Where The Time Has No Name
Introduction 6
The Last Weekend
September
This iconic photo of the Dome Crew was taken on Sunday, September 5, the day after Kyle’s wedding. We were all in the wedding, supporting him in various roles.
Kyle Gilson, Curt Vance, Doug Brunnert, Tim Skrastins, and me, leaning up against the Cadillac Doug had rented to drive to the wedding, and behind that is “Stuck”, Curt’s always reliable 1978 GMC Jimmy. Always reliable, that is, to get stuck when 4-wheeling.
This is the day we all ended one chapter of our lives and began new ones. We had been roommates throughout the formative years of college, lived together, eaten together, played together, stressed out together, pulled all-nighters together, gone on road trips together, and of course, partied together.
A couple hours after this picture was taken, we all went our separate ways and started new lives.
However, not only has the Dome Crew remained friends through the years, we have grown closer as we have gone through the trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows of life together. These are my Brothers.
I will always define the chapters in my life of “Ending College” and “Going Off to Europe” with this photograph.
Kyle Gilson, Curt Vance, Doug Brunnert, Tim “Skratch” Skrastins and me, September 5, 1994.
Later that afternoon, Curt and I climbed into “Stuck” and drove the two hours to Pam and John’s house in Omaha. The next day he would drop me off at the Omaha airport for a one-way flight to Ireland.
When I landed, I had no idea what would happen next.
I just remember thinking to myself “Holy shit… this is really happening!”
A note from 2026
Curt Vance — the healthy, vibrant guy, second from left in the above photo, the one heading off to the police academy — was one of my friends who turned down my invitation to join me in Europe. He told me many times in the years since that he always regretted it.
Maybe because of that, he became one of the biggest advocates for me telling this story now. Last year, after I shared my early drafts with friends he was always the first to reply: “I love this story, T-Dog! It takes me right back to college! Keep it going!”
Then shockingly, on March 18, 2025, the day after his favorite holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, Curt died from a massive heart attack.
He was a fearless police detective, a devoted husband, a loving father of two teenagers, and one of the best men and friends I’ve ever known.
Losing him rocked all of us in the Dome Crew. It was another painful reminder that we don’t know how much time we get.
I actually feel like I’ve been living on borrowed time ever since that awful night in August 1993. That feeling has only grown stronger with time. And now, this story has become my Virtual Time Machine — one that I get to take you on, back to 1994, back to when my borrowed time began.
More than that, though, this story has become a tribute to my friend Curt, who was all-in for taking this virtual trip back in time to Europe with me.
Me and Curt, December 18, 2024