Well it’s a big one. Brigid didn’t ask me to go to “The Source”, or some other jewelry emporium. Instead – she wanted a kayak.
With thanks to my brother Jim for scanning in photos and slides.
Please feel free to leave a comment for Brigid.
Here’s a little visual history of Brigid since I’ve met her, February 17th, 1978. That evening she crashed a party at my house in Mandeville, Jamaica.
This is Brigid in 1979, a bit before we were married in Jamaica. She’s on the south coast at a place called “lover’s Leap.”
Treasure Beach, south coast of jamaica
And here she is on the north coast in Montego Bay, same year.
And at Negril having a nap.
Brigid’s dog Feisty, in my flat in Mandeville. I have to show dog pictures, or I’ll be in trouble.
You can’t see much of Brigid here, but Dunn’s River Falls on the north coast of Jamaica sure is pretty.
This requires some explaining. My brother Philip, with Brigid, on our honeymoon. Phil and my parents flew down to Jamaica for our wedding (Phil was altar boy), and we then took them with us to a house near Treasure Beach on the south coast of the Island. My father was always embarrassed by that…
More explaining! We were at the Mandeville airstrip, waiting for the island hopper flight to Kingston. Our friend Mick Paine was leaving the Island and there’d been a lively departure party the night before. Brigid is sitting with Mick just to her right, and Paul Foster next to him. Yes, it had been a pretty good party.
We left Jamaica in July of 1979 and stayed in New york for about two months, before going back to the Caribbean – the Cayman Islands. we had a number of visitors to my parent house where we were staying that summer, including John and Celia Pye, and Emma and Bryn. Our close family friends the Rimms lent us a trailor and the Pyes stayed in it in the driveway for several days. Note that Philip – in front of Brigid – loves to get in our pictures.
We lived on Grand Cayman for two years. Brigid taught first grade in the Georgetown primary school, and here she is in a group picture with the other teachers.
One of my all time favorite pictures – Brigid kitted up, as she prepares for a night dive on the reef. I posted about this picture awhile ago – here’s the story if you’re interested Tom Faranda’s Folly: Here’s Brigid before a night dive in the Cayman Islands
The summer between our two years in Cayman – the summer of 1980 – we were in Europe and among other places went up to Dublin to see a friend of mine from Fairfield, Bob Everlanka. He was doing a graduate degree in Dublin
The second year we were in Cayman my brother Paul came out to see us
After our second and last year in Cayman we spent that summer in Europe. Besides spending time with Brigid’s family in Yorkshire, we drove around France, Italy and Switzerland for seven weeks, camping in probably the smallest tent in Europe. That’s not our tent in the background.
Brigid in Switzerland
With Brigid’s Mom in the Yorkshire countryside. Brigid’s family lives in the beautiful city of York.
And then in September 1981 we got back to New York and settled in Croton-on- Hudson.
First Christmas in New York together – 98 Grand St –
We hadn’t seen snow in awhile
Brigid at the 1983 Class reunion of my Fairfield class of ’73.
On the escarpment in the Catskills with her friend Linda Knox in 1986. They are right at the edge with a straight drop of hundreds of feet behind them
Here we are again in the Catskills, in 1990 with Brigid’s brother Neville, and his wife Gerry. That’s North Lake in the background
Drumroll! Here’s Joe’s baptism in 1993.
And Joe with Brigid at three years old.
On the North Sea coast of England – Joe and Brigid flying a kite. We think it’s the summer of 1996.
It’s January, 1998 and Tim has just arrived a month earlier –
Summer ’98, a bigger Tim
The Bronx Zoo
The Zoo again, right where the Bears live. The two children in the background are Kathleen and Philip Gagnon
July 2000 in the backyard
In August, 2001 we went back to the “Old Country”. Clockwise from the top are sisters Kate and Libby, Neville, and Brigid’s Mom, Frances (Frank). She died in 2004 at the age of 91.
Now a little jump to April, 2005, as we return to Jamaica for the first time in 24 years, bringing the boys down to show them where we met and got married.
Dunn’s River Falls, seen at the top of this posting and now with Brigid and the boys – my all-time favorite picture
And here we are above Montego Bay – picture taken by the waiter
Brigid with Doreen Novotny in May, 2006. Imbibing before heading out to eat
And here’s Brigid same night with my college roommate Mike, at the Chartreuse Restaurant in Yonkers. Just for the record, this was one of our going out nights with the Riners, Cannons and Novotnys.
This past August we were in Boston for the wedding of Lee Anderson, the daughter of our friends Judy and Bob Anderson. Brigid looks pretty good, but I have my Guinness face on …
The 36th and last picture – January 13, 2006. Here’s Brigid with me when I was in the midst of my 20 day stay at Sloan Kettering for my high dose chemotherapy… What’s to say?
So as of February 17, 2008 I will have known Brigid for 30 years. Yikes! Will have to do another big photo spread.
If you got this far, why not leave a greeting for Brigid?
Leave a Reply to Phil Faranda Cancel reply