I am so honored to announce Epic Memorials' first honoree! A few days before our public launch I was contacted by the wife of Bellingham's longest serving fire captain, John Kunnap. Since our first meeting, John's wife Lydia and I have been working together on creating what is going to be a truly epic celebration of life for her larger-than-life, unique character of a husband. John was a man with a never ending sense of humor who in his off time could be found at Vancouver's Wreck (nude) Beach, working on his Firehouse Salsa business or planning his and Lydia's next trek to Burning Man. How fortunate am I to have such a dynamic man as the focus of my first gig? Naturally we are creating a celebration around a fire theme- and for now, I'm not going to tell you much more than that! You will see what we come up with when I share the details after the October 12th celebration. What I can tell you is I am enjoying the hell out of doing this work. Not only do I get to put my creative mind and organizational skills to work, I am the person who relieves Lydia of having to deal with SO many details - and I've even had the opportunity to be a source of comfort and guidance through her early stages of grieving her husband. Last week I found myself seated around a table at the yacht club with about 20 retired firefighters who had gathered for their monthly coffee meeting/bullshit session.Somewhere in the middle of the three hours I spent there, a voice in my head said "I am exactly where I am supposed to be." It has been a very long time since I have felt that innate sense of belonging and purpose and it feels great.
