I learned minutes ago that our beloved Jean has passed. My family had the good fortune to be her extended family over the last 16 years that she lived with my father Buck Newsom. She was the love of his life and has missed her terribly since these last three years. My brothers and I enjoyed so many good times with Jean and Dad during their visits to California and to the Rockies. Jean's humor, good nature, and true curiosity about people and what makes them tick remains with me. She was a great friend to my disabled older brother Skipper who joined her in hours of thrift shopping around Morristown. She left a lot of friends in Florida with whom she swam everyday and swapped books. While I always enjoyed her, we became closer after my mother died in 2000. WE both felt especially connected since she had lost a daughter my age, and I a mother her age. The last months I spent with her in Florida, she was struggling with the surreal events of Alzheimers. Whenever we hit a thing she couldn't quite understand we wrote it down in a notebook called the Mysteries of Sea Oaks. It was our Nancy Drew method of coping. I loved her very much and am grateful she no longer suffers the indignity of not having control over her life and choices. A cruel end to such an independently lived life. If you would like to send your condolences to Buck he can be reached c/o:
Ginny Newsom, POB 398, Driggs, ID 83422
