Lovell family, c. 1999

Couldn't resist sharing this older photo, with refrains of Psalm 68 as I post it. We're perhaps a tad rueful with three kids now away at school--this photo a touchstone to realize growth, hope, God's mercy...

‘Back out of all this now too much for us….’

The trouble with all of this—this grief and this acquiescence to its too-sudden reality--is that Antoine de Lassence was simply an absolute treasure to know, and that nothing (and least of all, words like these), nothing can really help to capture or restore that lustre he brought to our lives.

At this seemingly unbearable moment, words only suffice as feeble tokens of both our brokenness in that loss, as well as our wonderment in the beauty that Antoine really brought to life, to the lives of those who knew him--passionate, charming, engaging, magnanimous, bemused and enigmatic at times. He always seemed to relish experience upon experience, further making this loss so unbearably arresting, this grief so bitter.

And so I must at this moment, stand with family and community friends and force out these thin, paltry words in this most inadequate fashion—to at least thank God—of all creation and every mercy—for Antoine, for the joy it is to have known him and his dear family in Paris—our own family loved him so very much. There have been so many tears—truly our only comfort is that he is enfolded in the arms of his loving God. We miss him terribly—we will all love him forever, now and when we're together again.


Antoine, Matt Lyon, Tra Tran

26th Anniversary: For Allison

Itinerary
Not so long ago we two met--so far flung
from our first homes and our first hearts,
rose-bowl boy and dust-bowl girl spun round
in all new splendors, salt marsh grass, moonlit surf—
we kissed and loved forever. We lay that night on granite,
Squam Rock high above beach plum, salt spray—our talk rising
like your lips when we kissed. We sang out our songs full-throated
that night--our love cascaded: lullabies, mother’s milk, whispering hush--
school bus mornings, college loans. Together we two
have loved forever together for years now—hospital halls, the roses
of the nursing home in toddler's hands, memorials, Wisconsin nights,
the roustabout churn of the Mississippi, humid Houston table talk,
Oklahoma bloodlines. We’ve known true heaven in glimpses:
the Los Angeles coliseum, an OKC youth group, a West Gloucester sanctuary,
our Rockport seaside—God’s love there kissed us forever. Your arms are my solace-
I will love you forever, fully and forever enfolded together in God’s arms.

Sundry stuff

A hurried posting of older family photos--Allison, the kids, grandparents--I promised last year after the funeral that I'd post some of Grandpa golfing--well, here's finally one at last...



And here's Allison twenty-odd years ago after swimming 100 laps for a charity fundraiser at the Glendale Y--congratulated with an embrace from my dad, proud as punch.



Another from some Pleistocene past: Allison appraising some slouching rogue at the Topsfield fair...



And here's a video wisp of our time in Yosemite three years ago...

Amazing Grace

Last night we celebrated son Sean's 22nd birthday--March 8th. We drove to Salem to see the film Amazing Grace, and ate a late dinner afterwards. Here are some photos that Jessie took--the birthday boy, Cam & Kim with Allison in the background, Robbie w/Dad. Little brother Robin (nonplussed by the movie) nearly fell asleep in the theatre as we prepared to leave...!






...And from earlier in the week, the photographer Jessie and one of her shots of the beach across the street...





Little Robbie wrote the following snippet in brother Sean's birthday card. (By way of context I suppose it helps to know that Sean has a heart for VN and spent two entire summers in Hanoi, learning the language at the university there. At one point in the past few weeks, Cameron and Sean jokingly hatched some money-making scheme that involved buying a factory in VN.) Brother Robin wrote:

"Seany, you are the bomdiggedy bombedy-diggity-bomb. You really have a way with words--unlike me. And I just wanted to say that as you get older, I'll always be by your side. When you go through hard times, I'll cry with you. When you are having a good time, I'll laugh with you...but when it comes to that factory in Vietnam, I'll be sitting in my apartment in a skyscraper with my babe and laugh at you when you get arrested. Happy 22nd Birthday! Love, Robin."

A Few Video Clips

The kids have thrown together a few music video clips--and though the technical qualities vary, they capture bits of our lives we're happy to share with many of our family members and friends far away.

In this video, Jessie writes: "my family is so talented- here is Sean, Mom, and Jessie singing this beautiful hymn, accompanied by Jessie on piano. Photos and video clips play in background."



Jessie again, here singing some Joni Mitchell songs, writing: "I can't do it as well as she did, but here's me giving it a try. Also, at the end is a little ditty of mine. Enjoy :)"



And here are some carols from Christmas, 2006:

Stu Hackett and the Nashville West

A blast from the past--a photo of a band I was once in: Stu Hackett and the Nashville West. The band was enormous fun and enthusiastic--Stu a magnificent man and stellar philosopher--driven by love for God. Stu and Joan had a home that to my mind was always warm and open to us--our practices seemed to include homemade cookies most the time. As Johnny Cash (Stu's favorite) once wrote: "Where are your mountains to match some men?"