The event was officially called An Evening with Jamie Tworkowski. There was a framed poster with the title and Jamie's picture outside of the theater. I attended the event with my twin sister Ashley and our friend Sofie. It began about 15 minutes after 7 PM, when it was supposed to begin. When he finally entered the theater, he walked down the aisle closest to where Sofie was sitting. She was so excited; when he passed her on his way down to the stage, she giddily said "Hi!" to him.
After talking about what a weird and cool venue we were in -- there were little movie character statues all around the walls and ceiling of the theater, and we were all sitting in office chairs -- he began by reading two chapters from If You Feel Too Much, "Flowers to the Sea" and "There is Still Some Time."
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| Jamie Tworkowski reading part of If You Feel Too Much. |
Then there was a Q&A session. What stood out most to me about this part of the event was the last question that was asked. One brave, teen girl shared this with Jamie and the roughly 120 people in attendance: She recently lost her best friend to suicide and asked him when the pain would go away. When I first heard her talk about losing her best friend, I just thought of how courageous this girl was to share that with over 100 people. She didn't have to ask or tell him about that during the Q&A. She could've waited until the meet and greet/book signing part. But she chose to share it with everyone. I'm just amazed by her strength and courage to do that and applaud her for that.
And to answer her question, Jamie began with an apology. He said he was so sorry that she lost her best friend -- not just her friend, her best friend. He then proceeded by saying that there's no definitive time-frame as to when the pain starts to fade. He told her (and everyone really) to just be honest. If she needs to go home from school because the pain is too much for her that day, then she should ask to go home, things like that. He also recommended her to find a counselor or someone professionally trained to deal with situations like hers. Just in that one answer, Jamie showed how kind and considerate he is, which I truly admire.
After the Q&A session, To Write Love on Her Arms (the movie) began playing on the screen, and then the book signing/meet and greet/photo ops occurred in the hallway outside the theater simultaneously. Because the movie and signing were at the same time, I didn't get to actually watch much of the movie, but that's okay, because I wanted to get the DVD anyway.
When it was my turn to meet Jamie, I was awkwardly waiting behind my sister because she and Jamie were having their moment bonding over NBA player Kyle Korver, whom Jamie is friends with and Ashley is a big fan of (she brought her Korver All-Star shirt with her to show Jamie). But then Ashley introduced me to Jamie, he signed my book, and we had a brief conversation about where we're from and how we were happy the event was actually in Naperville (a Chicago suburb) and not Chicago since Naperville is much closer to where we live. Then we got a photo with Jamie and headed to the table full of TWLOHA info and some merch.
At that table, Ashley and I listened to Jamie's friend Mark Codgen talk about the TWLOHA internships and what those entail since that's something that interests us. Then we grabbed some flyers, info, and rubber bracelets and headed back toward the theater.
We ended up not going back into the theater, though, because we decided to join our friend Sofie as she waited in line and met Jamie. Then we finally returned to our office chairs in the theater and watched the end of the movie.
Around 10:15 PM, Ashley, Sofie, and I finally left after the meet and greet line was gone. Our evening with Jamie Tworkowski ended as Sofie skipped into the parking lot, yelling, "I love you, Jamie!"
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I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wasn't sure what I was hoping to get out of it all. When I get excited to go to gymnastics meets, I'm excited to not only see my favorite sport but to see people strive for something and succeed, to experience a thrill, to witness what I hope to be watching and writing about for the rest of my life.
When I woke up Monday morning and was getting ready to go out to the event, I wasn't sure what I wanted to get out of it, what I wanted to leave Hollywood Palms Cinema with (other than a signed copy of If You Feel Too Much and a picture with the founder himself). What would I leave with beyond the material things?
It turns out that I left with a lot more than material things. I left with inspiration. I left with the desire to learn more, read more, write more, and just do more -- more to help, more to inspire, more to make an impact, Now I'm trying to be more of an open and honest person, just what Jamie wanted TWLOHA to do.
But I also left with something else, an experience, a memory. I left Hollywood Palms with the memory of a wonderful evening. Not only did I get what I paid for, An Evening with Jamie Tworkowski, but I also got a great evening with friends. That was the first time Ashley and I got to hang out with Sofie, and it was very memorable. It's a time we won't forget. As someone who doesn't spend a lot of time going out and hanging out with friends, as someone who often feels like she doesn't have friends, it was nice to have a fun night that made me forget that and not feel that way.
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