Realistic Expectations When Grieving
This applies to anyone who has lost a loved one so I’m sharing it here. It was given to me by a friend who had lost her young daughter because of a botched medical procedure.
Patrick Meadows and Stephanie Shepard Memorial Site
This applies to anyone who has lost a loved one so I’m sharing it here. It was given to me by a friend who had lost her young daughter because of a botched medical procedure.
“Granddads are very special and loved” wrote Julie when she sent me this picture of Abby and Patrick together.
In honor of my new status as a grandfather to baby Max, it is time to post The Ballad of the Glonk which is a children’s book that Patrick wrote in the 1960s, illustrated by Dan Christoffel. He told me he’d tried to get it published, but the editors of the day didn’t want stories […]
About 12 hours ago I became a grandfather for the first time. I’m now “Granddaddy John” for Baby Max, and I’m delighted. Patrick was a grandfather four times over. In his last years he even prepared to adopt the youngest if necessary in order to insure a healthy, stable future for her. I am excited, […]
My father spoke to me today He, whose ashes we buried
The video of Patrick’s Memorial Service in Deia was posted on this web site in May of 2017. This morning I came across the words and thought perhaps I should post them too. Here’s what I found, as a PDF file. Eulogy and Service
You do what you have to do to make a living….. Not one of Patrick’s proudest moments, but something more to add to the long list of things he did to get by. He wrote this in 2004. I remember Deià when the village was a haven for pornographers. A burgeoning nest of bohemian writers […]
Sometimes we are reminded of loved ones at the oddest times and places. Last Wednesday I drove out to Carpinteria to help a friend cut down a dead tree, to spend several hours turning it into firewood and sawdust. With chain saws and rope in the back of my truck, I stopped at a nearby […]
Both my dads were amazing men. Since this site is dedicated to Patrick and Stephanie, my focus is on those two, but this effort has refreshed and revitalized thoughts of John and Willie. Maybe “refreshed” isn’t the right word since they’re always in my mind, even before Patrick’s suicide. At any rate, I’ve posted a […]
Today Patrick would have turned 84 so I wish his memory a happy birthday. In a moment, when I leave this keyboard, I’ll pour a glass of red wine into one of his old glasses, then raise a toast to his good health, the health he had for most of his life.
Patrick would have turned 84 today. If he were here, what would you tell him? Would you have a question instead? How might he answer? Are you willing to share? If so, feel free to use the comments section below. (They don’t immediately appear so please be patient.)
Stephanie’s brother Tate sent this poem to me to share on the site. You can see the handwritten version more clearly by clicking on the images, but the copies are faded so it’s typed here as well. Nobody, nobody at all is going to care when I die. My brother and I were our mother’s […]
Here’s a lovely drawing and note that I received from Stephanie’s brother Tate about Stephanie’s last words.
Patrick’s Message to Grand Kids and Much More was posted quite a while ago as a YouTube video so you could hear the audio. (It doesn’t fit on a WordPress site.) It’s a long conversation from November 2011 when I visited him in Deia. Lee suggested I get it transcribed. I poked around my computer […]
In addition to Circles, Patrick, Stephanie, and Phil accompanied Lady June in this recording of Loving. Much of this recording is a Lady June poetry recitation, and the audio quality is on the somewhat abysmal side, but perhaps you’ll enjoy the pictures I put to the recording. (Many are re-used from the Circles video.) Patrick, […]