Many Thanks...

... to all who have generously donated to the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life." John's Mom is participating this year not only in memory of JW, but in the memory of her Dad as well as JW's Mammy, all of whom succumbed to this disease. She is participating as a member of the Team at her school, White Marsh Elementary.

If you'd like to see John's Mom's personal Relay for Life website, or would like to make a donation, simply click on this link. The White Marsh Elementary School Team website can be seen at this link.

Again, thanks for all your support. Relay gives us the unique opportunity to remember loved ones lost such as JW as well as his grandmother and grandfather and support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission by fighting back against a disease that has already taken too much.

New Life

Today is Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate the "New Life" we have all inherited through the gift of God.

It was also two Easters ago that JW, in fulfillment of a life of giving, made his departing gift. In doing so, he made possible to others new life of a more corporal nature, contributing to the joy of so many families.

Click here for a reminder of John's ultimate gift and click here for a beautiful reflection by John's little sis as to how she came to understand his gift in a new way.

Thank you, JW. You and your legacy live on in so many ways.

April 7th

It was yesterday -- it was a lifetime ago -- it was two years ago. In many regards, time does not matter since it does not change the sense of loss. At the same time, it does not diminish the gifts that we have to include the memory of John as well as his everlasting love.

One of the things that the years bring to us all is wisdom -- and the greatest gift of wisdom which a parent can recognize is that we reach a time in our life where we begin to learn from our children.

This is Holy Week -- just as it was two years ago at this time. One of the many things we have learned from JW is that even though he did not realize that he was dying that week, he nonetheless could not have better lived the last week of his life even if he had known. And he did it not by acting out of the ordinary but rather by being his normal thoughtful, giving and loving self -- thinking of the needs of others such as Alex, his brother, his sister and his parents rather than himself. Although he had much to complain about that week, never once did he feel sorry for himself or complain of the tremendous discomfort he experienced. Instead he was concerned only about ensuring that he did not distract from the needs of others.

It is with great solace that we look back and recognize that JW's last week of life was truly a Holy Week in every sense of the word, as was the unassuming manner he which he lived his life from week-to-week. We should all be so fortunate to be able to say as much.

We are eternally grateful, son, for all the gifts you have given us and the wisdom which you imparted.

Remembering John

While everyday we each remember John in our own way, today we remembered John as a family. John's Aunt Sue and Uncle John, Aunt Ticia and Uncle Ken, and Aunt Meg and Uncle Dom joined Mike and Gina as well as Jes and Mom and Dad in performing a remembrance of John at his memorial. We enjoyed the sun and the cherry trees, we told stories and drank some more of John's homemade brew which is still amazingly good after more than two years of brewing. We placed a new Virginia Tech gnome on his memorial, the old one becoming quite weathered. In addition, all received a framed copy of the below photograph commemorating the three deceased men known to the world as John William Leonard, each of whom have left a legacy of his own for all of our benefit. (As always, click on the photo for a close-up).


Additional photos from today are below.

John's Scholarship Fund

The below is an update from Mother Catherine Spalding School with respect to what has recently been accomplished with JW's Technology Fund and what is planned for the future. Also below is a copy of the school's recent promotional brochure. As you can see, many of the initiatives highlighted in the brochure are associated with John's Fund. (You can click on each page to see an expanded view of the page).

New computers:

In December we installed 17 new computers in the computer lab using John's fund. These are allowing us to load more hardware and software. Our older computers were becoming limited and finicky. The computer lab looks great - newer computers are not as bulky as older ones were and the kids were really thrilled with the new lab.

Robotics Club

Our students in grades 4-8 participated in the LEGO'S Robotics Competition that was held at The College of Southern Maryland in LaPlata. The kids had a wonderful time preparing for the competition and participating in it. The students built a robot and a city floor plan. The robot was able to help build a dam in the river, built a home, put solar panels on the home and did several other activities. A great team building endeavor! The JW Tech fund paid one of our teachers a stipend for coaching the students. The team still meets once a week after school due to student demand that they not end the meetings. The gentleman from CSM just dropped off more "toys" for the teams that were still active to build another robot.

STEM Program

Initiated as an academy within the public school system, some of the parochial schools have been able to get on board with part of the STEM program. All of our students in grades 4-8 will be taking a trip to the local Navy base to tour different areas that coincide with their science curriculum. The JW fund is paying for the buses to take them to the base.

In addition, we have purchased new software for the students to remediate their reading comprehension. We have 2 students who needed books on cd's because of reading difficulties. These have helped immensely with their comprehension. One of the students made honor roll this past quarter!

Next school year we hope to continue the Robotics and STEM activities and would like to engage some of our brighter students with technology programs. We have enrichment one day a week but we really need time after school with the students - our school day is not long enough to incorporate all that we would like to do.

For those interested, tax-deductible contributions can still be made to:

MCSS for J.W. Leonard Technology Scholarship

and can be mailed to:

Mother Catherine Spalding School
38833 Chapitco RD
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

Thanks to all for your continuing generosity in JW's memory and for helping the "Big Geek foster a lot of little geeks."

Renewal III

It's been stormy and windy the past several days, so the cherry trees are begin to loose their blooms. However, they are about at peek today, which is also John's little brother's 30th birthday.

Renewal II

Another year -- spring is here -- and perpetual life manifests itself all around us. Recall that central to John's memorial is a bench shaded by three cherry trees that are identical to those surrounding the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. One of John’s last days was spent lying with Alex under the cherry trees at the Tidal Basin while they were in full bloom. His memorial is intended, in part, to forever bloom on the upcoming anniversary and as you can tell by this picture, that anniversary is approaching.