and her baby sister, Jenna, went to high school with Paige. The last time I saw Elana was when I started working at Kroger (she quit a few months after I started).

We started to talk, and she caught me up on what she has been doing since we stopped working together. She decided to go to college in 2021, after initially believing that it was not for her, and she’s been dating a guy since 2022. When I went to tell her about how I have been, she replied, “Oh, I know everything! I’ve been following you since you started your podcast. My niece was diagnosed with autism in November of 2019.”

After the fashion show ended, we mingled with everyone for a little bit longer, and then I told Elana, “I have an early flight in the morning, so I gotta go, but we should get coffee soon.”

“I would love that!” She replied. 

If I haven’t made this abundantly clear in both this series and Once in a Lifetime: A Song For Sam, I loved S.M. and I miss her every day. Sam's Fans was a major part of my healing process because it was a way for me to channel my grief as a result of her death. S.M.’s Dad has been quoted as saying, “As Sam's Fans grew, so did her spirit.” And he’s not wrong. The work that S.M.’s family and friends do is work that she would have done had she survived Fanconi Anemia, and being part of that makes me feel close to her. But even separate from Sam's Fans itself, reconnecting with Elena is something that makes me feel close to S.M. because I know S.M. loved both of us, and I believe that she is happy that we have reconnected!

Have A Greattastic Day And Be Safe

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 26.5: As Seen From Afar

 As Seen From Afar

On Sunday, June 22, 2025, Paige and I arrived at Wolf Park at 7:30 am for the annual Sam's Fans 5k. I have helped with the 5K every year since I joined the organization (though I did run it the year I dramatically joined). This was the first year, however, since I joined that I (we) ran it.

We walked up to the registration table. As soon as we got in line, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw my friend and former classmate Anna and her fiancé, let’s call him Shaun, who I had not met before. The race started at 8:00, and in that 30-minute time period, we talked to Anna and Shaun as well as S.M.’s friends and family. Even though it was good to see everyone, there was one person from my past who was there that, at the time, I didn’t know had seen me from afar.