Paul Michael Memories by Catherine Serpe

2023-07-26 19:56:37 UTC

2023-07-26 19:57:24 UTC

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 20:01:43 UTC

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 20:07:43 UTC

One of my favorite memories with Paul was when he open up his home for me on my big west coast ski road trip. He was more than stoked to have me crash on his couch for a night. I met him up at togate pass for a post sled day beer with all of his buddies (side story - he made me feel like part of the crew that day). As I followed him down the pass back to his place he would periodically call me to be my tour guid and tell me what’s what on my left and right (always with a little Paul humor involved) he even pulled over at a “view point” so we could all take a road side piss together. Paul took me out to one of his favorite spots to eat that night. The next morning me Paul and Mikey woke up at the ass crack of dawn to ski tour Teton pass together. That morning we ran into the legend himself, Todd jones! The snow was shit but we didn’t care. It was still a blast!

It was a quick 24 hour stop in Jackson but Paul made sure I got the most out of it and showed me around. I will never forget that trip!

I also have some awesome memories of Paul at the cabin making all sorts of amazing food.

Also that one time he catered for the city side coaches when we were in park city.

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 20:08:37 UTC

Another memory that i really love that sticks out to me is when Paul made us oysters down on the beach at the cabin. He roasted them over the fire with cheese, garlic, and some other stuff. I thought that was super cool and kinda blew my mind as to why we had never done anything like that at the cabin. It was a big upgrade to cheese dogs and chips.

Honestly Paul’s cooking abilities blew my mind. I didn’t know people could make bread…. I didn’t think that was a thing. Not only bread but he would just whip up pretzels, English muffins, bagels… you name it.

I remember I was about to pop a store bought bagel in the toaster at the cabin and Paul scoffed at me, grabbed the bag out of my hand and un politely said “go sit down buddy. I got this” hahaha I feel like it doesn’t get more Paul than that!?

He kinda did the same thing for the seafood boil. Basically told me “aw that’s cute…. You want to make a seafood boil? Sit down and watch the big dawg work”

Uncle Paulie

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 21:29:02 UTC

2023-07-26 21:30:03 UTC

I remember being so touched by his lovely toast on Cat’s wedding day. I don’t even remember the specifics of what he said, but I remember how it made me feel for myself and for Cat.

The best photo of Paul, or anyone for that matter, ever taken.

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 22:04:14 UTC

Florham Park Roller Rink. IYKYK.

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 22:06:13 UTC

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 22:10:49 UTC

Top of the Timpanogos

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 22:13:20 UTC

serpecatherine — 2023-07-26 22:25:32 UTC

2023-07-26 22:41:12 UTC

He loved to SUGAR COOKIE us!

2023-07-26 23:32:56 UTC

Paulie was the brother I never had but always wanted. Our sisters' close bond brought us together, and we became buddies, sharing laughter, arguments, and countless fun times. We shared many sunny days by the pool, rides in Linda’s minivan, exciting trips to Six Flags and the Boardwalk. Paulie and I bonded over our shared love of sports and as well as our shared irritation at enduring our sisters' Wannabe Spice Girls concerts and Golden Girl parties on the Lenai Through him I was able to explore Utah's beauty, skiing down slopes and biking through trails, creating memories that will stay with me forever. I hold onto those precious moments we shared, knowing his spirit will live on. Goodbye Paulie, until we meet again someday. I’ll drink a cold one for you while cheering on Big Blue <3

I was lucky enough to ski a few runs with Paul at Lake Louise. I was there for a business trip and he and Kate were road tripping in the area. Mrs. Serpe realized through Facebook that we were both there at the same time and made sure we connected. Of course we shared some drinks too and I got to ride in the famous Vana White. It was such a fun and serendipitous moment.

2023-07-26 23:47:55 UTC

2023-07-27 03:03:04 UTC

2023-07-27 03:08:34 UTC

Following Paul around on his hit list day at Snowbird. We had a blast ripping around followed by lunch at Paul’s FJ cruiser…the PB/banana/honey sandwich on Red Bicycle bread he made changed our life!

Paul and Kate were quick to welcome us as we decided to move back to Park City after a two year stint in the East (that Paul obviously knew would fail). We stayed at their house downstairs before we purchased our own home. We shared many delicious dinners during that month!

2023-07-27 03:11:08 UTC

Paul always kept Dave’s memory close and it is so unbelievable to have lost Paul now 😔

2023-07-27 03:13:00 UTC

Friends ❤️

2023-07-27 03:17:02 UTC

Paul keeping a close eye on all 3 Riley boys in his garage. Things for sure got rearranged in the short time we were there!

Sing your heart out

2023-07-27 03:18:09 UTC

Paul was a musical magician. I’ll never forget one time he was visiting F&M and the Dips were at Hildy’s. When TSwift’s “Mean” came on and the scream/singing commenced (IYKYK), he turned to me with a shocked look and said “You can really sing!” He joined our team’s “Why you gotta be so meannn” with “She can really singgggg!!!” 🤣😅 Paul had a way of making you feel like a million bucks without taking yourself (or himself) too seriously. I’m grateful for that gift… and I’m better for it. Rock on, Paul.

Porchetta with Paul.

2023-07-27 03:18:24 UTC

This was the start of it all. Late night porchetta With Paul.

2023-07-27 03:24:52 UTC

Action packed visit of riding the snowmobile, followed by a tour of the house over the garage. Liam didn’t want to leave the cats. Once we moved onto the construction zone, the boys went nuts. They explored every nook and cranny and could have been hired for construction clean up. Paul was cracking up at the amount of nails, wood scraps, etc. they picked up and relocated somewhere else.
We were excited to come and visit again once the house was complete. Somehow we left kids mittens at his house and he mailed them back.
Paul was talking about plans to remodel the already finished space above the garage to make bunks in the big closet that the boys were pumped about staying in ❤️

A wedding in the woods

2023-07-27 03:25:48 UTC

We did a wedding in the Uintas ( high Utah mountains, very remote) it was a camp. We slept in the bunk house. We were on hour 12 for the day and just about to put out late night pizzas. The fun never ended. My great friend. I miss you.

Pasta

2023-07-27 03:29:07 UTC

That time we cooked a feast for a group of 20 in a castle. Slaying that hand rolled pasta As always

2023-07-27 12:44:12 UTC

Paul taught me, at your college graduation party, Cat, that if you keep the avocado pit in with the guacamole, the guacamole will not turn brown.
I think of him every time I make guacamole
Sue Dunne

Paul Serpe, one of the most passionate sports fans I’ve ever met.

2023-07-27 13:05:08 UTC

Paul and I had the privilege of knowing each other for about 15 years. I met him when I first moved to Utah in about 2007-08. We became roommates in Park City in 2010 I believe until 2012. He was one of the most passionate sports fan Ive ever met. Whether it was the Yanks, Giants, or Devils… Paulie was into it. Being from New England we had plenty of spirited debates about Boston sports vs NY, but it was when the Giants met the Patriots in the superbowl in 2012 that I found out what being roommates with Giants Superfan Paul Serpe was all about. We had gone to separate parties because I had plenty of friends from New England in Park City who were Patriots fans and he was outnumbered, so he hung with some Giants fans that night. Obviously the Patriots lose that game and I’m crushed. But it wasn’t until I got home that it really sunk in. Upon walking up the stairs from the outside of my house, I here a faint whisper of music, getting closer to the door the house is pounding from the bass. “What the heck is going on I’m thinking?” “Paul’s celebrating? Oh god…” Nope, in a very creative and very Paul Serpe manner… Paul had left a song on repeat on his IPOD, blasting throughout the house… That song was? Empire State of Mind by Jay Z feat Alicia Keys. Screaming New York on every chorus if your not familiar with the song. I literally laughed my ass off. Dude was so smart and clever I wasn’t even mad. Sadly, I had reached out to Paul earlier this month reminiscing on this exact story. Never thought that would be the last thing we said to each other…. My love goes out to Kate, and the Serpe family. Rest in Peace dear friend. ❤️

Homemade Pasta

2023-07-27 14:35:01 UTC

I have so many wonderful memories of Paul on every spectrum, but when thinking about cooking, I will always remember the time he made pasta for me. Paul was attending Culinary school in NYC and was staying at a relatives apartment in Manhattan. He had me over one night and made this wonderful pasta dish. I don’t remember the ingredients, but what stands out is that I had never seen anyone make pasta from scratch. I always just assumed it came from a cardboard box, but Paul showed me the process of making the flour well, adding the eggs, and gently kneading the dough. Watching him make that meal made it taste infinitely better. I recently took a pasta making class on my honeymoon in Italy and it brought me back to that meal Paul made for me so many years ago.

serpecatherine — 2023-07-27 17:16:25 UTC

Paul and I went to the world’s most boring Yankee game together. No hits, no runs, nothing. We decided our time would be better spent checking out the overpriced merch during the 7th inning stretch. Paul sought out the most ridiculous items he could find. A Yankee cap with built in ear warmers and a Knock-Em-Sock-Em Yankee player. We laughed our way through the entire store. He of course made us stay until the very end of the game until Frank Sinatra’s, “New York, New York,” played. He certainly had a way of turning a boring moment into something unforgettable.

Florence & Food!

2023-07-27 17:31:49 UTC

So Paul found out I was going to study abroad in Florence and insisted on making me a list. What was on the list you might ask? Name after name of restaurants that I *had* to go. He legitimately told me I wasn’t allowed to come home if I didn’t hit a few specific ones! And as you can imagine, they were amazing recommendations. I took family to then when they visited and was able to be the *cool I already know about these places* person in my study abroad group. I, to this day, think about the Buffalo mozz pizza from bir & fud (a Rome recommendation). Saluti Paul

F&M visits

2023-07-27 17:38:12 UTC

I think all the visits blended together, but remember the Halloween of Mario and Luigi costumes? Hanging out in chi phi? Senior year when he made that amazing feast for us? Was it your birthday Cat? Mine? KD’s? Didn’t even matter because he would have cooked at all of them! That dinner was so good, I do remember that. And Paul loved cooking it and telling us all what he was doing and why- even though we could have been *just his little sisters friends* he never made us feel that way. He loved visiting his sister so much, you could always tell!

Paul’s one of many visits to F&M

serpecatherine — 2023-07-27 18:35:13 UTC

Best part is, the mustache from his Luigi costume left a rash on his face for days 😂.

So Many Memories

2023-07-28 03:37:19 UTC

I have so many memories from knowing Paul, where do I begin.. here's a few memorable ones that brought a smile to my face...

-paul was the best companion to holler at people from the ski lift
-putting a yankees hat (I'm a sox fan) on me when I was in a coma
-on my wedding night, as we were leaving the reception, you slapped my mom's butt with a wooden sign! haha
-getting lost on yurt trips and thinking you were gonna be on the 5 o'clock news
-you and kate opening your home to karen and I when we moved back to town and allowing us to stay as long as we needed
-your first backcountry ski - butler fork to reynolds trees - you were so amped!
-shredding your hit list at the bird on an epic pow day with karen and kate.. and of course you made lunch AND we hit the tram club for a (several) beer and a shot
-yurt trips and countless days ripping the canyons and canyons backcountry
-that time we invited you and kate over for dinner and we cooked a vegan dish and in a very serious way you told us how "gross" the dinner was
-putting a hole in the drywall while drunk wrestling on park meadows and putting a poster over the hole

I love and miss you buddy. You left a gaping hole in my heart and I'm going to continue to make memories (especially the trips we were planning to take) with you by my side...

Our wedding guest book

2023-07-28 03:50:27 UTC

🎿

Wild time in CLE

2023-07-28 03:53:07 UTC

2023-07-28 03:53:41 UTC

2023-07-31 23:29:53 UTC

I haven’t seen Paul since Cat’s wedding, and before that, even longer. But growing up, we practically lived at the Serpe’s house. So Paul was a constant during our youth. Or rather, we were a constant - constantly annoying our best friend’s older brother. And he wasn’t shy to groan about it. But all in all, he put up with it pretty well. I think eventually he must’ve decided - if I’m going to have these kids around all the time, I may as well try to teach them to be cool. He taught us about good music and movies, and schooled us in beer games. Later, we would even start hanging out all together and we felt more like friends than nuisances. We felt cool (though we probably still weren’t). Even now, all these years later, I always think of Paul when I hear Dave Matthews. A big brother figure and coach of all things cool.
—Annie Aery

2023-08-04 22:56:58 UTC

Which story do I share about a guy who defined the term best friend for such foundational years of my life?

Maybe I share the time he hosted me as a recruit at Dickinson and showed me such a good time that I quickly decided to attend the following year and we became fast friends. If I were reminiscing with Paul, we would laugh about the guy who ate shit on the train tracks at a full sprint that night.

Or maybe I should share about my love for hanging out in the basement at the Essex Fells house.

Or the time Paul came over to hang with my family at Christmas and proceeded to pick a fight with my brother in law over NY vs Boston sports. Luckily they didn’t actually hit each other.

Or the late night bike riding in Lavallette or getting the jet skis stuck out in the bay.

Maybe I could talk about how Paul brought me to my first concert (Keller Williams) and we then went to countless shows together.

In college we got so excited about moving out west to a ski town and living it up. Maybe I could share about visiting Paul in Park City before I could move out there with him. We sucked at skiing but we were sold on living in a mountain town.

Or maybe the time he bought a shit load of tomatoes, basil, and garlic so he could “jar” tomato sauce for winter. Only Paul would call it jarring instead of canning.

He always made me laugh when he called toilet paper “shit tickets”. He had some funny sayings!

The skiing stories are too many to pull apart but needless to say, Paul loved skiing and riding bikes and I enjoyed being with him for both.

We did a lot of stupid shit together but we had a lot of fun doing it!

I’ll miss him answering the phone with a distinct “What’s up buddy?!”

And while we weren’t as close as we once were, mostly I’m going to miss my friend.

2023-08-05 23:49:54 UTC

The one story that I’ve told over and over again is the time Paul and Kate got stuck with me in Vanna White for 12 days. It wasn’t supposed to be just me but the weather was going to be so bad that’s exactly what happened. Now Vanna was not completed for this trip. Paul was nice enough to get me a padded chair from a boat and bungee cord it to the inside of the van (no walls yet). So I sat behind him driving looking out the side window. He did get a camping toilet from a couple he knew and that was a blessing. We did all 5 National Parks!!! He also managed to find me a mattress, great since everything was plywood. First few days it poured so hard that they had to abandon the tent and we all slept in the van with Ryder. Next we had an amazing campsite close to the Colorado border. Some idiot
suggested to Paul a place we should go, so we went. It was a very, and I mean very, steep one “lane” dirt road with lots of rocks and holes. As we made our way down Paul realized there was absolutely no place to turn around so we had to go all the way to the bottom. He finally was able to turn around and now we had to go back UP. I held on for dear life thinking we were NEVER going make it back. The bike rack on the back of the van literally was scrapping the “road”. He took his time, stayed calm, no cursing and we made it back. Holy crap was I scared.

We also broke down in the middle of nowhere and had to take Vanna to a garage.

Another time we hiked roughly 2 hours to a river. There were caves and overhangs and Kate sang it was great. So this river is by RR tracks which we have to walk along to get to a spot that isn’t so steep so we can go into the water. I don’t like lakes or rivers! But Paul being Paul said I couldn’t walk all that way and not go in. So I slid down the embankment hit the water, immediately sank in the muck on the bottom and started screaming. He wouldn’t let me get out right away since this was also our bathing spot. He thought that was one of the funniest events on the trip! You just had to laugh because he was laughing. Love that boy ❤️

2023-08-06 08:31:43 UTC

So many good times were shared with Paul over the years. When Paul first moved to Park City we were one of the first people to get to know him. Pregaming at his apartment, cranking out the Dead before heading to Main St. became a weekend tradition. When I hear the song "electric avenue" it brings me back to the time where Paul, Dave G. and I spontaneously decided around midnight it was a good idea to take a trip out to Wendover. Cruising through the salt flats, blasting that song into the desert air will always remind me of that trip.
We shared countless ski laps at the Canyons, especially on powder days where Paul was not too shy to vocalize in the Gondola lift line his displeasure with too many people at the resort. Nonetheless we always had a great day heading home with big smiles ready for the next storm.
Hut trips to Sawtooths and Tushars wouldn´t have been the same without Paul who always kept us well feed and even a bit worried when he disappeared for a few hours from our evening ski tour having gotten lost on the way back to the hut. Although we hadn´t gotten to spend much time together over the past few years,
Paul was always an amazing friend, someone that you could truly count on and would help you out at a moments notice. Your laughter and cooking skills will be surly missed but memories of all the times we shared together will live on. Catch you at the next trail head bud.

Buon viaggio Paul

2023-08-06 08:46:50 UTC

Non so cosa sia successo, mi rattrista venire a conoscenza di questa triste notizia. Compagno di lavoro e avventure nella tua esperienza italiana! Buon viaggio, che la terra ti sia lieve! Ciao Paul, ‘fucking limetta’!

Paul and Mikey in “Shittsburgh”

2023-08-06 14:33:32 UTC

So last November we took a trip together to Pittsburgh to go see a special show with Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) headlining with Goose. We flew in and instantly had to grab a Yuengling cause we were back in Pennsyl-tucky. From there were tore up the town from going to grabbing whatever food we could find (by the way Primanti Bros was trash as Paul would tell you), the Andy Warhol museum, and of course more beers. The night of the show we were one section from Jim Pollock (the main Phish poster Artist) where I had him sign a t-shirt I bought and chatted with him. The show was phenomenal with a mixture of the two bands. After the show I led Paul to the closest dive bar google would find and it happened to be the infamous Stardust Lounge. This place was perfect! Cash only and $2 dollar domestic bottles with a pool table and a salty old bartender. As we were laughing and putting music on the jukebox and one of the Goose band members, Jeff, walked in. Paul dubbed him as “bongo guy” and we went about our business. Paul put on Hollywood Nights by Bob Seger literally minutes before Jeff walked in and Jeff’s first song was the exact same song. We ended up the rest of the night shooting the shit with Jeff, playing pool together, and so much more. It was one of many epic times together.

Paul and Mikey together during Covid

2023-08-06 14:49:32 UTC

So Paul was living with me during the height of the pandemic. We worked across parking lots where I was brewing and he was catering. Now people were still extra careful with contact tracing and quarantining so if you even looked at someone who tested positive you had to be isolated for 14 days. So this happened to each of us multiple times over the course of the winter with never testing positive after all the nose intrusion swabs we had to succumb to. So as we hunkered down during our many quarantines we would ask “You feel ok? What are we gonna do? Well might as well go ski!” Each time we got quarantined it was like a 14 day hall pass to go ski the backcountry in the Tetons. A glorious way to get through a very treacherous time with one of the best friends I could ever ask for.

2023-09-07 04:52:52 UTC

One thing I loved about Paul was his incredible sarcasm. He could pick on you and you couldn’t get mad. He was usually spot on!! So one Thanksgiving on Matterhorn I thought I’d up my style game and I purchased a black leather vest. It had silver zippers, one was on a diagonal all the way down the front. There were probably two or three more that were smaller and straight. So I come walking out of the bedroom dressed and ready for the great day ahead. Paul takes one look at me and says “mom, Michael Jackson called and he wants his vest back”! OMG I just started cracking up. When I looked down at the vest it was so perfect and hysterical you just couldn’t get upset. He was a genius that way!