✨ A Chance Encounter

I was recently watching a show on Hulu called The Dark Side of Comedy, and the first episode of the first season was about Chris Farley. The episode chronicled his life, rise ot fame, and, of course, his tragic death at an age that was far too young. At one point in the episode, there was a discussion of his family life, his siblings, and his growing up here in Wisconsin. He has three brothers -- Tom, Kevin, and John -- who have also done acting, and then one sister named Barbara who has always led a regular life. As a result, not too much is known about her, as opposed to the other four.

Watching this episode and hearing of Chris's sister reminded me of a chance encounter I had with Barb Farley back in 2005.

The 2005-2006 college hockey season saw the University of Wisconsin men's team playing incredibly well and making an all-too-memorable run toward what would be their sixth national title. Toward the end of 2005, my best friend and I were both undergrad students down at UW-Milwaukee, which isn't too far from Madison and the UW campus, including the Kohl Center where hockey is played. We're both huge hockey fans and lifelong Badger fans, so we bought tickets to as many games as we could that season.

Sometime in early December, we drive over to Madison for a game. I no longer remember who they were playing that night, but we arrived early and stood inline outside as we waits for the Kohl Center to let everyone in. My friend and I somehow got on the topic of famous hockey players from Wisconsin, which led to famous people from Madison. This inevitably led to a mention of Chris Farley since his family are Madison natives. My friend asked me if Chris had attended UW, and I said I didn't think so and that I thought he had gone to Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Suddenly a voice behind us said "Yes, that's right. Marquette University."

I turned, smiled, and said thank you. Then the three of us began to discuss how cold it was outside and that we hoped they'd open the doors soon. She asked us if we came to games often, then asked if we enjoyed any other sports. I mentioned that I played rugby for three years.

"Oh, my brother Chris loved rugby. He played on the team during his time at Marquette," she said, with a smile.

My friend and I looked at each other, both of us willing the other to ask the questions we both had in our heads. After a couple seconds, I relented.

"Your brother Chris?"

"Oh yes. He's my baby brother. Chris Farley. I'm Barb, his older sister."

My friend just stared at her and my mouth dropped open a little. I shook her hand and said it was really nice to meet her. Perhaps wrong at the time, I told her how much I missed her brother's comedy.

"He was always the silly one," she said. "We all still miss him so much after all these years."

Just then, the doors of the Kohl Center opened and the lines began to shuffle in. I turned back to her and quickly said that I hope she enjoyed the game. She smiled, thanked me, and said "Go Badgers!"

Such a random memory of an even more random encounter, but it's definitely something that I've never forgotten. Whenever I see something about Chris Farley, I think about how down-to-earth his sister was and how much of a surprise it was to meet her.