I Am ...
... happy to report that our last remaining bit of snow has now melted.
However ... as I look at the weather forecast, things do not bode well for this weekend. I've heard we are supposed to have a "classic Nor'Easter without the snow" over the next couple of days. OK then.
We are happy here, that the polyp they removed from Joe's intestinal tract was benign. We can now scratch (no pun intended) that one off the list. Joyce keeps us up to date on that, with Janice's daily calls. Please keep both of them in your prayers.
We are saddened here, however, that Marie Dempsey has passed away. Joe and Marie's husband Larry served in the Seabees in WWII. The Dempsey family and the Cronin family have been very close over the years, since. I know of at least one trip where Joe and Joyce went to Ireland "to visit the roots" with Larry and Marie. Oddly, the weekend Joe & Joyce were up for Easter, and when I asked for Janice's hand in marriage from Joe, that was when Larry passed away. We got the call that night.
"Big Mark", their elder son, arranged for all their scattered family to come home for Easter this year. Marie has not been well for the past few months, and he wanted everyone home. There is a daughter in Puerto Rico, one in California (who is the hairdresser for Jay Leno on the Tonight Show) and many others scattered about. I seem to remember they had 8 kids or so. However, as it turns out, all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were able to make it home. The most touching thing is that, after all had headed back their separate ways, Marie thanked "Big Mark" and told him "I am ready to go now." She passed away in the early Wednesday morning hours.
Larry was always the jokester. It was his "trademark" at each Reunion to do a "stand-up" routine. I met him first at the Seabee Reunion in Biloxi Missippippi. He was a very big man, close to 6' 6". "Big Mark" is around that height, too. I will never forget the night the "girls" snuck off to the Karaoke bar at the hotel. They were having a good time, then Joe, Larry, me, and Joe Caffrey (another story sometime) barged in on them. Larry waltzed up to the microphone, and proceeded to tell several jokes before someone had to tell him the microphone was for singing. Essentially, they gave Larry "the hook". It was funny, and it remains a Dempsey family story.
Marie, since Larry's passing, had battled back from cancer, but age reaps us all. She passed away after living a good long life. I always think of how a person has lived their life as being more important than how long they have lived. Marie's life was good, and long.
Here is one of my favorite pictures of Marie, taken during the 2003 Seabee Reunion in Portland, Maine. We were out for dinner on DiMillo's Seafood Restaurant.
May she rest in peace.
I love you all.
However ... as I look at the weather forecast, things do not bode well for this weekend. I've heard we are supposed to have a "classic Nor'Easter without the snow" over the next couple of days. OK then.
We are happy here, that the polyp they removed from Joe's intestinal tract was benign. We can now scratch (no pun intended) that one off the list. Joyce keeps us up to date on that, with Janice's daily calls. Please keep both of them in your prayers.
We are saddened here, however, that Marie Dempsey has passed away. Joe and Marie's husband Larry served in the Seabees in WWII. The Dempsey family and the Cronin family have been very close over the years, since. I know of at least one trip where Joe and Joyce went to Ireland "to visit the roots" with Larry and Marie. Oddly, the weekend Joe & Joyce were up for Easter, and when I asked for Janice's hand in marriage from Joe, that was when Larry passed away. We got the call that night.
"Big Mark", their elder son, arranged for all their scattered family to come home for Easter this year. Marie has not been well for the past few months, and he wanted everyone home. There is a daughter in Puerto Rico, one in California (who is the hairdresser for Jay Leno on the Tonight Show) and many others scattered about. I seem to remember they had 8 kids or so. However, as it turns out, all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were able to make it home. The most touching thing is that, after all had headed back their separate ways, Marie thanked "Big Mark" and told him "I am ready to go now." She passed away in the early Wednesday morning hours.
Larry was always the jokester. It was his "trademark" at each Reunion to do a "stand-up" routine. I met him first at the Seabee Reunion in Biloxi Missippippi. He was a very big man, close to 6' 6". "Big Mark" is around that height, too. I will never forget the night the "girls" snuck off to the Karaoke bar at the hotel. They were having a good time, then Joe, Larry, me, and Joe Caffrey (another story sometime) barged in on them. Larry waltzed up to the microphone, and proceeded to tell several jokes before someone had to tell him the microphone was for singing. Essentially, they gave Larry "the hook". It was funny, and it remains a Dempsey family story.
Marie, since Larry's passing, had battled back from cancer, but age reaps us all. She passed away after living a good long life. I always think of how a person has lived their life as being more important than how long they have lived. Marie's life was good, and long.
Here is one of my favorite pictures of Marie, taken during the 2003 Seabee Reunion in Portland, Maine. We were out for dinner on DiMillo's Seafood Restaurant.
May she rest in peace.
I love you all.
posted by Lee at
4/14/2007 08:40:00 AM
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