In Memory of loved ones lost

Although the holidays are a joyous time for many, full of friends and family, gift giving, great food, and general merriment, they can also be difficult times for those of us who have lost friends and family members who are sorely missed always, but especially during the holidays.  The first tribute below, written by a close friend of our late writer Andrew Jones, an exceptional person and talented writer who passed away September 25 of this year, is a reaffirmation that although our loved ones may have left this earth, they are still very much alive in our hearts and memories ~ and Andrew in particular left us with a wonderful sentiment to carry into the new year and beyond  ~ “Just Live!”

The second, really a love letter from daughter to mother, is from one of our Pulse writers to her lovely mother who passed away four years ago.  It is both beautiful and heart wrenching, and once again reminds us that our loved ones will always live on in our memories and through the influences they had ~ and will continue to have ~ on our lives.

A Tribute to Andrew Clement Jones
“Just Live!”

By Desoree A. Brennan

Stars that burn with the most intensity are the ones that burn out the soonest.  Andrew Clement Jones was one of these stars.  He walked a path hidden by most and lived his life with an intensity that not many people could ever comprehend.  This is what made him so special and so loved by all.  He never did anything halfway.  Whether he was cradling his beloved little sugar gliders in his hands, or bloodying his knees trying to learn a new trick on his skateboard, or writing for Pulse, or learning how to use and teach a new product at Numark, he always strove for perfection.  It was reflected in his writing, his music, his work, and in his very nature.  He danced, he skipped, he ran, he jumped, for he was full of too much spirit, energy, and a love for life to just walk.  The people and activities in his life that he enjoyed the most he loved with an unexplainable passion.  He didn’t do things with just his heart but with all his heart and soul.  Andrew was a true gift to this world and to everyone who had the pleasure to know him.  He left us all too soon but it is better to know a person like Andrew for just a short time than to never have known him at all.  He enriched our lives and therefore did what he was meant to do in this life.

About two weeks before he left us for his new adventure, we were on a roof top together and he started dancing as if he had no cares in the world.  I laughed and asked him what he was doing and he stopped and got real serious.  He looked at me as if I were crazy and his exact words were, “Des, you have to just live!  Just live!”  Then he continued his dancing and pulled me along.  I remember thinking what a beautiful way to look at life and what an incredible friend I have in Andrew.  He forced me to think, and feel, and look differently at everything.  He made my heart and mind soar to places I never knew existed.

So let’s all take Andrew’s wonderful advice and “Just Live!”  We should not be sad for him but honor him, and never say goodbye because a spirit such as his would never completely fade away.  It lives on and touches us all in the memories of the person he truly was and in everything he left behind for us.  Every time we remember something that Andrew did, and it makes us smile, it is a gift directly from him and he continues to live on in those special moments.

Rock on Andrew!  Your extraordinary spirit will never be forgotten and your inner light that you shared with so many will never burn out.  Be free, be happy!  Some day we will dance a second time under those bright intense stars and just live once again…

Our Sha Sha Sweetheart
I Love and Miss You, Mommy

By Suzy Geers

Sharon Anne Daley Geers. My dad would call her Sharon Anne Daley Sweetheart. Her granddaughter Riley called her Sha Sha.  Now, her two wonderful grandsons (whom she never met due to her 268 day hard fought and fierce battle with the lung cancer that took her life) know her angelically as Sha Sha.

She was this beautiful, “mini” statuesque blonde with a kind, gentle smile and demeanor.
In fact, every time we would go to the mall and she needed a quick reprieve she would sit on a bench, sip a Diet Coke and ~ like clock work ~ my dad, sister, and I would come out of a store and she would have at least one older gentleman sitting right next to her engaged in joyous conversation! Oh, Sharon Anne Daley Sweetheart, the charmer!

Her manners were impeccable and she was ALWAYS dressed to the nines ~ even on her Saturday errands: think Jackie-O with blonde hair! And oh, her hair! She kept Chez Joan in Southbridge going and going with her BI-WEEKLY hair appointments ~ blow outs, touch-ups, or “a color!”

Sha Sha had a heart full of unending love and this monumental knack for caretaking that I ache for horribly with every cold, flu, tooth and headache. I miss the vegetable soup and grilled cheese she would cook up PERFECTLY on those days, and her soft hand that would lovingly stroke my hair and tell me, “It’s ok…you’ll feel better, Suzy, I’m here.”
Yes, she was. Now, she is gone.

It will be four long years on December 5th, but it truly feels like forty. I can not tell you how utterly importt this beautiful woman was and is to me…and sometimes my dad calls out my Sha Sha-isms and I glow! I thank her for my generous heart, a strong love of family, York Beach, all things ice cream, and ~ with GOOD lighting ~ her looks.

I love and miss you mommy and I know you’re with me, Kelly, Riley, Jack, Ben, Jeff, Nick, and Dad EVERY day… thank you for everything.