http://kevinpammett.blogspot.com/2011/11/gaye-pammett-you-never-know-what-next.html

This is my stake in the ground for my thoughts about losing Gaye's Tree, as we discovered it around 26/Nov/2011 12:41 when we came home from Newport RI.

A Dream Come True — Jillian graduates from Northeastern University

 
Yesterday my sweetie and I were the VERY proud parents at Jillian Gaye's graduation from Northeastern University — held at one of Boston's most famous venues, “Boston Garden”. It was an amazing event that we thoroughly enjoyed, even though, as Lynnie quipped on the way in: “This will be the most expensive event we will ever attend, here!!”. But overall it was worth every penny. Check out the panoramas I made to see HOW HUGE this event really was http://bit.ly/NEU2011b (similar to http://bit.ly/NEU2011a)

One of the highlights, from the celebration dinner afterwards, was Alex's reading “An Old Married Tripplet” — http://bit.ly/Alex4JiliMike

Below is a panorama, made from 7 snapshots, taken from where we sat (in the nose bleed seats) in “Boston Garden” for Jillian Gaye's Graduation from Northeastern University on May 6th, 2011.On the right I've posted a rare picture of all four of us Pammetts, taken right after the NEU Graduation. A marvelous Spring day — the Boston Common and Public Gardens were overflowing with beautiful blossoming flowers; couldn't have picked a better day !

What rings true for me, now, is a paraphrase from Aoun (NEU President)'s keynote: “This is not an ending, for all of you; it's just the beginning !”. How exciting that is — for ALL of us!!!

ps: Check out this amazing time-lapse video clip where you get to see all 3,200 graduating seniors file into TD Garden in less than 30 seconds.
 

Springtime at the Great Blue Heron Rookery

 
Back in November 7^th, 2007 I started this 4-season project to make panoramas of the Great Blue Heron Rookery in Acton, MA, making a different one for each of the New England seasons. So my first one was “Great Blue Heron Rookery along Rte 2” (New England Fall), followed a few months later by “Our Great Blue Heron Rookery” (New England Winter). Since I didn't have one for Spring… I went out, today, and took the series of pictures that you see stitched into the panorama, below. To see it better, click on the image and when you get the full sized version of this New England Spring panorama use your browser's "Zoom In" or "Magnify" mechanism (sometimes, Ctrl + the '+' key on your keypad) to get to where you can see the full height of the panorama taking up all of your screen. Then use the browser's horizontal scroll bar to really experience viewing the panorama.

The panorama that I actually created the day I started this blog article is here, because it really clouded over the day I took those pictures and the next day when it was so much nicer out, I did the reTake. The other thing that's unique about this panorama is that it was taken from the complete opposite side of the wetlands from most of the other panoramas. In this case we're near the protected wetlands on the South side of the water that you can see from rte 2.
 

My Brother — John Hickey, Three Years Gone

Remembering the 3-year anniversary of my brother John Hickey's passing, and listening to the ethereal “Far Away” music that I chose as the background sound track for the multimedia tribute I created for “Johnny”… I find myself overwhelmed with sadness that I had thought was behind me. Indeed… Johnny is simultaneously (as they say in the song) “Far Away, Beyond the Sky” and also as close to me as one can get — still very much present in my heart.

Nevertheless… 3 years seems like an eternity. So I've decided to add one to my collection of blog articles about Johnny, today, and to highlight the picture on the right of “Johnny in his glory” — leading the way for his family, down to commune with Mother Nature at the place, near where he used to live in Ontario, Canada, where the mighty Mississippi river continues to carve its way thru the “Red Rocks” where we often went for picnics. Since my baby girl, on my shoulders, looks to be about 18 months old, I'd guess this picture was taken in 1992. So that would make Johnny 51 in this picture. Wow!

This article got started, today, because I received the following text from my big sister, Nanci, who later agreed to have me include her message in this article honoring Johnny:     I just woke up today with Johnny on my mind. Can it really be three years since he left us so sadly? I am sending you all a big hug today and warm thoughts about a treasured brother, father, partner. I found myself typing the word “copesthetic” to someone in an email this morning and remembered the time when Johnny was on a binge saying this word. He thought it was so clever and loved to tease us by using it. It is still a great word for impressing. And impress people Johnny did with his wonderful sense of humour and wit. Thanks Lorraine for making his final years the best they could be and for sticking by him through thick and thin. Thanks to you Kevin for being such a great brother to him, for welcoming him into your family with open arms and making him feel loved and special… and to Karina for being such a perfect daughter to him through all the love and the pain. He was blessed more than he knew and he gave us more than we realized. I am so grateful for the support he gave me throughout my year of cancer treatment and miss him in my life. May he rest in peace. I hope to get back to the graveyard this year and see how well that burning bush is doing.
—love Nanci   

To experience one of the sounds that always reminds me of Johnny — especially of us growing up on Pigeon Lake in Ontario… click here and listen to the sound of a lonely loon, crying out to his mate, over the stillness of the water.

We sure miss you, big brother !!
 

OMG — My Precious Baby Girl Has Grown Up !!

Another of those memorable milestones in your life… on December 23^rd, 2010, our youngest daughter (who prefers to remain nameless in cyberspace) turned 21. Yup. With complete disregard for all of my better wishes, my little baby girl had the audacity to reach the age of majority and there was nothing I could do but celebrate with her.
The celebration included a roll-playing “mystery evening” which kept “Tiny Bubbles”, “Ralph Rottingrape”, “Marilyn Merlot ”, “Otto Von Schnapps”, “Papa Vito” and “Hedy Shablee” all guessing for the entire evening — part of which included a sumptuous dinner (menu) that was so creatively beyond Pomegranate-inspired. On the left check out my daughter's radiant face as she prepares to blow out the candles on her 21^st birthday cake. Last but not least, and keeping to a longstanding family tradition… we had snow on my daughter's birthday, as we do every year — even during the years we lived in the South.
Just like we did for Jillian Gaye (except that I couldn't find the invitation)… we had a "Bonding Celebration" for our new baby girl in our home and invited all of our extended family to come and "bless" us all — very much like many people do in a Church and call it a Christening. In addition to all the blessings, we invited each person to bring something suitable for her that we would keep in a time capsule and present to her on her 21^st birthday …

… And even though it seems like a miracle to me, that 21st birthday did indeed arrive, and if you click the "Play" Icon in the YouTube player on the right, you can watch the first few minutes of my daughter opening her time capsule. The box contained all sorts of memorabilia from people in our extended family — typically little items that were very significant to the giver, accompanied by a hand-written letter from that person to be read 21 years hence — such as Aunt Nanci's letter and European puzzle ring. In way too many cases, these letters were written by loved ones who are no longer with us, making them all the more priceless. OTOH, if you are reading this… chances are that you put something into that box. Do you remember what it was?

What an amazing trip down memory lane it has been going back thru this album of pictures (or Flickr slide show) where you'll see amazing 21-year old pictures of many (but unfortunately not all) people in my extended family — my sister Nanci and Art Phelan + their kids: Aaron, Miranda, and Amber; my Mom (Jean Audrey Pammett) and Lynn's Dad (Ian Alexander) and sister (Heather); Roy and Dale; and the newborn's big sister Jillian Gaye — all taken during the actual day of our last "Bonding Celebration" — Sunday, March 4^th, 1990.