Last week, something really horrible happened. A hit-and-run accident resulted in one of our good friends’ untimely death. Mark Gobble, a Ph.D. student about to complete his dissertation, a newly hired professor at Boston University, an owner of a skateboarding company, a family man, and probably the coolest guy we’ve ever met, died last Sunday. Needless to say, it’s been a tough time.. and even tougher for his wife and two children. You can read more about him in this blog post written by his niece, Brooke.
The world feels different without him, but the world still spins. It still moves around the sun. Janella still wakes up every morning at 6:30 AM with angry demands for milk. And so we must go on.
Mark was really tall – he was around 6’4. Nick’s 5’8 and I’m 5’4 (both rounded up numbers). When Mark came over in October to bring a meal from him and his wife to help feed me and Nick when we just had Janella, we had a conversation about new ceiling lights and how we needed one for our living room, which had a boob light at the time.
We told him that he was our tallest friend in Austin (we have another 6’4 friend who lives in New Mexico.. Hey, Jesse!) and asked him how tall he was… so we could make decisions on ceiling lights and how high they should be in order to accompany him. Since he was taller than everyone else, we could be confident that the ceiling light would also be high enough for every other friend we have.
Well, Mark – we finally installed our new ceiling light in our living room. It looks beautiful… and it’s 6’8 off the ground. Definitely tall enough for you.
Thanks for bringing us to Austin. Thanks for your humor, your intelligence, your grace, your generosity, and for being our friend. We’ll never find a cooler friend than you… or a taller one.
FYI – The photos are NOT styled at all. We’re still missing one side table and we still need to set up our newly sprayed teal lamps with new lampshades. And I didn’t feel like putting away the baby toys. Ignore all of that. Focus on the ceiling light.
To see what our living room really looks like when it’s not cluttered, check out this post.
The ceiling light is HUGE. I mean, H-U-G-E. Gigantic. It’s around 34 inches across. And we love it. It’s perfect. Especially when this was our inspiration photo, from Decor Demon:
I was afraid that it would make our ceiling feel lower, but it doesn’t! I’m really happy with it.
One thing down, only 327,121 more things to do left! PROGRESS.
Filed under: Austin!, beauty!, Living Room |
What the Vita 
🙂 love the look! i’ll have to visit you guys SOON!
the light looks lovely. I’m sorry to hear about your friend.
It pains me to hear of your loss as I lost my husband in a car accident in Austin 2 years ago. My thoughts and prayers are with you…
A nice tribute to Mark for his mark on your living room. Love the light!
So sorry about your friend, Janelle. The light is beautiful and it’s sweet that it will always remind you of him.
I’m so sorry to hear about your friend and I love that you dedicated the post to him – a high light for your tallest friend. The light is beautiful and your living room looks great even if it isn’t styled!
I am truely sorry to hear about the loss of your friends. I can’t imagine the pain that you are feeling, not to mention the pain his wife and children are dealing with. So sorry! But, what a nice tribute to your friends! Really really sweet 🙂
I am so very sorry for your loss.
Elisa, that is so sad! But this post is a sweet tribute and that light is absolutely perfect. Thanks for reminding me that every day is a gift and you never know what can happen.
Sorry about your loss. Nice that you will think of him every time you walk under that light.
Oh gosh; what a terrible thing, Elisa. I’m so sorry for your loss. 😦 Like some of the other people have said, that light really will be a good reminder of your friend, though.
I haven’t installed one of these in my own home yet but several of my friends have had great luck with them. One friend owns a top-storey apartment, with another apartment immediately to its south, so the living areas don’t get much direct sunlight. When they decided to add an upper floor for two extra bedrooms, they ran solar light tubes through the upstairs walls from the roof to the lower floor, and their living room and dining room are now bright enough that they don’t need any electric lighting during daylight hours.
I accidentally came across this post. Was looking for ceiling light. I like the big light and have no idea where to fine one. Can any one help?
Comments from the owner ((I was afraid that it would make our ceiling feel lower, but it doesn’t! I’m really happy with it.
One thing down, only 327,121 more things to do left! PROGRESS))
Thank you,
Ryan
Try CB2.com, that’s where I got the light! Good luck 🙂 Elisa
On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 3:10 PM, What the Vita
Thank you Elisa, I will give them a call….Have a great and prosperous year.
Ryan
Hi Elisa,
Happy New Year. Thank you for the tip regarding the light. I checked with C&B. they only have the one on the first three picture from the top however, the fourth picture is the one I am looking for. Is that picture one of yours as well? If so, where did you get that one?
Thank you so much once again.
Ryan