Goodby Norma Jean

(Transferred from the old blog The Egan Initiative)

My Grandmother Norma Jean Barnes was laid to rest yesterday. I would like to share some of my fondest memories of her.

We didn't get to visit with Grandma too often while growing up. My family lives all over the US. Grandma Jean and Grandpa Larry lived in the Texas side of Texarkana. My earliest memory of her involves being in Wendover at the age of 3 before my sister was born. The memory is vague, though I sure remember the sounds and lights of the casino.

Years later when I was 12 we had a small family reunion of sorts at our house. The funnest part of the trip was when Grandma took us to the Sports Park for go cart racing. She kicked all of our butts! It is still funny in my mind to see her whipping around the corners. She had mentioned wanting to go bungee jumping but that never quite happened. ;)

For Thanksgiving in 2001 we all got together in Texarkana. She worked so hard at putting together a TON of food...so much we had a large buffet that could have easily fed the whole block. She made 28 pies! That made it almost 2 for each of us. Recently my sister was telling me how during Thanksgiving dinner she flashed everybody. I happened to miss this, though a few days after Thanksgiving she flashed me telling me that is what I have to look forward to when I get older, ha ha. She loved calling me & herself Dallas Cheerleaders because of our 'shape'. She told me her favorite photo of me was an image I got for my 21st birthday in which my face was imposed on a pro cheerleaders body.

She enjoyed music and dancing. While the whole family went bowling on that 2001 trip, she and I would dance on the walkway. I loved how she encouraged a fun and unique spirit.

Ryan and I stopped by to visit Grandma & Grandpa on our move from Utah to Florida in 2004. She loved cats and had the opportunity to meet my dear cat Morrissey. When Morrissey passed away just a few weeks later, she greatly helped me through it. Her last few years were plagued by pain & surgery after surgery. I am glad she no longer has to go through all of that and can be happy and at peace. I'm sure she is up there enjoying the company of Morrissey and my other recently passed cat Sneekers, whom she adored.

I enjoyed our conversations and her quirkiness. I will miss that.


Peace and love to you, Grandma Jean. We had some great times.

Farewell LOST

(Transferred from the old blog The Egan Initiative)

I am still emotional after watching the LOST series finale last night. I can best grasp it is from a combination of the actual events of the show, and that there will be no more. It is a period of mourning and of satisfaction...the last episode hit home that investing myself into this show has been more than worth it.

Anyone with some idea of the stories in Lost would immediately recognize that we are fans by the title of our blog, a reference to the Dharma initiative, a group of scientists that were on the Island in the 1970's.
I have found this to be no ordinary television series. I have witnessed LOST to be a perfect work of art, in the sense that the masterpiece it is allows each viewer to bring themselves into it for their own interpretation. They kept true with this theme from beginning to the end.

There was always the sense of wanting to know the answers to the questions posed by the show. For many of the episodes of the 6 seasons, each answer given only lead to more questions. As the show came to an end, many questions got some form of resolution. However, some of this resolution was gained by paying attention to the show all along. The show itself has become a mosaic on answers and questions, mimicking life in its existence. LOST is a mirror to humanity and spirituality. The end was a stunning and beautiful tribute to the conclusion of the answer that we may not know why or how, but that we exist, we live, we struggle, and we love.

LOST has become what I believe to be the greatest mythological story of our time. It holds up to Homer's Odyssey, the Hindu Vedas, the tales of the Torah and New Biblical Testament. It merged together ancient tales with modern viewpoints, some easily recognized as Biblical, Hindu, Atlantean, and Egyptian; references of modern science, philosophy, books, movies; along with ideas as mysterious as the Island itself. Since childhood I have been an avid reader of myths, legends, and religious beliefs from around the world. The writers of Lost incorporated so many of these into their tale, which I know is the primary reason why I got so deep into this series. I admit I did not have interest in the show for the first season as it was marketed as a drama version of "Survivor", then word of mouth came out that it was nothing like people expected. When Kenna was a newborn and would wake up in the middle of the night, I needed something to help me stay awake along side her. I rented the first season of Lost and was instantly hooked. The quality of the acting, writing, and directing matched those of outstanding movies. I soon had any family and friend I could get to watch it sit down with me and enjoy the show, piecing it together and trying to come up with the answers before they were revealed (if they ever were revealed)

In the course of the next few years we were introduced to characters in such a deep level that many of us fans felt like they were a part of us, that we knew them. Some of them we identified with, some we loved, others we loved to hate. The show was so well executed that the surprises given were rarely if ever predictable. Like life itself, it took us for a ride...some enjoyed it for the whole turn, others deciding to get off halfway through.... and I can say that the ride payed off in a way I could have only hoped. I will greatly miss our Lost nights, but I am so happy to have been able to be a part of this and experience this story in a way that only modern technology could bring it to us.

I am in awe of the culmination of the message of the show, of eternity, love, free will, and fate. LOST is a gift of which I will be forever grateful.