Life With Jon

"So near you are, summer stars..."

One of my favorite memories of time spent together is from that unforgettable--at least for me--Sevey family reunion up in the Uintas when I had my "little adventure." (but that's another story)...and now, whenever I happen to be outside on a clear night, I stop, look up,  and remember star gazing...and marveling at life, with Jon.

One evening, Jon and I found ourselves walking together back to the cabin. It was too beautiful a night to go back indoors just yet, so we took some folding chairs outside, and placed them where there was a wide gap in the canopy of pines, revealing a sky filled with stars. We both slumped down into the chairs so we could lean our heads back comfortably and gaze at the sky. As our eyes adjusted to the night, we marveled at the dazzling scene above us...and we talked, and laughed, and marveled at the stars, and laughed and talked, and marveled at the universe and people and, well...all the marvelous little things that came to mind. Jon and I always had lots to talk about.

One of Jon's best qualities, in my estimation, was the way he noticed--and treasured--the precious beauties and little (let alone big) wonders of this earth, life and people. It's why talking with him at times like that was always fun--and so often enlightening. And it's why, now, my heart leaps into my throat and I must focus my camera through tears  whenever I behold a marvelous sky...as when I took this photograph from the top of our little hill a few days before Thanksgiving.

If you click on the photo, a larger version will open in a separate window

"And for all this, nature is never spent;   
  There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;          
And though the last lights off the black West went   
  Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—   
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent   
  World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings."

                                                                                                           Gerard Manley Hopkins

I love this picture of you and Jon, Dawn! I am not sure that Jon could come up with a birthday cake as fabulous as what you created (even tho he had been crowned "Iron Chef" at work)...but I know he would have figured out something special for you!! I hope you had a fabulous day--and enjoyed cake, or trifle, or something you truly love to eat!

XOXO

from vick

Celebrating Dawn and Jon

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Happy Anniversary! (to Jonathan and me)

Dear Everyone,

Just wanted to write a quick note of thanks to all who came to our wedding/sealing last year. It was a great day--the best, most happiest day! But at the wedding dinner I didn’t take the opportunity to say anything and I really regret that. I was feeling so tired after the celebrations of those past couple days that my brain wasn’t working quite coherently, so I wanted to say the things I’d been thinking then, now. (Thanks for waiting J).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I waited so long for the right person and when I found him he was perfect for me. A lot less hair than

I anticipated, but I found out I loved bald! There wasn’t anyone sweeter, more concerned about me and more respectful. He treated me so well, was cultured and appreciated the person I’d tried to become. And he was so funny! We would laugh like crazy together. And he loved the Lord, had lived a righteous life and was worthy to go to the temple and marry me forever. And our names even rhymed, Jon & Dawn—it was a sign J. I loved that he helped me do the dishes, that he ate my rice krispy encrusted fish, that he understood when I was sick and was trying to be more budget conscious. And he was such a good, kind person and always treated everyone well. And he was so cute and could pick me up and swing me around, what a bonus! He would read out loud to me and with me (my favorite). He would read the scriptures, would hang out with my family and would take walks with me and talked to me. And he actually liked going shopping with me, or pretended to very well—something my own mother, family and friends would tire off after only 3 or 4 hours. What stamina! He was perfect. I loved the person he was, but moreover I LIKED the person he was and soon knew I wanted to be with him forever.

But also, I wanted to thank everyone who waited with me while I was waiting to find the right person. It wasn’t easy for me a lot of the time and sometimes I was sad, ornery and impatient J. I had a lot of family and good friends who stuck with me and cheered me up and onward when I was feeling disappointed. So, THANK-YOU to my family and friends for sticking by me and loving me and a big THANK-YOU to Jonathan’s family and friends for raising him so well and loving him, it made him into a person who was easy to love and be loved by.
 

And now, I owe you all another big thank-you for all the prayers and love and patience you’ve had with me since Jonathan’s death. It’s been difficult but how much harder it would have been without you. Thanks for the phone calls, visits, emails, the flowers, gifts, lunches, dinners, notes, laughs and “thinking of you’s” and again, especially the prayers. I’ve felt blessed. It’s been really, really, really appreciated. And I know Jonathan appreciates it too. J How lucky we were to be sealed. How much stronger my testimony is of God’s love for his children. That the Plan of Salvation is the Plan of Happiness. That Christ’s life, death and resurrection make it possible for Jonathan to be resurrected. I know this. I know that the only things that matter in life are our relationship with the Savior and our relationships with other people. How lucky we are.
 

Love you all,

Dawn Andrus Paine
 

P.S. Jonathan is definitely going to get me a great anniversary present this year! I just haven’t actually decided how good it’s going to be. J
 

And, there’s more! I decided to add the last entry Jonathan made in his journal. Just to end on a happy note.
 

Jonathan’s Journal: Fri 9-19-08
 

Today we had our wedding reception. It was billed as a “pre-wedding celebration” since Dawn isn’t good with staying on her feet all day and since she needs her rest, we divided it up into 2 days, and since we didn’t want to stick around after our wedding we did the reception first. We had tons of help. Kelly & my mom, Jo & Vicki, other friends & family, Jeff & Carolyn + kids were there (and will be tomorrow. It was all great. Well, I gotta get to bed because…

I’M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!!

Vicki here (editor of this blog and Jon's aunt)...I loved the poem that Jon wrote about his beloved and thought it appropriate to share it here again today:

A poem to Dawn….

No sunshine in my mourn
E’en though the sun was shining.
In darkness slept forlorn,
Morose, self pity pining.

Not til my afternoon
Did slumber turn awakening –
A stirring opportune
When, through clouds,
Dawn came breaking.

To Know & Love Jon...

...is to understand just how much he loved football.

He is--I'm sure--so chuffed that the Cougars beat Oklahoma last night!

And, this is the week...when the NFL season officially begins.

Jonathan's Testimony

From Jonathan’s Journal:

4-8-07

      I figure with it being Easter, I would take the time to bear my testimony of Jesus Christ. To whoever is reading this, I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He is the only begotten of the Father, the firstborn of the father (in the Spirit), the only one born of the Father in the flesh. He was conceived of a virgin by miraculous means approximately 2000 years ago in Bethlehem in the humblest of circumstances. At about 30 years old he started his ministry, organizing His church, working miracles, teaching the gospel. At 33 years old He, after living a perfect, sinless life, the only person to ever do this, he suffered for every sin that was and will be committed. He did this in the Garden of Gethsemane and it was almost unbearable; It would have been for a mere mortal, but he was the Son of God, and for that reason he came into the world. After such great suffering that he bled from His pores, He was arrested on false charges, humiliated, tortured, and crucified by being nailed to a cross. He died, was buried and then, three days later, rose from the dead, being the first to be resurrected (If I recall correctly). He did all this so that I can repent of my many sins, and so my body can be resurrected and perfected. He is my Savior, my Lord, and I love Him. I love Jesus Christ. If my writing is simple, and/or unrefined, don’t let that take away from the truth of what I’ve written. I know that I don’t know even close to all there is to know about Jesus, but I do know that He is my Savior.
 

Testimony of President Monson

4-6-08

By the way, I just want to testify that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God, that the Church is the one and only true Church of Jesus Christ; that He lives and would be my Savior if only I repent & endure to the end.

A Touching & Fun Email From "Roms," Jon's Mission Companion

Vicki,

   I found your blog online and wanted to let you know I’m sorry for your loss. I served my Mission with Jon. Jon and I were best friends on our missions and we served many adventures (he drew me a comic book of them I’ll have to scan for you). After our missions we kept in touch a little bit and he sent me a few letters but then we both got busy with life and lost touch. This last year (December, January) I felt a need to contact Jon and left many messages people but couldn’t find him or him number. Yesterday I started calling some of the missionaries who served with Jon to see if I could get his number. Finally I talked with Sister Julie Hopkins (Dever) who told me of his passing. I’m still in shock, he was a good friend.

   Please pass along my condolences to all of his loved ones. Jon was a great guy and a real character. I have some great stories I would love to share in the future. If you don’t mind me sending you (or other family members) some photos, drawings and other things from Jon I would be honored…

Take care,

Don “Roms” Romrell

Jon made a comic book of our adventures in the mission field. In this one The AP’s (Assistants’ to the President) were stopping by in the morning to drop some stuff for us. Jon hit the wrong button and we slept in… We laughed a lot about this later on…

Don also posted a fun comment under "Jon's Video for Tyrie & Kelson", so check that out, too.

Click on each page to view a larger version in a separate window:

        

   

From Dawn:

Hi All,

I loved Vicky's story. Thanks for that! And I thought I'd share my birthday memories of Jon last year.

He had a bishopric meeting till 9:30 or so, which meant we couldn't do dinner that night but I told him to come over afterwards and I'd have a treat for him. I made these chocolate cakelets (pictures attached) and decorated them like baseballs and baseball hats. He loved it. However, I'm not a milk drinker so I didn't have any milk on hand and we had to make pink lemonade for the festivities. He made do without saying a word and with much graciousness. :) And after we were married I even conceded to buying 2% on occasion, instead of the skim I usually bought. Although I was very tempted to water it down, but decided not to after his disbelief that I would even consider such a profanity.

But back to the birthday. I'd gotten him four small presents and I was going to give him 1 a day for 4 days just for fun.

Present #1
That night I gave him a pair of flipflops I'd gotten him. He was VERY, VERY opposed to flipflops and had expressed his adverse opinion of the type of guys he assumed wore them for fun. And that they were ONLY suitable if one were walking on the beach and we were NOWHERE near the beach. But because he came over to my place every night after work and it was summer time, he would get so hot and take off his shoes and socks as soon as he came over. It would take so long for him to put his shoes and socks back on every time we wanted to walk to the park or he needed to run out to his car or something that I kept cajoling him into buying a pair. But I figured he wouldn't refuse to wear them if I gave them to him as a present, right? :) So even though he wasn't super impressed with the present he wore them to appease me. BUT he was completely ridiculous and couldn't walk at all in them. I never knew walking in flip flops was a talent. But Jon did not posesss it. He did this really weird, huge frankenstein stagger in them, because he couldn't keep them on his feet. he would shuffle his legs along stiff-kneed with his arms outstretched like he was a blind man, (or Frankenstein) and because he was such a big guy he was a dead ringer for the creature. it was hilarious and i'd laugh like crazy whenever i watched him walk. we'd walk around the neighborhood in the evenings sometimes and he would pretend he was my "special" boyfriend and act like he had a mental handicap whenever we'd pass someone i knew, which was slightly embarrassing, but honestly, the way he walked did make him seem special. It was better than a movie.

Present #2
Oh and he'd be embarassed that i told you this, but if he's going to be rude and die first i figure, what the heck. :) i also got him some workout type shorts he could change into after work and hang out in at my place during the summer because i wouldn't let anyone use the air conditioning due to the expense and he would get so hot in his jeans. But my ulterior motive was that he could wear them for when i made him do yoga with me. which he did, to my delight and his complete discomfort---exactly two times i think.

Present #3
I also got him an electronic change jar that he could keep all his change in from the vending machine habit he had at work. I'm still trying to decide what to do with all of it.

Present #4
I can't remember the forth. Hmmm, I'll keep thinking...

Happy Birthday, Jon-Boy

Love,
Dawn

In honor of his birthday: Our Cat Benjamin Teaches Jon A Thing Or Two

Our cat, Benjamin, was one cool cat. And he was a very well behaved cat--for the most part. He never clawed furniture, would sit in my lap (with his back to me) while I did needlework and never play with the threads, and we never--truly never--found any evidence that he had jumped onto the kitchen counters or the dining table. (That's a picture of Benjamin on Jo's shoulder) He did, however, have a couple of specific character traits that made him very "interesting" to live with.

Jon liked him a lot and Benjamin honored him with his purring presence whenever he visited--which was not a treat that Benjamin dished out to everyone who came to our house. That cat recognized a gentle, fun-loving soul when he met one, that's for sure.

One summer, Pamela, Peter and Jon planned one of their annual trips to visit family and friends on the east coast. The plan was: while Peter was doing a round of business meetings, and Jo and I were house-sitting for friends on Nantucket, Pamela and Jon would fly into Newark, rent a car, stay over night at our house in Newton then drive to Pittsburgh and then return to Newton to meet up with us when we got back home. During all of our pre-trip planning chats, both Jo and I alerted Pamela and Jon to the fact that Benjamin the cat was used to our early morning natures--and that over the years living with him, he had become what one might call our alarm clock. I remember telling Pamela that if he started bothering them too early to just speak firmly to him and shut him out of the room.

I'm not sure I gave her fair enough warning as to just how loud Ben's voice was. Or...that Benjamin had very specific ideas about his feeding schedule--and felt it should not vary. Very early on in his life with us, Ben taught us that he meant business about his need for a specific routine: when we came downstairs one morning and found a new bag of cat food in the middle of the kitchen floor, torn open, and almost empty--we got the message. After that, we hid it in a high cupboard his paws could not reach...just in case we were late getting home in the evenings.

OK...back to our story about Pamela and Jon alone in our house with Benjamin the cat with strong opinions...

Once we were all reunited here in Newton, I asked Pamela if she and Jon had had any trouble with Benjamin during their overnight. I was dismayed to hear that Benjamin had let loose with his daily clarion call at 5 AM (which was 2AM for Pamela's California time) OK...so it's more accurately described as mighty and persistent yowling-- and that no amount of her scolding could shut him up.

Just as I was started to launch into my apology, Pamela shook her head and chuckled as she went on with her story: "But that's only half of the story," she said. "Jon and I got an early start on our drive to Pittsburgh. And, of course, being a growing boy he seemed hungry all the time. In no time he had finished off the few snacks in the car. Jon began pleading hunger and I kept putting him off, asking him to wait a few more miles..."

Pamela paused, to hold back a laugh, and then continued. "Pretty soon, Jon stopped pleading and I assumed he had settled down...but after a few quiet miles in the car, odd sounds started coming from Jon's side of the car. It was quiet at first...and it took me a moment to realize what he was doing:

Jon was meowing.

I chuckled and said, 'I promise we'll stop for lunch, in about half an hour.'

He meowed louder.

 I laughed and said, 'I promise, it won't be long.'

Jon only meowed louder, and louder...until he was yowling  just like Benjamin--with a big grin on his face!!...It was clear--just like Benjamin, he wasn't going to stop until he got some food. What could I do? I pulled off at the very next food exit."

That's Our Jon!

The Bimbledon Years

 As you can see, I've been rummaging around in old snapshot files and have found some more fun pictures....

Jon and I have always shared a passion for sports, including tennis. But there was one slight problem: neither one of us was good enough to make it fun to play. So, we decided badminton was our game. Jon was the one who dreamed up the idea of a tournament. It was summer, Wimbledon was fresh on our minds, and Jon's favorite tennis player was, of course, Boris Becker. Why do I say "of course?" Because Becker was the guy who literally dove for every shot--even on hard court surfaces--and Jon just thought was awesome cool. And, Becker was tall, blond and good looking.

It seemed just too plain boring to call it the badminton tournament, so one night around the dinner table it came to us: Bimbledon, the tournament of badminton champions --Badminton + Wimbledon = Bimbledon, both are lawn games, Jon was a Becker fan, I loved Chrissy...get it?. OK, OK. I'm sure I"ll hear the groaning from each and every one of you!

We had a trophy and everything. Jon and I played "for real" those first years...and then, just like Jon, he didn't want me to feel bad so he would make  sure  I won my "fair share" of games--even though he swore he never threw a game, I'm still not sure he didn't give me a few. And Jon, true champion that he was, always dove for the hard shots--not being  satisfied unless he ended the day with grass stains on his clothes. I think the last tournament we played was in San Jose (I brought my own racket on the plane with me) when Jo and I went out for his Mission Homecoming. And I won...and yes...I'm pretty darn sure he let me!

These photos are from 1987...the same year that Jon officially became taller than Jo and Vicki. Truth be told, the shot of Jo and Jon exaggerates the height difference for that year...but   that's OK. And yes, Jo presented the trophy to Jon, the champion that year, who is demonstrating the appropriate solemn expression for the occasion--just before we all broke into laughter.

If you click on either of the pictures, a larger version should open in a separate window.

Who, Me?

Ever the tease is our Jon. Kelly shares this anecdote:

Had dinner with an old friend the other night and had a flash on a Jon moment:

    For Shon's birthday one year we had several couples over for dinner and a game of cards.  Jon came over to entertain all of the little boys in the basement.  After dinner, we started to play our game and everyone had a rather slow first round.  It wasn't until we were talking while shuffling for the second round that we realized no one had played a wild card that round.  We started fanning through the cards and realized that all of the Aces and wild cards were missing.  A quick yell down to to Jon in the basement and we realized that he'd gotten us well!  While we ate he had gone through all the decks and removed the cards!!