For Jack

hi all- this post is a commemoration, a poem, a love song for my newly departed much loved friend jack foley, who slipped from this life into the great unknown on September 1st 2012, with the wind at his back, and a bagpiper leading us all, his friends and his loved ones from his commemoration ceremony to the reception, up the hill from the field where we all sat in our various stages of grief and relief,that his suffering was past, that he could finally go home to that next stage of life of which i know nothing, except that his time here is past, and the next stage begun. i told my son alex who adored jack and was devastated by his death, that if there is a heaven then jack was on the express train there, for surely there was no better friend, no better lover of life, no better lover of his wife(or his bride as he used to call her) and their three beautiful children . jack,  whose friend i was so proud to be, i will miss you with all of my heart. i remember things both silly and profound-introducing him to coleen, who told me with ferocious intensity that it was he that she wanted to marry, and the night i threw my glasses(which i was blind without) off the ferryboat back to staten island after a night of drunken debauchery in order to liberate myself in my drunken mind ,to both jack's amusement and terror, as he had to lead me off the boat and take me blindly home. i remember that he laughed like a little girl, and that he laughed often and well, and i have a particularly poignant memory of him sitting on the bench in their foyer with alex, talking to him as his equal, something not enough people do to alex, and for which i was profoundly grateful.there are many more stories to tell, many more tributes to be paid, many more glasses raised- but for me i just want to thank him for being my friend, and try to pay back some of the love he sent my way, and to tell him he will be sorely missed and that most of all, he went away much too soon for all of us who loved him, and that without him nothing will ever be the same .good night,good-bye.,brigid

hooray for computer savvy daughters

hi all -the picture on this post is brought to you courtesy of my brilliant daughter's troubleshooting the reason why i couldn't upload pictures to my blog- i am severely computer challenged, having been brought up in a world where only scientists in space labs had computers, and you had to go to the library to answer questions like why do cats lick themselves or what color are drew barrymore's eyes ? anyway it's back to september and i am back to work, so blogging should resume at it's regular pace-i.e. whenever i get a chance to do it. i know you all are dependent on my every word to get on with your lives but get over it,seriously. i am currently in a creative rut brought on by not too few but too many ideas of things to do, which has me literally panic stricken and unable to do anything at all. i'm also at a point where i have to decide what i want to concentrate on and what i should let go, but the problem is i want to do everything and i don't have time to do it all. i want to paint, illustrate, write books and articles, design fabrics, knit, crochet, etc- oh by the way i have started working on a website but it's not organized or completed i'll let you know when it's up and running,with the help of my more computer literate friend(thank you laura). well that's it for now, i have to go and look after my son , and do some housework, and maybe paint a little, but i will return with more exciting news about myself and my near and dear friends, and especially with a tribute to jack foley, who so heartbreakingly passed away on september first, and with news about my upcoming retirement from my day job in june or september.love to all ,brigid.