Memorial Day Remembrances
Sixteen years ago Bill and I had downsized and were living in a condo in downtown Seattle. Our daughter was married and living in Redmond on the far side of Lake Washington. Before I continue, here’s a little background about our son-in-law. When we met him, his name was Jon Barbaro. He and our daughter, Jeanne T., met and became good friends when they were both attending Pima College and doing volunteer work for Special Olympics.
Jon was from Tucson originally and had done two tours of duty with the Marine Corps in the Middle East during Desert Storm. When he married his first wife, Jeanne T. was an invited guest at the wedding. Years later, when Jon and Jeanne T. reconnected, that first wife had taken her goods, bailed on him, and filed for a divorce. Jon, then in the Coast Guard and left with nothing but a bar stool and a phone book, was living in Alameda in a stripped-bare apartment. Jeanne T. and Jon started out as friends again, but that quickly changed to romance. Then, shortly after they began dating, Jon was diagnosed with melanoma and given the grim prognosis of maybe five years. At that point, Jon tried to break up but she said, “No way.” A year and a half later they married.