An iPhone note with a Dec. 18, 2014 1AM timestamp reads “365 things about dad.” It was this middle-of-the-night thought that inspired Celebrating Jon. This time last year, I hoped that this year’s worth of missed moments would help you learn about how special daddy was. I didn’t realize how much it would help us all. The […]
Jon loved sharp wit, horrendous puns, and intellectual brain teasers. He was amazing with word games. He’d stroll by the desk at lunch time, and utter an acronym. Your job, should you choose to accept it, was to translate the acronym. For example, FYF stood for “Feed your face” and SGF, a more difficult one, […]
Sam and I have a vivid memory of Daddy getting Dane ready for bed one night. All was going well and as normal when all of the sudden, Dane started hysterically crying. When we asked him what was wrong he repeatedly mumbled, “Daddy pooped in my room!!” between violent sobs. Confused, we asked Daddy what happened. […]
In 1996, the Tamagotchi Pet came out and it was the thing to have. The level of care you provided for the pixelated creature would determine how it grew (if it even stayed alive). I spent an embarrassingly high number of hours feeding my Chi slices of bread; turning its lights off for bedtime; nursing […]
As you know, I’m not exactly immune to irrational fears. I’m a self-diagnosed hypochondriac after all. As a kid, a reoccurring nightmare fueled my intense phobia of getting kidnapped. One day, I told my friend and next-door neighbor, Kelsey, about this fear. Her response? She wasn’t worried because her home’s security system would deter the would-be kidnappers, meaning they’d […]
We rescued Mancha from a shelter the day after Christmas in 2000. She instantly took a liking to daddy and appropriately earned the nickname of “velcro dog.” She’d follow daddy into the bathroom, wait for him at the door each evening post-work and would rest her head for hours on his thigh as he sat at […]
I had a lot of nightmares as a kid, so I was relieved when we made dream catchers at school. Carefully draped on the left side of my bed, this sucker was my faithful guardian for years. However, it didn’t always work. Daddy knew how upsetting this was for me and patiently explained that my dream catcher sometimes […]
I was only in first grade when 9/11 happened back in 2001. There was a lot of paranoia about potential terrorist attacks in the weeks following 9/11. The Anthrax Attacks were a major headline, and daddy took them very seriously. Like absurdly seriously. If you don’t know what the Anthrax Attacks were, here’s a pretty […]
Around age 10, I fancied myself a detective. Rumors had begun circulating at school that the Tooth Fairy was (gasp) actually your parents. And so began my quest to prove she wasn’t real. Before placing my tooth under my pillow one night, I wrote a note asking if she could provide a picture of herself. The next […]
I remember Jon‘s gift of poetry. I remember that he wrote a Christmas poem referencing people in the PP&C group; and we loved it. (I am 90% certain that he rewrote “Twas the Night Before Christmas“). I remember Jon in a video illustrating the appropriate way to pronounce “Altria.” I remember Jon was a “jokester.” I’ve heard Steve St. Mary […]
Celebrating Jon 