Cousins

The picture on the left was taken at my parents 60th Wedding Anniversary party on Feb. 6th, 2004. Left to right: my cousin John, me with a beer bottle, my cousin Mary Elizabeth, and my brother Jeff. It was a totally fun party; one I'll never forget. Little did I know that we'd be losing several family members in the 2 following years. My dad passed away on July 15th, 2005. I will write more about him soon. I mentioned in my last post that I don't have many photos on my computer yet, and I need to both scan and upload some pictures of dad and mom before writing about them.

I do have pictures of my cousin John. Sadly, he passed away on August 25th of this year. I love the picture of him on the right; that's "John" to me. T-shirt and baseball cap.

It was one of those early morning phone calls that you know has to be bad news. Heart attack. John was just 56. He was totally unique. He lived "more life" in his 56 years than most people do in a lifetime. He was an editor with the New York Times, he had traveled the world, had lived in Paris, he loved the theater, and he was a super host of many New York-style parties. I knew he had many, many friends, but after his death, the outpouring of sympathy and the memorials from his friends was amazing. A large number of his friends came from out of town to his memorial in Charleston. His mother received many floral tributes, and from what I hear, is still receiving cards and letters. The New York Times held a memorial later, attended by a great many friends. A memorial book was published, and a website created, The John Wilson Times.com. The pictures and remembrances are in the hundreds. You've got to be a special person to be remembered like he was.

It's still hard to believe he's gone. He made a point of attending all of our family events. It won't be the same without him. John was sweet and funny and smart and kind. I miss him.