Remembering John

While everyday we each remember John in our own way, today we remembered John as a family. John's Aunt Sue and Uncle John, Aunt Ticia and Uncle Ken, and Aunt Meg and Uncle Dom joined Mike and Gina as well as Jes and Mom and Dad in performing a remembrance of John at his memorial. We enjoyed the sun and the cherry trees, we told stories and drank some more of John's homemade brew which is still amazingly good after more than two years of brewing. We placed a new Virginia Tech gnome on his memorial, the old one becoming quite weathered. In addition, all received a framed copy of the below photograph commemorating the three deceased men known to the world as John William Leonard, each of whom have left a legacy of his own for all of our benefit. (As always, click on the photo for a close-up).


Additional photos from today are below.

John's Scholarship Fund

The below is an update from Mother Catherine Spalding School with respect to what has recently been accomplished with JW's Technology Fund and what is planned for the future. Also below is a copy of the school's recent promotional brochure. As you can see, many of the initiatives highlighted in the brochure are associated with John's Fund. (You can click on each page to see an expanded view of the page).

New computers:

In December we installed 17 new computers in the computer lab using John's fund. These are allowing us to load more hardware and software. Our older computers were becoming limited and finicky. The computer lab looks great - newer computers are not as bulky as older ones were and the kids were really thrilled with the new lab.

Robotics Club

Our students in grades 4-8 participated in the LEGO'S Robotics Competition that was held at The College of Southern Maryland in LaPlata. The kids had a wonderful time preparing for the competition and participating in it. The students built a robot and a city floor plan. The robot was able to help build a dam in the river, built a home, put solar panels on the home and did several other activities. A great team building endeavor! The JW Tech fund paid one of our teachers a stipend for coaching the students. The team still meets once a week after school due to student demand that they not end the meetings. The gentleman from CSM just dropped off more "toys" for the teams that were still active to build another robot.

STEM Program

Initiated as an academy within the public school system, some of the parochial schools have been able to get on board with part of the STEM program. All of our students in grades 4-8 will be taking a trip to the local Navy base to tour different areas that coincide with their science curriculum. The JW fund is paying for the buses to take them to the base.

In addition, we have purchased new software for the students to remediate their reading comprehension. We have 2 students who needed books on cd's because of reading difficulties. These have helped immensely with their comprehension. One of the students made honor roll this past quarter!

Next school year we hope to continue the Robotics and STEM activities and would like to engage some of our brighter students with technology programs. We have enrichment one day a week but we really need time after school with the students - our school day is not long enough to incorporate all that we would like to do.

For those interested, tax-deductible contributions can still be made to:

MCSS for J.W. Leonard Technology Scholarship

and can be mailed to:

Mother Catherine Spalding School
38833 Chapitco RD
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

Thanks to all for your continuing generosity in JW's memory and for helping the "Big Geek foster a lot of little geeks."

Renewal III

It's been stormy and windy the past several days, so the cherry trees are begin to loose their blooms. However, they are about at peek today, which is also John's little brother's 30th birthday.

Renewal II

Another year -- spring is here -- and perpetual life manifests itself all around us. Recall that central to John's memorial is a bench shaded by three cherry trees that are identical to those surrounding the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. One of John’s last days was spent lying with Alex under the cherry trees at the Tidal Basin while they were in full bloom. His memorial is intended, in part, to forever bloom on the upcoming anniversary and as you can tell by this picture, that anniversary is approaching.

Renewal

As evidenced by his memorial, the love of JW, as does his memory, persists through the vicissitudes of life and time.

St. Patrick's Day...

... 2005. Four years ago today, JW and his siblings returned to the old sod and celebrated St. Patrick's Day in Dublin after kissing the old Blarney Stone (although anyone who knows them realizes that all three had the gift of gab long before they kissed that stone). Nonetheless, as indicated in the below video, the gab most assuredly was flowing freely that day after apparently spending most of St. Paddy's Day in the Guinness Brewery.

A Remembrance ...

... by an anonymous Girl Scout (or Girl Scout cookie lover) for John.

Presidents' Day, 2007

It was two years ago this holiday weekend that JW, along with his brother and Buds, went snowboarding at Lake Tahoe. Photos from that weekend, which can be viewed by clicking on the below album cover, give strong testimony to John's commitment to live life to the fullest when he had the opportunity.

Lake Tahoe Snowboarding

Always Smiling

Some more pictures from John's "second family" taken at Joe's wedding (click on photos for close-up)

Solace (lyrics)

For those who have had an opportunity to listen to the music of solace at the earlier link, we thought we'd share with you the lyrics to the music (which can be seen by clicking on the following links) which explain why these selections struck us the way they did. The first two songs are by Emmylou Harris. The first is "All My Tears." The second, with Ricky Skaggs, is "Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn." The third song is "Ring Them Bells" by Dylan. The final song is Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's song, "Hallelujah."

Into (and Out of) Africa

As reflected in an earlier blog entry, Alex continues to fulfill her life plan. A few months ago, she achieved a significant accomplishment in this regard by traveling to Africa. You can view Alex's many photos of her memorable trip by clicking here, here, and here.

Solace...

...through music, courtesy of Vin Scelsa at WFUV-FM in New York can be heard by clicking here.

Thanks...

... from all the little geeks being helped by "the big geek." Such was the message we just received from some of the students at Mother Catherine Spalding School who are the beneficiaries of JW's memorial scholarship fund. Many thanks to all have contributed. John's love of others and of technology lives on. (Click on the photo to see a close-up).

Johnny 5

Recall the very first post to this blog wherein we related the origin of the blog's title -- that it was only after JW's death that we learned that he had wanted to be called Johnny, and in fact, was called Johnny by some of his friends. For John, I guess anything was better than the mouthful "John William" that his Mom & Dad sometimes still called him, even though he was thirty-years-old.

Well, it turns out that John had many nicknames. "$20 Johnny" was one, "Johnny 5" another. "$20 Johnny" was due to the fact that JW always showed up at a poker game with only $20.00 in his pocket. After loosing the $20.00 (which was always inevitable) and asked if he wanted to buy back in, John would always say no -- that $20.00 was his limit.

It turns out that his nickname "Johnny 5" is from the 1986 movie "Short Circuit." In that movie, the wayward robot renames himself "Johnny 5" after hearing the song "Who's Johnny?"

As such, what better tribute to JW than a "Johnny 5" Virginia Tech football jersey which his brother Mike had made earlier in the football season. After having worn it to his share of VT games this season, Mike presented the jersey to his sister Jes this holiday weekend. As indicated in these pictures, the jersey looks very good indeed on JW's little sis.

In any event, in answer to the song's lyrics, we know there is no doubt in everyone's mind as to "Who's Johnny" and what he means to all of us!

A Gift From John's "2nd Family"

We just received an early holiday gift from John's "2nd Family", the family of his life-long friend Joe. They sent us a slew of photos from John's and Joe's high school years. The constant smile on JW's face gives no doubt as to how much he loved God's gift of life.

We are so very grateful for the sharing of such a special gift. The photos can be viewed by clicking on the below picture.

JW's "2nd family"

John's Memorial Scholarship Update

Besides the never-ending love he shares with his family and friends, one of John's continuing legacies is the memorial technology fund established at his elementary school alma mater, Mother Catherine Spalding School. Recall Mike & Gina's gift, in memory of their "everlasting bro," to John's technology fund in the name of each attendee at their wedding. With their $4,000 gift and others, total contributions to the fund now approach $85,000 and continue to grow.

Words cannot express the gratitude we feel in response to the extraordinary generosity of so many who have enabled the continuation of John's legacy with respect to youth who share John's love of technology.

For those interested, tax-deductible contributions can still be made to:

MCSS for J.W. Leonard Technology Scholarship

and can be mailed to:

Mother Catherine Spalding School
Helen, MD 20635

Thanks to all for your continuing generosity and for helping the "Big Geek foster a lot of little geeks."

Holloween w/Mike, Gina & John

Mike and Gina recently moved into a new townhouse. To commemorate their new home and Halloween, they put a few jack-o-lanterns out on their front stoop, to include a Virginia Tech pumpkin in honor of John (and one for the Washington Redskins, too).

Live at RFK

Recall the earlier post regarding Mike's recounting of the time he and John and some of John's friends to include his best bud, Mark, went to a Dave Matthews concert in the rain and John got soaking wet while Mike sat next to him while wearing John's slicker -- yet John did not allow that to diminish his enthusiasm.

It turns out that the concert was held at RFK Stadium in Washington on July 19, 2000. Last night, Mike & Gina presented Mom & Dad with a copy of the entire live concert that JW and company attended that day in the rain and that Mike was able to recently download from the web. By clicking at this link you can hear Dave's acknowledgment of the rain in his introduction and then listen to the version of Long Black Veil as it was sung that night.

To John

I realized that dad asked me to post my poem I wrote for John at his wake to the blog when he first put it up. However, I never got around to it. So I think it is fitting for his 18 month anniversary.

To John:
My blood,
My brother,
My torturer,
My healer,
My teaser,
My comfort,
My pain,
My strength.

The one who knows how to push my buttons to piss me off
And the one who knows what to say to keep my calm
He's always advising me on what to avoid
Whether it be bad movies, lame places, or situations with boys
He's my financial adviser, loveline advice, and techie support
We hang out, we hang in,
we do all social activities of the sort
But with all these gifts he gave to me
There's one that's the best of them all
It was the times he let me be the one to hold him up before he falls
When all the advice and experiences he taught me through the years
Came around 180 degrees and was spoken into his ears.
You see, I'm the baby sis, in age and in height
So when I get to play big sis to my big bro- ooo, that's a sight
A sight I wish to all, a relationship everyone should begin
like the relationship I have with John
my blood,
my brother,
my idol,
my best friend.

The Hidden Side of John

Not many people know this but John was a borderline “cat person”. He actually owned a kitten for a few weeks after he graduated college. His name was Boltz because every time the cat saw someone, he bolted into a room and under a bed. Since the cat was not very sociable, John brought him back to the pound.

I tell this story because a few days ago, Maxine, my cat of 20 years, passed away from kidney failure. Maxine lived a relatively healthy and very long life, even outliving the cancer that was found over two years ago. After Maxine had a cancerous tumor removed from her posterior, she had a slight incontinence problem. I couldn’t bring her to school with me and she needed to be taken care of. Therefore, knowing John’s somewhat admiration for cats, I asked him if Maxine could stay with him when I moved to New York. While John never was able to give me a definite answer, he never said no right away, even though he knew of her “bathroom problems”. This is just another story of how great a big brother he was.

(Over the past few years, my great parents allowed Maxine to stay downstairs and take over my room. My mom also took care of her while I was away. Thanks again.)

These are pictures that Alex took of Maxine a couple months ago in John’s memorial which I thought is fitting since now Maxine and John can play together.

(Hopefully, Max now uses the kitty litter properly… )

You Learn Something New Everyday

The other night, Mike & Gina along with Mom & Dad were sitting out on the deck. In the background, we were listening to our favorite radio show, Vin Scelsa on WFUV in New York. Although we never heard our DJ of choice on WFUV ever play Dave Matthews before, we quickly realized that Vin was playing a live recording that the band made in the Gorge in Washington State in 2002. Vin played it, of course, in recognition of the tragic death of LeRoi Moore, the band's saxophonist who died on August 19th at a relatively young age.

Listening to Dave Matthews in such an unexpected setting started a discussion as to how Mike became a veritable "groupie" to the Dave Matthews Band, literally traveling all over the country to see his concerts. In fact, Mike & Gina had plans to see Dave Matthews in the Gorge this Labor Day weekend but changed those plans only recently. Anyway, after associating Dave Matthews with Mike over all these years, we were surprised to learn that it was actually John who turned Mike onto Dave Matthews years ago before the band achieved any degree of its current success. It was through John, when he was at Virginia Tech, that Mike went to his first Dave Matthews concert many years ago.

In any event, Mike then relayed a typical John story from not too long ago. Mike, John & some friends had plans to go to a Dave Matthews concert locally. John, however, was going to go directly from work. Mike, seeing that the weather was turning inclement, stopped by John's place to pick up a slicker for himself; not thinking to get anything for John believing that he was already prepared. Well, you can guess it, John was the only one to show up at the outdoor concert without a slicker and he proceeded to get soaking wet while his brother sat next to him staying relatively dry in one of John's slickers. Nonetheless, JW didn't allow the weather to dampen his spirit and he proceeded to enjoy the concert in typical John fashion, getting the most out of life at every turn, no matter what the challenges.

In order to gain an appreciation of the music John loved from a few years back, you can hear Dave Matthew's live rendition of the Johnny Cash hit, "Long Black Veil," by clicking on this (the second) link.

Reflections

This blog is intended more than anything else to be a reflection of John's life. In that vein, I thought this picture which I had taken earlier of the sun rising over St. Clements Bay on a tranquil morning most appropriately reflects the theme of JW's blog.

New Life ...

... flourishes! Note the newly hatched birds this past weekend from a nest in one of the cherry trees in JW's memorial.

Nothing Went Unsaid

Immediately after John's death, I began to scour the Internet looking for information to help all of us understand and cope. One of the first things I recall finding was an article that talked of the many challenges in dealing with the death of a child. The article indicated that one of the most difficult things, especially when a child's death is sudden and unexpected, was having to deal with things that were left unsaid. We both took solace from that because we knew right away that with regard to JW, as with all our children, there was nothing left unsaid -- we knew that John realized how much he was loved just as we knew how much John loved us.

That solace was reinforced just recently when I was searching my computer looking for a particular document Jessica wanted. In doing so, I stumbled upon a copy of the note we had stuck into John's card for his thirtieth birthday (his last). We share it as a reminder to all of us of the importance of never leaving anything unsaid, especially with respect to those we love.

You can read the note by clicking on the image.

2nd Annual (sort of) Kick Ball Game

Recall last year's commemoration of John's birthday which included a beer cup kickball game. This year, June, of course, was a very busy month with three very important weddings of the sons of the Brussels crowd, to include Mike & Gina. As such, although JW was very much in everybody's thoughts this June, the 2nd Annual beer cup kickball game was not practical that month. Nonetheless, John's little sister, Jes, turned a quarter-century old this month and she wanted to ensure that her brother's presence was incorporated into her celebration this past weekend. As such, a beer cup kickball game was the highlight of the celebration! In that all present were participating in the game, unfortunately no photos were taken -- yet somehow we all knew that John was present, cheering his little sister on.

All of John's family, friends, co-workers, kickballers, flip cup teammates and any and all who love life the way John did should mark their calendars now for the 3rd annual beer cup kickball game to be held June 20, 2009, John's 33rd birthday.

"Southern" John

This past weekend we had a wonderful time with Charleen & Tom and Joayn & Steve at Tom & Charleen's place at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Traveling there and back we had to go though Richmond, VA, which brought back memories of John's youth. Although New York born, JW spent the ages 2 through 7 growing up in Chesterfield County south of Richmond. I knew it was time to get JW back north when he came home from school one day and I noticed that he pronounced house as if it had two syllables as in "hA-OOs". The thought of having a "southerner" for a son was something I never thought this New York family would ever have to countenance. As it turned out, through living in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Belgium and the District of Columbia, and being a world traveler to boot, John would prove to be a very cosmopolitan man indeed.

One of John's Ultimate Gift Recipients

... has thoughtfully corresponded with us over the past couple of months. It is very heartening to hear how John's gift has been put to extraordinary good use, and with Joe's permission, his notes are included here. Just click on the image in order to read the text.

For those who have not considered it before, perhaps Joe's story will inspire you to go to www.beadonor.org to learn more about what you can do to enable similar gifts.

John's Technology Fund

Recall earlier posts here, here, and here, with respect to the technology fund established at Mother Catherine Spalding School in rural Southern Maryland as a part of John's continuing legacy. This part of John's bequest continues to grow exponentially, as does his impact on the lives of so many others. Earlier, over $50,000 in contributions had been made to John's fund. Since then, contributions continue to be forthcoming. In addition to a number of individuals who have contributed to John's fund in memory of his Papa as indicated in this link, Mike and Gina, in memory of their "everlasting bro," have contributed $30.00 to John's technology fund in the name of each attendee at their wedding for a total of almost $3,000.00.

In addition to the above, as an extension of their mission to provide comfort, Georgetown University Hospital has contributed an "unrestricted donation of $25,000 to the technology fund established in John's memory at Mother Catherine Spalding School."

All together, the technology fund in John's memory is now in excess of $80,000. As Mike says, this fund will allow the "big geek to foster a lot of little geeks."

Words cannot express the gratitude we feel in response to the extraordinary generosity of so many who have enabled the continuation of John's legacy with respect to youth who share John's love of technology.

Go Geeks!

Summer Memories

As a reminder, this blog was created to allow ALL of John's friends and family to share their remembrances of JW. It is a virtual and hopefully perpetual memorial to his life here on earth. The below is another great example of such a remembrance which was recently shared with us by John's "second" family, the Drumgooles. It is reproduced with their kind concurrence.

Clarice&Bill:

I wanted to share an old picture of one of our beach vacations with you. We went back to the beach this month and John was in our thoughts and hearts.

My last memory of John was him and my granddaughter Ava playing on our living room floor with her toys and John amazed at how "cool" the toys babies today have. One of my Christmas gifts from my children was a digital picture frame that they filled with pictures from their albums. Ava loves to look at it and was asking about the pictures of John and where he was. I told her he was one of God's most special angels.

This spring Ava was frightened when she heard thunder and I told her that was Uncle John rollerskating in heaven . Ava and I collected the shells and sand to bring home to John....but of course we know he was with us. We've never gone to the Outer Banks without him.

Blessings...Barbara and all the Drumgoole's

Thank you so much, Barbara, for sharing this special memory and we encourage all to share similar remembrances.

John's Toast to Mike & Gina

John's "little" brother, Mike and the love of Mike's life, Gina, were married this past weekend. John, of course, was the best, best man at the wedding and through his Dad, who was standing in for him, John offered the following toast:

In addition to your never ending love, may you forever be each other's best friend; and when you are blessed with children, may they grow up being each other's best friend; and may you be especially blessed so that when your children become adults themselves, they become your best friends. To friends, to best friends, to family, to Mike & Gina.

For some great pictures and a beautiful description of the wedding, be sure to check out the blog belonging to Mike's best friends, Aaron and Angie at this link.