In the early morning hours of October 18th, Craig Murphey, my good friend and roommate was struck and killed by a gas truck while riding his bike to 24 hour health food store to get some late-night snacks.
This page is dedicated to the photos and memories of Craig. If you have anything you'd like to share email me at lovebryan (a) gmail.com.
memorial slideshow
Here is a slideshow celebrating the later years of Craig's life set to music he'd enjoy.Posted on 24 Oct 2007 by bryan
Craig Murphey was larger than life, with a heart of gold. (love, lex)
There was never a dull moment with Craig:
"It's all fun and games..."
"... until someone gets hurt."
"Then it's just fun..."
"... unless you make a game out of it."
An evening on the couch would be exciting with Craig—so much so, that we'd always end up late—or even forgo—our nighttime plans.
Once in awhile though—actually quite frequently—Craig would simply overexhaust himself.
He could fall asleep in the most impossible positions:
I would take great pleasure in dressing up or accessorizing him during his slumber—this time I had chosen to deface him with a bundle of sausages. Instead of being angry upon waking up, he just smiled, and dozed off again.
For my birthday last year, he managed to carry a giant boxed TV from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the L train. We went to brunch at Old Devil Moon—where he could actually have proper vegan meals, though he never complained at the non-vegan-friendly menus.
This time last year, Craig was visiting me in a crummy hotel room near Times Square after I went through pretty serious surgery. My mom was visiting and taking care of me, and got the chance to meet Craig. Upon hearing the news, the first thing she asked was if he was wearing a helmet—he had ridden his bike to the hotel the first day they met, and my mom was really worried that he was riding without one. He promised her that he was going to get one (and he actually did!), and he took the train the next day simply so that she wouldn't worry. This was the type of person he was.
This was the night he had gotten his "Hug Life" tattoo. I accompanied him, and it took something like 5 hours, between the wait and the work. We went late at night, and danced in the window of the Lower East Side tattoo shop, goofily enjoying / laughing at the attention we were getting from passersby.
Later that night, we met up with friends at Sweet Ups. He was really proud of his new tattoo:
I'm both clumsy and forgetful, and must have overzealously hugged or brushed against his tattoo five million times in the next week, but he was always a good sport about it.
We engaged in a good amount of good-natured teasing. Here I adopted a Craig pose at Royal Oak:
Craig always had holes in the crotch of his jeans from riding his bike, and would complain about it endlessly, yet never did anything about it.
I took great pleasure in scaring him, saying "dude! I can see your _____!" He would blush, then laugh it off.
Here he seems to be teasing me about my big nose:
He attempted to compliment me, telling me he liked my nose, as he liked "weird" noses. Teasingly, I pretended to take offense, at which point he got even more uncomfortable, trying to tell me that he just liked "different" or "big" noses. This was, of course, nothing but endearing, as he was the sweetest, most gentle person I've ever known.
Our friend Twiggy got this tattoo that Craig had come up with and embellished.
She and I talked on Thursday, and she told me that God works in mysterious ways.
Matty Crocker made more sense to me when he simply stated that Craig was too good for this earth.
And that, I can believe.
Posted on 24 Oct 2007 by lex
It's blazing hot in here! (love, lyssa)
When I first met Craig, he looked like this. We tried to go to this bar on Essex Street but we left after we found out they only served beer, wine, and something called Mad Dog, which the bartender seemed very confident about mixing cocktails with.
We spent a lot of time that year in bars on the Lower East Side. We would sit in a booth at Darkroom for hours and hours.
When we got bored, Craig would be there to entertain us with freakish tricks, like this one, which he called "Being Born".
And not much had changed in those 4 years, except maybe the condition of his t-shirts.
We moved into a railroad apartment in Bushwick in 2005.
Some very amazing times were had in that place, and some trying times were had as well. Craig was there for me through all of it.
The picture on his phone is of Samuel, a little boy I used to babysit for. We ran into Craig on the street one day and I made Craig hold Samuel. It was the first time he had held a baby, and he was terrified! He loved it too though, I think.
When our friend Lauren lived here, she was just a few blocks away, so Craig and I would go to her house and hang out all the time.
Craig really loved holding cats for some reason. Here he is with Lauren's cat Ozzy.
Her house was so warm and cozy we would spend hours at a time there.
The night before Lauren went to Hawaii, we had a going away party for her at Savalas. One of the greatest nights of funny photographs that Craig has ever had, I think.
The last one is my favorite. Everyone has the most sincere expressions on their faces.
He was an overwhelming source of comfort for me.
Even when he was being creepy about it. And boy, was he ever capable of being creepy!
Real, real, creepy.
Wherever he went, he made it fun and funny. He was able to make a conversation out of nothing, and could talk as openly, often too openly, to strangers as he could to his close friends.
When I got the idea that I wanted a cat, he came with me to the shelter one day after brunch. That's when we met Moustache, and fell in love with her.
Somehow, even in his sleep, he was the life of the party. And we all know how easily he could fall asleep ANYWHERE.
One of the best combinations ever: Free photobooth AND free sparks. We took over the photobooth and made so many funny memories that night.
New Years Eve, 2007. My sister was visiting. We all dressed up and went to Samurai for dinner. Helen's boobs blew everyone away. We took the subway way out to a party in Bushwick where it became BLAZING hot inside. Craig got into so many pictures with an assortment of the best quality Craig faces.
After this subway ride we proceeded to walk, like 40 miles in the pouring rain to another party. My sister was barely able to walk and Craig left early to make sure she got home. He practically carried her most of the way. He always made sure people were safe and comfortable.
There are just so many great nights to remember. This one was last winter. Dan Hart impressed us all with his juggling skills. Helen put beer caps in her eyes, and Craig did his party dance in the background.
I'd give anything to walk into the living room and see him in the doorway, making one of the cats uncomfortable or holding it up to do pull-ups.
On the first nice day of Spring this year, we all went to the park. Everyone played May I for like 10 years (ugh.)and we lay on the grass and laughed and smiled and talked. So happy to be out in the warming air.
Even in the middle of the day when a friend came over to visit, Craig made things more interesting.
He simply made life better just by being himself. He made everything fun.
He made every morning a comedic event.
This party at the Horrible House rooftop was an interesting one. Some of the neighbors asked Kelsey to draw chalk flames on a wall so they could pretend to "jump through them" for some photographs. Kelsey took a dance break, and Craig naturally joined in. Apparently some neighbor nudity followed, but I am unsure of the details.
He was the most joyful human I have ever known.
And oh so pretty!
4th of July this year. Before the new pants. I have no idea what is going on in this photo. Two 4th's previously Craig changed his pants while on the roof at Dobbin. I am fairly sure he and Dan Hart also exchanged multiple articles of clothing that night.
Oh M Shanghai. Our home away from home. Craig was here almost every day "eviscerating dumplings" as I believe he described it.
I think he was probably the biggest consumer of liquids and condiments of anyone I have ever known. Beer, coke zero, diet root beer, tequila, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and the list goes on and on. I remember once when I was cleaning out the refrigerator I said, "Craig, why do you have 3 containers of barbecue sauce? Who needs 3 things of barbecue sauce?" to which he replied earnestly, "Well they are all different flavors and I use different flavors at different times."
That's how I will remember Craig. The biggest character with the best disposition and hugest heart. I feel like half of myself is gone. Never again will I walk out of my bedroom in the morning to the sight of you asleep on the couch, fully clothed, with a slew of half-eaten snacks on the coffee table and the TV on to the Sci Fi Channel. Never again will I hear your booming laugh or your squeaky giggle as you tell one of the many amazing stories of your life.
Last night we watched Big Fish, a few of us laying around the living room. I wanted to quote the last few lines of the 'film', as you'd call it.
"A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him... and in that way, he becomes immortal."
I love you so much. My glowy glowy Craigworm.
Posted on 20 Oct 2007 by lyssa
all photos ©2006-7 by photographer |
