We’ve launched a new site for Jean! Please visit http://jean.gasbarro.net where you can see a photo archive (https://picasaweb.google.com/jean.gasb.picasa), read Jean’s blog entries, and share your own thoughts and stories about Jean. And remember: July 18th is Jean’s Day.
Arrival in Vancouver
I’ve been living in Vancouver since the beginning of November. It was a long, drawn-out decision that went something like this.
MY BOSS: Pasco, would you like to move to Vancouver for a few months to work for one of our customers? I know you’ve got a lot going on, so you don’t have to say yes-
ME: Yes.
Within a week of that conversation, I was living in downtown Vancouver. The timing couldn’t have been better. Mark, Yvonne, and Alex are living in my house until their new home is built. They are taking care of the house and, most importantly, watching Cooper.
For several months I had promised that I would take time off, travel, do something unusual, but I never did. Then suddenly – I’m living in a city on the other side of the continent from Boston, in a part of the world I’ve never seen before. My apartment is downtown on the city’s main entertainment thoroughfare (Granville Street – Vancouver’s Broadway), a five minute walk from the offices where I work. And the apartment building is right on top of a fantastic steak and seafood restaurant that also plays live jazz.
This has been the kick in the pants my life needed. And it has been an incredible adventure. The pictures with this post show just a few of things I did in November.
More pix and stories soon.
Click here to see more photos from November in Vancouver.
Rainbow over North Vancouver
Really fresh salmon at Public Market at Granville Island
Knife skills at the Dirty Apron. Lesson 1 - don't cut off your thumb.
Posted in Photos, Vancouver
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Photos: Hawaii, September 2009
It only took a year to get here. More than a year. And selecting a couple hundred photos from over 4000 photos (not including videos) we took while we were in Hawaii for 3 weeks.
Soon I’ll post some brief stories and itineraries of where we went and what we did. I’ll also publish a separate album with a selection of flower photos (Jean took over 700!).
Oahu – Click here to see photos
Kauai – Part 1 – Click here to see photos
Kauai – Part 2 – Click here to see photos
Maui – Part 1 – Click here to see photos
Maui – Part 2 – Click here to see photos
Big Island – Part 1 – Click here to see photos
Big Island – Part 2 – Click here to see photos
Big Island – Part 3 – Click here to see photos
Big Island – Part 4 – Click here to see photos
Honolulu – Part 1 – Click here to see photos
Honolulu – Part 2 – Click here to see photos
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Photos: Baltimore – June 2009
Originally we went down to see a doctor in Baltimore for a second opinion. That was a waste of time. But Baltimore is a nice city. We toured the Waterfront, the Aquarium, Edgar Allan Poe’s house and gravesite. Heather joined us and we got a tour of Camden Yards – great ballpark (no offense Fenway) – and caught an Orioles game on a beautiful summer day. Only disappointment (besides the doc): the bakery featured in Ace of Cakes doesn’t have a walk-in store-front. 
Click on the photo montage or click this link to see the pictures.
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Tagged Aquarium, Baltimore, Camden Yards, Maryland, Orioles, Poe
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Photos: Outer Banks, NC – May and June, 2009
We took this trip about a week after we received the last prognosis from Jean’s doctors. Stayed at a nice B&B near the beach. Took hang-gliding lessons, then Jean rode in a motorized glider (the other strange contraption she’s strapped into). Visited plenty of lighthouses, saw the Wright Brothers monument, and sailed at sunset.
Click on the photo montage or click this link to see the pictures.
Posted in Jean, Photos
Tagged Beach, Hang Gliding, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Outer Banks, Sailing
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Photo Gallery Updated: Jean’s 39th Birthday and the Boat Christening
You can see the pictures by clicking on this link or by clicking the button for PHOTO GALLERY on the bar above.
This is only the first set. I have been reviewing tens of thousands of digital picture that Jean and me took (but mostly Jean) over the last 10 years. It’s taken more time than I expected, for personal and logistical reasons. At one point, I had over 70,000 digital photo files. Many of them were duplicates, cropped and re-sized shots, selections for CDs we burned for family, etc.
I plan to make up for lost time. I’ll try to post a new set of pictures every few days, if not more frequently.
If you would like to get copies of any of these picture, just e-mail me. If you don’t have my e-mail, just call me.
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From Whistler
I did a lot of thinking today, as I was standing on the peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb, gazing at the amazing landscape of snow-capped mountains. I was thinking about everything that happened a year ago, about the last 13 years with Jean, and what’s happened since then.
Wait. Whistler? As in British Columbia? As in 2010 Winter Olympics? What the heck are you doing there?
Well, Whistler is only a 2-hour ride north of Vancouver, so I left my apartment the other night and hopped on a bus up here, and was on the slope first thing in the morning. In fact, I was out earlier than most people, because the lifts don’t open until 8:30. In New Hampshire, my Dad would wake up at an ungodly hour to get to the lifts-
Again – Wait. Back up. You’re in Vancouver? What the heck are you doing in Vancouver?
That’s where I’m living for the next couple of months.
Huh? Since when?
Didn’t I tell you? Oh. I see. I just saw that my blog hasn’t been updated in 9 months. And I post updates on Facebook about as frequently.
And I was supposed to update the site with more pictures, too. Wow. I am really bad at this whole “telling people how I’m doing” using technology like Facebook.
Don’t you build digital computer systems for a living? And doesn’t everyone who knows wish they could get you to shut up sometimes?
Uh. Let me go see about those photos. Back soon.
One Year Later
Dear Jean, It’s been one year. I still miss you every day.
In one sense, it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. I’m fortunate to have family and friends who look after me. So many people have shown me compassion and patience. With their support, I have continued living at home, taking care of Cooper, and resumed working. I have tried to take good care of myself, keeping in shape, being productive, and even began cooking and baking again. I have tried to avoid wallowing or feeling sorry for myself (not always successfully). To most people I seem to be OK, and on many days, I feel that way.
In another sense, it has been harder than I ever dreaded. I thought I knew what I would lose, but really, how could I know? I have grieved, in private and out in the world. I still grieve, quietly and sometimes not so quietly. Grief is good: every day brings a realization or a memory, which I try to hold and not forget.
I remember one of the last movies we went to see in a theater, UP, an animated Pixar film. I knew what it was about and didn’t want to go, but you insisted. In the first 10 minutes, wordlessly, a boy met a girl, they fell in love, dreamed of great adventures, grew old, and saw their dreams disappointed. In the first 10 minutes, I bawled like a baby right there in the theater. You teased me: “You’re crying because you think you’re going to turn into the cranky old man, aren’t you?” I wish – he’s got a good head of hair. Later in the movie, he finds a scrapbook of pictures from his wife. “Thank you for the wonderful adventure,” she wrote. “Now go find yourself a new one.” You squeezed my hand and smiled at me.
I am finally assembling the scrapbook of our pictures, so everyone can see the amazing adventure we shared. And I am trying to continue the journey as best I can. Sometimes I need a little kick in the behind. Lately, I got a big kick that booted me across the continent into a new adventure. Probably you had something to do with it.
Love, Pat
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Ainsley’s Dance
My niece Ainsley had her Daddy-Daughter dance a couple weeks ago, but my brother Jay was suddenly called away for reserve duty. Her parents asked me if I would step-in to attend the dance with her. I was delighted. She was very smart and pretty in her dress. The dance was a lot of fun. There was lots of twirling, punch and cookies, bunny hops, chicken dances, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. I thought I was getting back in shape, but clearly underestimated the energy of 7-year-old girls, who regularly defy Einstein’s laws by moving faster than the speed of light. I was exhausted, but we were all smiles at the end of the evening.
A Garden Grows
Here are some photos. After the rains finally ended in March, the ground began to open in April. All the bulbs that Jean planted last autumn started popping through the soil. Over the last 2 weeks it’s been incredible to look at them, especially coming down the driveway toward our house. So much color and so much care put into arranging them. You can still see some of the plant signs and tags with her handwriting, describing what she planted. She knew what she was doing, what she was leaving behind. It’s a glorious gift. Now I have to learn to be a good caretaker – and keep Cooper from romping through it.
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