memories of jim stauss

 
Here are some photos of Jim that i took over the past couple of years and a slideshow of the Mundells from November 2007.
 
[update]
slideshow of photos from Jim’s memorial service.
and also the slideshow of scanned photos shown at the memorial service.
 


Jim passed on this morning from complications related to CBD, a neurological disorder resulting in brain atrophy.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with him a few times over the past year.
His words were truncated and his sentences delivered with great difficulty but still he managed to communicate some deeply moving things to me.
On one occasion were driving up on Coyote road looking at the tea fire damage, Jim had been trying to tell me about Jade (his daughter). It had taken him more than ten minutes to say “I love her… I love her” and then, clear as day he blurts out “I’ll never forget that!”
The painful irony was heartbreaking.

Jim liked to eat and drink. A lot. We were in Starbucks and, as usual, he was devouring a pastry and mixing it up with some black coffee when he noticed a Frank Sinatra song playing. His eyes lit up and he gesticulated, smiling at the ceiling and then at me but it was taking me too long to understand so he broke into song. Loudly. For several seconds he blissfully sang along – no words, just sounds – before he embarrassingly stopped, looked around and went back to the pastry.
That was a wonderful carefree moment and, i believe, exactly what he is doing right now.

2 Comments

  1. Greg

    I look at these images almost daily. They give me great comfort and though bittersweet – they make me smile. What a gift you have given us. I will forever be grateful for your talent and your friendship with Jim that make these images so poignant.

    Trace

  2. great pix greg!