Beginnings, endings and the stuff that comes in between

If I'm not careful, this blog could come to look like a "public notice" column in the newspaper. What with all my reporting of people havin' babies and birthdays and all, and me feeling obligated to write about it every time....

Based on the activity of the last month, this would become an obit blog entirely. So, to quote Inigo Montoya, " 'S to much to es'plain - lemme sum up."

Update on Jamie's Matt:

After 12 days in the ICU, Matt decided to continue the great adventure on the other side. This leaves Jamie quite devastated, and has been really difficult for my Matt, too. He was only 47, and still probably had another 50 books in that brain of his. Hubby is currently working on getting Matt's final book through final editing and hopefully it will be published in short order. You can read up a little more on Matt on his Wiki page, and tributes were published on a few sites in the webiverse, like Temple Study (but I must amend this entry: the "incident" was not heart failure, the cause of his collapse is still undetermined, and it was the Wilkinson Center not the Library, where it occurred, that's me, being a stickler over the details). We held a graveside service on October 7th, followed by a large memorial service the following week on October 15. The outpouring of love for dear Jamie at this event was pretty fantastic.

While Jamie's Matt was in the hospital my grandpa passed away.

He was always a tough guy, a contractor by trade. He was a man who loved to work with his hands, and he worked hard. He instilled in his boys a rock-solid work ethic. He also loved to cook, and the kitchen in my grandparent's home was HIS DOMAIN. He always had a smile on his face, and a very ready laugh. He's been on his own since my grandma passed away 13 years ago, and has known for a while his time was coming. His was not an untimely death, as he was 96 years old, and ready to go. He chose to donate his body to science through the UCLA medical center, and eschewed anything to do with a funeral - no service, no obituary, no stress or travel for the family (especially as one of his sons, my Uncle Darryl, had passed away on the opposite side of the country just shortly ago). He lived a very full life, and we have lots of good memories to hold on to.

In September, Hubby's Aunt Ellen passed away.

She was the matriach of this tribe, full of crazy fun cousins who have been like sisters to me since I married into this family twenty-three years ago. Ellen is the baby girl in her family, my MIL's littlest sister. She was SO much fun to be around. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor six years ago, and valiantly fought it off to buy six more jam-packed years with her family. Her funeral....well, let's just say that you shouldn't have so much fun at a funeral. She didn't want anyone to mourn, and asked Uncle Perry to "tell it like it is" in his eulogy. It was truly a celebration of her life. Here are a few gems Uncle Perry shared:

While making the arrangements for the funeral, they asked Ellen if she wanted an open casket. The cancer hadn't been kind to her in the last months, and she replied  "I will haunt you forever if you open that casket." and she MEANT it.

When summing up about Ellen's relationship with her children and the difficulties she faced getting them through their teenage years, Uncle Perry said "They had a lot of problems. For one thing, Seth. (pause) That didn't come out right, now did it?"  

During a Primary program at church when her son Burke was just little, instead of quoting his memorized part in the program, he said into the microphone "Mom?! I hate you, Mom!"

The congregation at the funeral laughed so hard that they cried. I'm sure Ellen was laughing along with us, she didn't want anyone to be sad.

Endings. Far too many of them.

And more beginnings too:

 

Now, that's a little guy who looks happy to be here. We've been blessed with lot's of new little ones this year. The newest is Rocky, here, son of my friend Jack. Rocky decided to make things difficult for his poor mama, and show up more than a week overdue.

I think he was worth the wait. And a nice thing to celebrate after so much recent loss.

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Laid to rest.

With all the joyful hullabaloo of the wedding, we had a very sad event occur as well. My wonderful dad's twin brother passed away last week. His funeral service is today, and I'd like to share with you the obituary of a man who lived life to the fullest.

Darryl & Dennis

ST THOMAS, VI   Darryl L. Kane, 68, passed away in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on Monday, June 6, 2011 after his long battle with stage four cancer. He fought this battle with vengeance and dignity. Darryl was born on November 13, 1942 in Los Angeles, Calif., to Edward & Florence (Reeves) Kane. 

Dennis (L) and Darryl (R)

Professionally, Darryl was a successful consultant with specialties in mergers & acquisitions as well as corporate startups and reconstruction. Darryl served in the United States Navy from 1960 to 1966. He was an accomplished sailor with the high marks in the NavCad program and also won the "Iron Man" award seven (7) times in Miramar, Calif. Darryl specialized in radar electronics and served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War in 1964 & 1965, on the Oriskany and the Kitty Hawk. After his career in the Navy, he was employed with IBM as their Santa Monica, Calif., branch manager for five years before his entrepreneurial spirit led him to venture out on his own, ultimately leading him to Pennsylvania. Through his illustrious career, Darryl has owned and sold several technology consulting firms and was an expert in Database technologies and shop floor control. 

Darryl was also an adventurer and inventor at heart. In 1976, Darryl was responsible for creating the Gemini II Project, which was the first truly hybrid car made from a 1976 OldsmobileCutlass Supreme. The Gemini II project, and its many revolutionary concepts that Darryl is responsible for, are fully documented in the May 1976 issue of Mechanix Illustrated. He was a successful pilot too, holding a commercial rating for many years and logging over 2200 hours of flight time, most in his twin-engine Seneca III airplane. He was an avid snow skier since his early 20's and enjoyed aquatic sports such as SCUBA Diving and jet skiing from 1981 to 2009, ultimately conquering the ultimate jet skiing adventure, jet skiing the Caribbean Sea. Darryl was also a road racing enthusiast all of his life and became an accomplished race car driver in Formula Continental series beginning 1995, winning the championships in the most difficult regions in the U.S. across multiple sanctioning bodies from 1998 to 2001. 

In his last years, he was able to live another dream by retiring in the Caribbean and realize a life-long goal of navigating the Caribbean skies. He felt blessed with the many friends and close relationships he was able to have there in the years before and during his medical condition. 

Darryl is survived by his two sons, Jed C. Kane of Fairfax, Va. and Shawn Darryl C. Kane and his wife Tami of York; as well as his two daughters, Colleen A. Avery-Kane of Ephrata and Kathleen M. Kane of Elizabethtown; grandkids, Abbi Kane, Jed's daughter, Justin Darryl T. Kane, Shawn and Tami's son, Conner Avery, and Cormick Avery, Colleen's sons; 

brothers, Jerry Kane of Los Angeles, Calif., Tom Kane of Columbus, Ohio, and twin brother, Dennis Kane of Utah. 

Darryl, Dennis, Jerry and Tom

Darryl was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, family man and true friend. 

For those who knew him, Darryl touched their lives with his dedication to friendship and warm heart. He was a mentor & teacher of many things to many different people and brought joy with his smile wherever his journeys took him. He will be dearly missed by us all, but never forgotten. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, from J.J. Hartenstein Mortuary, Inc., 24 N. Second St., New Freedom, with the Rev. Dr. Peggy Click officiating. There will be a visitation held at the mortuary immediately prior to the service beginning at 1 p.m. Entombment will be in Susquehanna Memorial Gardens, York.

 We'll miss you, Uncle Darryl.

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