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Meet your fellow subscriber: Dustin Jonas

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I write mini-biographies on my subscribers. If you are one and want to have me do so, email me: adater@comcast.net. Share as much of your life as you want, the good and the “tougher” moments. Attach a picture, and also include how you became an Avs fan. I will then set to writing about you. And, thank you for subscribing.

DUSTIN JONAS (@djonas24)

Two things Dustin Jonas has had to deal with in life, that myself and probably you haven’t: He’s had cystic fibrosis since age 2 and his beloved step-brother, Derrick, committed suicide by hanging in 1998, when Dustin was 9.

Derrick loved hockey. He was a Denver Grizzlies fan. This was about ‘94 or so. In ‘95, the Avs came to town. He was one of the biggest Avs fans ever. He is the reason I got into hockey,'” Dustin says. “Being younger, you always look up to the older siblings and that is what I did. We would watch games together and play street hockey. 
I probably started playing rec inline hockey in ‘97 when I was 7 at Funplex in Littleton, Colorado. I don’t recall too much of it since I was still young, but I loved playing. In ‘98, Derrick hung himself while at his mom’s. I can recall most of what happened that day from my mom getting a phone call and rushing me to stay at my neighbor’s for the night, to the next day coming home and my mom and dad sitting me down and saying Derrick was gone. It was the first time I heard my dad cry. My stepbrother, idol, and inspiration was gone from me. 
Derrick was buried in a Mike Ricci Avs jersey. There are many times I think to myself ‘how fun it would be to still have him around and talk Avs with him, go to games, and watch them on their resurrection currently ongoing to get a third Cup?’

He is the whole reason I am a die-hard Avs fan and hockey fan.

I’m here to tell you, Dustin, that your tribute to your step-brother is something I greatly admire. Your memory of him is what lives on. We have no idea why things happen as they do. But Derrick sure as shit sounds like someone I would have loved to have hung out with and had a beer and talked hockey.

I know Mike Ricci personally, and I know that he would be just dumbstruck that your brother honored him by wearing his jersey into the afterlife. You can absolutely expect Mike to call you soon to give his thanks and to honor your step-brother. Mike is someone who never truly sought the limelight. He’s a regular guy, who connected to regular guys. That’s the greatest compliment you could EVER give to Reech.

“As mentioned, I’ve played inline hockey since I was 7. I played for Bear Creek’s inline team from 04-07 and Dakota Ridge ice hockey from 07-08 then I played a year for Metro State in 08-09. In 2012, I tried out for the Denver Cutthroats. I was the second cut and scored a goal and got an assist in tryouts. Since then, I’ve played beer league and pond hockey tournaments in Evergreen and Silverthorne. 
In 2011, I met my now current wife as of May 19, 2019, while playing PlayStation online. She is from Sacramento and moved out here in 2013. Today we reside in Roxborough with our two cats Stig and Cammie.”

Thank you for sharing, Dustin, and welcome to the Colorado Hockey Now family.

TAKE FIVE (QUESTIONS)

(I asked this question before reading Dustin’s stuff. So, please forgive this if it sounds callous)

What has been your closest brush with death?

About two years ago my wife and I along with my best friend tubed down Clear Creek in June. We expected a nice float into Golden while sipping on some beers. For about a mile, we encountered rapids, huge rocks, tree branches, and at the end, we got caught in the little spot kayakers sit in one spot a row. We had to abandon the tube and roll into the rapids and went under for what felt like minutes. Luckily, river rescuers threw in a rope and pulled us out.

Have you a) ever planted anything in a garden and b) eaten from it?

Well, usually what I plant doesn’t get big enough to eat, but I have eaten micro carrots I grew.
What was your favorite dish as a kid that your mom made?
My favorite dish my mom made mostaccioli pasta, with spaghetti sauce, onions, and bell peppers.
Do you think there is other intelligent, human-like life in outer space?
There has to be. There are billions and billions of stars. Someone or something else is out there. I love looking up at the stars at night and think someone else is doing the same thing. It’s unfair we will live our lives and will never get to travel to and visit any flicker in the sky.
What, for you, is the most painful loss in Avalanche history?
The most painful loss to me in Avs history wasn’t actually a game, though there have been plenty of those. But it was when Ville Nieminen was traded. He was my favorite player. An absolute grinder, getting under guys’ skin with his gap-toothed smirk everywhere. I remember one quote, I think it was Drury, (in an article you might have wrote!) saying someday he is going to get a “puck stuck in his mouth.” I was still young when he was traded and I was so mad, I wrote an email to the Avs saying whoever made the trade needs to be fired and I am done watching the Avs. Well, spoiler, I lied about that.

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