First, sitting around the same dinning room table that the Leonard family has sat around for over 30 years forming many fond family memories -- and which the DiStefano and Corso family had sat around for the 50 years before that -- we lit the candle that will forever symbolize John's presence at all future family gatherings around that table, next to our favorite black & white photo of JW.
Following that, Dad took out the box that John's co-workers had filled last year with JW's personal effects from his office. While such possessions are at times banal, they also tend to be intimate representations of our personality since they are what we choose to surround ourselves for the significant part of our life that we spend at work.
From that box, Mom & Dad presented to Papa JW's calendar which had been opened to March 1, 2004, since it contained a quote from John's Dad. It represented John's pride in his Dad and, by presenting it to Papa, Dad's pride in his father. Mom got the lace from Brussels, representing all our fond family memories from when we lived in Belgium. Dad got JW's camel caravan carved in olive wood picked up during JW's travels to Jordon. Mike & Gina got John's Virginia Tech Alumni cup filled with John's loose change, since both of them have stepped up to fill John's shoes as fanatic fans of VT athletics -- even if VT didn't even make the NCAA basketball playoffs this season. Jes got a similar mug filled with even more loose change, this one from St. Mary's College of Maryland and which Jes had previously presented to John as a gift (the year she did her Christmas shopping in the campus book store). Aunt Ticia and Uncle Ken got John's piece of the Berlin wall which the Leonard kids had personally chopped out of the wall shortly after it fell (although as related in this earlier post, they complained about not being able to instead stay in the hotel and see for the umpteenth time the movie The Karate Kid).
Mary Ann & Tom, in addition to getting a small Greek plate, another one of John's souvenirs from his frequent overseas travels, were also assigned the task of deciding whether Mike or Jes would get John's home charger for his iPod, since the loving siblings could not decide among themselves who should get it. Dad recommended an essay contest -- 40 words or less, in order to decide the worthy recipient. You can see all of these mementos by clicking on the below picture.
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| Mementos |
After dinner, we all moved outside to John's memorial. Recall this earlier post where we discussed John's homemade beer. After college, John had made a batch of brew for a few successive years but gave up when it never turned out to his desired perfection. For his last Christmas, John asked for the homemade brew kit again and made it early in 2007. He faithfully tracked its aging process in a spread sheet on his laptop -- it was suppose to ferment for about 4-6 months. Well, by now, the beer was well over a year old, but we decided to open it up and try it out at his memorial and drink a toast to JW. As you can see by clicking on the picture below, the beer was actually pretty good. Even Mom had a taste. I guess the longer the aging, the better the taste. Also as you can see in the pictures, Mary Ann and Tom presented Mom & Dad with a plaque for JW's memorial. Mike & Dad then each smoked a cigar to John's memory, although as you can see in the pictures, Mike had problems lighting his cigar in the cold damp air, even with Dad and Gina attempting to shield the wind.
All we can say John, is thanks for the sweet memories, thanks for being you, thanks for your everlasting love.
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