Christmas Day in Lake Merritt
Category Archives: Family
First California Xmas without Mom
Christmas Eve Hike at Hayward Shoreline
Visiting my Godmother in Brentwood
Wine Country Trip
We went to meet my sister and her family for a gymnastics meet that Brooke had and along the way we stopped at a few wineries. It was raining most of the day, but it was still gorgeous.
Joe’s first Phone VR Experience
This was at my daughter’s home on Lake Merritt. I’ve did VR many years ago at South Street Seaport in Manhattan during a lunch break when I worked on Wall Street, but that was like an entire room. This has potential, I can see, but the glasses will need to be a lot more comfortable and I guess I should be standing up instead of twisting on a big couch next time.
Shando’s Cousin and Garden Party
We had a whirlwind day with several events, including my friend Gary’s garden party at his gorgeous home on the San Leandro/Oakland border. There are a few pictures from his garden. We also had a chance to see Shando’s cousin and her husband on their way to their trip in Hawaii, since we weren’t able to attend their wedding in Las Vegas several months earlier due to the cheap airline we booked cancelling our flight at the last minute for no apparent reason.
I miss you so much, Mom!
Giuseppina Benenati Hayden (1942-2016)
Fuck Cancer! Ovarian cancer in particular is an insidious and sneaky disease. Her grandmother (my great-grandmother) had died of it when she was 52, but I didn’t think my mother (a health nut) would be vulnerable to getting it even at 73. Mom was in ICU for almost a month and I was there once or twice a day hoping for the little miracles that ended up not helping her to go back to any kind of life she was used to. Life is so unfair, but I am grateful that at least the last several months of her life Mom lived with me due to completely unrelated circumstances of the fire at her house. Shando and I were able to keep a close eye on her with my siblings, particularly since my brother and nephew also moved in with us. Fortunately we had the space. It was a roller coaster since she was diagnosed only weeks after the fire, but we were at least hoping that she would have a normal life for several more years when we first heard about this. Instead she had to go to the hospital twice and her little body just couldn’t overcome all of the ways that the chemo related infection and cancer were attacking her organs. I know she knows we loved her (she was able to nod her head and hear us almost the entire time she was in ICU) and I’m glad I was there holding her hand and promising her my siblings and I would be taking care of each other when she died. She deserved a longer life, but at least we made her death as dignified as possible.
Mom and me when we lived in Sardinia, Italy – circa 1970
Post-fire Family Gathering
This is probably the last video footage with mom’s voice, although sadly she is not pictured. When Shando and I were at Yosemite and Alex and Brian were flying to visit from NYC, my mom’s house was totalled in a fire. This is the gathering we had with my sister’s family who came down from the Sacramento area. My nephew gets his clown antics from my brother.
Daughter’s Commercial for Rahua Elixir Hair Drops
My beautiful daughter did this commercial!