I thought the ‘Celebration of Life’ event was huge success. It was a fitting tribute to Patty’s life and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which by itself would be enough to render the event a success. I want to thank everyone for their participation and thank my son John for the work he did in coordinating the event and making sure the lunch itself went well. Thanks to those who made menu suggestions. Sue flawlessly managed the two mailings, perhaps the most critical task. Nick was kind enough to be the ‘Master of Ceremonies’ and I thank him for that. The choice of music for the slide show was the work of Patty’s friend Bea Saldana. I am sure Patty would approve. I am absolutely convinced that the enthusiasm and participation of the members of my extended family and our friends was essential to the success of the event. I thank you all.
Personally, I was overwhelmed the by the kind words and expressions of love that were bestowed on me. The memory of these will provide me with comfort for the rest of my days. Thank you all. My memories of the sixty six year long marriage, that Patty and I shared, comfort me each and every day. I miss her more than words can express; the pain of my grief will be with me always. I tried to set aside this pain as I endevoured to greet everyone. However, I suspect that I fell short in that effort. I was especially pleased to see so many of my friends there. My extended family has grown to such a large group that I am no longer sure of ‘who belongs to who’.
We ought to do this again to memorialize those members of our family who have departed this world and have some fun at the same time. I am willing to bankroll such an endeavor if a committee can be formed for this purpose and present me with a plan. As a resident of the City of Lakewood, I can rent a 150 person capacity park for a day. The park is less than a mile from my house and it is very nice. Something to think about.
I have 120 size B/w and 35 mm color slide images I took starting about 1962. These are nearly all scanned into files on my computer. There are thousands of them including about 8000 railroad images. I also have about 100 rolls of 8 mm color movies which I had professionally digitized. Copies of these are yours for the asking, but I caution you that my energy level tends to be low so it may take a while to satisfy your requests. This collection was the source for the pictures of Patty in the slide show. It would be a shame if this resource was lost to our family. Keep in mind that today memory on computers is cheap and plentiful.
BRAIN DRAIN UNCLOGGED 