Rest in peace, Tricia.
I share your sadness in the loss of our friend, Tricia. She will be missed.
Lately, I had been thinking about my friends here at Cusack 101. Last weekend I was on a walking tour of a college campus with my daughter in Boston. Touring the Art Department buildings brought us by the spot where she and I saw John Cusack back in 2004. I pointed the spot out to her and my mind went to all of you here. Of course, I thought of Tricia and Jenny and others who had similar fan moments -brief but exciting- and described on this board in crazy-fun detail! I told myself to remember during the week to look in on Cusack101 and find out what was new here. I came to this board on Tuesday but was in too much shock to respond right away. I thought back 3 weeks ago to Mr.JAM’s birthday when I sent a silent birthday wish out to Tricia (they share the same birthday), hoping she was enjoying her day. She passed away two days later? It’s hard to swallow that fact. Thoughts of her are of someone full of life.
Now I look on this board and still see a few of Tricia’s posts. One thing she hoped for was that Molly could keep this board. I’m glad it’s still here. Although the draw isn’t as strong as it was in its day, it always brings a good feeling to run across the ol’ friends’ hit and run messages and to see that new fans are still finding their way here. Though I’m sure it’s as disconcerting to everyone else as it is to me to find huge patches of the board filled with a running incomprehensible monologue… hey, we could brighten the place up a bit… We could each take some time to describe what’s going on with us lately or something?
Tricia made lots of collage-type pictures for this board. If any of you still have them, maybe you could post them or put them someplace for us to see again. Also, there were a couple of her paintings that she posted here. I think I may have saved them but I don’t know if I can retrieve them since they’re probably mixed in with my personal photos on an old computer. I know there are other paintings of hers at other places on the internet. Thank you, Julia, for posting the “When angels sing.. flowers bloom” one. I’ve set it to be my desktop for the spring. This week, spring flowers are just starting to bloom here in the northeast and when I look upon them, I’m thinking of Tricia. I force myself to hold her happy thought that it means angels are singing. I envision her happy paintings, the colors, and her spirit. I’ve never lost a friend that I hadn’t met before, but it just strengthens my feeling that our greatest legacy is what we leave of ourselves with other people. If anyone has a photo of Tricia that they’d like to share here or in email, I’d like that. I’m praying for her, and even more, for her close friends and her family. It’s painful to think of her children losing their mother and of her mother, losing her daughter.
I thought it was unusual that Tricia didn’t pop in here after the election and the inauguration of our new President. She and I had exchanged email back at the end of July with hope and excitement about the future. I hope she knew Barack Obama was elected and I believe even if she didn’t know, she does now, and more flowers bloom.
Rest in peace, Tricia.
Friends of Cusack 101, I send a hug to each of you.
Love, JAM