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September 2, 2012

 

Karen's Memorial Stone.

Placed next to her planter in her favorite garden.

 

My heart felt gratitude to all those that attended Karen's memorial.

Cindy and Mike Califano
Omer and Pat Granger
Jeff Granger
Scott Meyer
George Hill
Jeanne and Eric Mehan
Lynn McManus and Steve Bender
Janet Coderre and Jenn
Barbara, Garry, and Dorine
Frances and Glen Gregory
Brian and Sean Gregory
Bob and Sally Cross
Brent Piatt and Lori Neff
Pat and Carl Gilmore
Joe and Peg Maxwell
Nick and Sharon Vietri
Larry and Betsy Wilson
Joe and Gerry Madden
Irv and Sue Shiffer
Lena Chamra and daughter
Robert and Marissa Schiffman
Craig and Ranae McDermott and son Kyle
Linda Reffner and Carol Dunn
John & Chere' Mort
Roger and Norine
Chaz and Darlene Jutting
Mo Britva and Gail Tate
Bob and Gerry
Fabricio & Patricia
Woody and Meredyth Bass
Peter & Jane
Cathy Perman
Judy Welsh
Dr. Shroulder
Beverly Brown
Allen & Carole Beam
Heidi Porter
Alex
Gul
Carol Quest
Stephanie P
Prog
Jane Brumbeloe
Joe and Mrs. Slater
Tate R.
Kelly Restivo
Sandy and Bill M.
Jerri Haden and wife
Lilly Ong
Christy Garrison
Sandy McNeill
Mary Kay Hall
Kais
and of course Lou
 

Thank you George for being Mr. Camera Man.

 

Memorial table

Flowers, pictures, guest book, etc.

Lou

Getting ready for the big show.

George

Getting game face on.

Kitchen

Kitchen table prep looking into kitchen.

Mike and Cindy

The event planner gets ready for combat.

Fruit

Yummy fruit plate.

Kitchen table prep

Rey's Restaurant caterers continue to setup.

Crowd assembles

The crowd begins to assemble.

Crowd smells food

The dining room table is behind these folks full of Rey's Restaurant excellent beffett.

Dining Room Table

Anyone getting hungry yet?

Barbara, Frances, Sean, Dorine

Looking at pictures and eating shrimp.

Gary and Glen

Discussing the future of the Patriots.

Jeff, Jeanne, and others

Intense conversation. Do not interrupt.

Jeff, Brian, and Patsy

Talking about Arizona.

Janet, Jenn, and Lou

Discussing fun times in Seattle.

Kitchen at work

Scene of the crime.

Mike and Cindy

Cindy is finally relaxed after the long planning phase.

Judy

Hospice nurse Judy. My friend for life.

Omer, Jenn, and Janet

Listening to every word Lou says ;-)

Jeff

Talking to Gary about wood work ;-)

The Crowd

Amazed by the slide show.

Dessert

Admiring the desserts and pink napkins.

Eric

Talking to Bob & Sally (I think). Can't see through people's backs ;-)

Brian, Frances, and Dorine.

They are contemplating polishing off the shrimp.

Judy, Carol, and others

Admiring the beautiful sun room Karen designed.

Long View

Here you see the entire room from kitchen to TV. Lots of people.

Kitchen table with appetizers

Sean, Frances, Gary, Jeff, Steve, Lynn, and others scoping out the hot crab cakes. Total yum.

Barbara and Glen

I think they like the food. Don't you?

Steve, Lynn, Judy, and Carol

Admiring the beautiful childhood pictures of Karen.

Carol and Patsy

Exchange Karen stories with others. Great memories.

Dorine

Patsy's cousin Dorine admining the slide show.

Sean and Brian

Doing what boys do best. Eating!

Frankie and Glen

30+ years of happiness. It shows.

Lori

Doesn't Lori look great? Some people say Lori looks like a model.

Frances, Patsy, Dorine, and Barbara

Enjoying Rey's fine cuisine.

Omer and Glen

So what's up here? Looks like a pretty serious conversation. Must be politics.

Gail and Mo

Mo is thinking about his next dog show.

Heidi

Is she a vegetarian?

Peg and ?

Listening to intense converation ;-)

Sharon and Chere

Here Sharon and Chere discuss how they can really screw up my videos ;-)

Christina

Catering manager from Rey's doing an absolutely perfect job. I'd hire them again in a heart beat.

Lynn and Bev

Two really excellent ladies having a nice conversation.

Dorine and Barbara

I think George really liked these ladies. Lots of pictures of them. Either that or they kept moving in front of the camera.

Jane and Patsy

Jane A. K. A. "Sweet Jane" discuss the old working days.

Grangers and Gregories

Trying to find some cool air. Good luck! Tough with 84 people and hot food.

Steve, Lynn, and Bev

Steve interrupts a lovely conversation.

Carol and Tate(?)

Two lovely ladies having a warm conversation over Karen.

Same people

Different conversation.

Master of Ceremonies

Lou starts off his speech by reminding Cindy to have a double Gin and Tonic ready after the speech.

Linda

Here Linda focuses on her food while thinking of what words of wisdom to say.

Woody and Meredyth

Thank you very much Woody and Meredyth for keeping tabs on me. The awesome beer, BBQ, and friendship is very much appreciated.

Lena and kids

Nice looking family. Lena's husband Bob is the driver that took us to Myrtle Beach.

Craig, Rene, and others

This is a really nice looking picture. Nice looking people.

Chaz and Darlene

Chaz and Darlene wonder if they threw Lou off his speech when they rang the door bell during his speech ;-)

Gerry

Dinig room - people everywhere.

Bob, Gerry, Chaz, and Darlene

Great group shot of the Highland neighbors.

Lori and Brent

Nice looking couple. What did Brent do right?

Peg, Bob, and Sally

Raleigh meets Seattle.

Patrica and family

Nice family from Brazil.

Woody and Meredyth

Trying to escape the heat. Some folks escaped to the cooler second floor.

Marisa, Alex, and Pragya

Alex is wondering why he chickened out when it came time to speak about Karen.

Alex and Pragya are more wonderful SAS people.

Christina doing dishes

Gret service. I got to thank Rey personally Friday night as we enjoyed yet another excellent meal at Rey's.

Robert

Hey Robert, I thought you didn't drink ;-)

Jane, Peter, and ?

Enjoying the coolness and comfort of the sun room.

Nick and Carl

Ah yes, out by the bar escaping the wives.

Janet and Jenn

More bar tender company.

Joe (Max)

Peg likes to call Joe by his other name, Max.

Nick

Guess what he's drinking? If it is Nick, it must be wine. But wait, it isn't red so it can't be wine.

Lynn

Talking about horses.

Jeanne

Always with a smile.

Steve and Lynn

Another favorite couple of George.

Carl and Nick

Still discussing what the beverage was.

Larry

Teaching Cindy and Mike a thing or two.

SAS

We had about 20 people from SAS show up. I very much appreciate them coming. So does Karen.

Eric and Scott

Every good party must have some hippies.

Gerry, Gail, and the Juttings

Discussing dog stories.

Chaz and King Lou

Talking about Chaz's latest venture.

Kendra and Jerry

Yet more wonderful SAS people. Here are Kendra and Jerry (Jerry worked with Karen on Alex’s team, Kendra is his wife).

Meredyth and Woody

Great friends and lovely couple. My beer buddies.

Jason

My buddy the bartender.

Bar

The bar and Jason making us happy.

Lynn and Steve

Camera snobs.

The Lawn

Awesome Lawn.

Scott

A. K. A. Earthman. Good buddy for 17 years.

George

Mr. camera man himself. Thanks George for all the pictures and video.

Alex and Lou

Where's your speech Alex?

Craig, Lou, and Marisa

Party is beginning to thin out. Thanks to all for making this memorial a great event.

The crowd

Until next time friends and family.

Jeff and Glen

They are wondering where all the food went.

Let the party begin

The after memorial partiers gather.

Cindy and Mike

Cindy finally has a drink to celebrate her accomplishment.

Bob and Sally

Hang around with the partiers.

Lou, Cindy, and Mike

We are done. Where is my drink.

 

Click her for memorial video.  WARNING!! This is a 1.65 gigabyte file.  You will need the QuickTime player to view the video.

Click her for memorial video. 

WARNING!! This is a 1.65 gigabyte file.

You will need the QuickTime player to view the video.

 

Thank you Cindy and Mike for donating these pictures.

 

Scott and Cathy

Thank you Cathy for dropping by even though it was such a busy day for you.

Lou and Peter

Peter is searching for wine.

George

Thanks George for making the long trip from SJC 3 times in two months.

Alex and others

Darlene is asking Alex what happened to his speech.

Cindy and Lou

Borther and sister relax with a few drinks.

 

September 15, 2012:

One month ago today the world I lived in was destroyed.  On August 15, 2012 at 11:15 pm ET the love of my life for 20+ years was taken from me.  Even though the battle lasted nearly 6 years, there is no way to describe the feeling when you love passes on.  No other loss that I have experienced - even the loss of my mother from cancer – can match the emptiness I feel every day.  There is no way one can describe the physical and emotional pain at the loss of such a wonderful and loving wife. 

Today I love and am frightened by our home.  The home we have is beautiful and in a wonderful neighborhood.  But it is the house we created.  Now half of that we is gone.  I dread coming home after an evening out with friends because there is nothing but silence to greet me.  I search and call out for my better half but know one responds.  This is the home we created and I do love it and can’t imagine ever moving.  But where is my better half.

I find myself trying to move forward because that is what Karen and I promised for each other.  But damn it to hell it is so painful.  I know that down the road I will need to consider the idea of dating.  For now, that is long long time away.  I can’t imagine dating as I feel that would violate my vows.  But I know eventually I will have to because that is what I must do and it is what Karen wants for me.  For now, it seems like infidelity.

One Month Ago….

 

 

 

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