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My �Nana�, Enriqueta Perez Godinez, was born in
Manila, Philippines in 1916. She was the oldest of 10
children, so she left school early to help maintain the
family. In 1934, she met my very tenacious
grandfather, my �Baba,� and after five years of
courtship they married.
Their first daughter, Margarita, died during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Legend has it that each night my Baba would dream of baby Margarita kissing him. Only when my mother, Lydia Margarita, was born in 1943, did the dreams stop. After the liberation of the Philippines, the family moved to the United States. This past January, family and friends from across the country came together in San Francisco to celebrate my Nana�s 90th birthday. The celebration included a video tribute to her life (from age 2 to 90) at a private movie theater. Of course she dozed off during the 35-minute presentation, but she lived it, so how interesting can watching it in two dimensions be after a heavy meal? Nana credits her longevity to prayer and the will to live, as well as lots of love and caring from her family. Indeed, she took care of a large family, survived war, endured the loss of a child, moved to a new country and learned a new language and, at 90, faces other challenges as well. And so my first tribute is to my Nana - Happy Birthday and here�s to 100! We are so grateful for your longevity, grace, caring and love.
The following presentations are available (turn up
your volume):
The high-res presentations require that you install the Photodex Presenter, but the quality improvement makes it well worth it. |
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I met Mike at the Berkeley dorms in 1988. He was a
Vice President of the campus Republicans. Not sure
how we became friends, but maybe I took pity on
the fact that he was typically outnumbered at
campus rallies by a hundred-to-one.
One thing is for sure: he stuck to his beliefs in the
face of overwhelming odds.
One of my earliest memories is of us playing paintball in the woods. See photo above (1988). He decided to camouflage his hat with a bush, until I pointed out that the bush around his head and neck was poison oak. In typical Mike good fortune, he never broke out in a rash. I would have, but then again, I would have known not to wrap my head in poison oak. With our groups of friends, we took skiing and gambling trips to Tahoe and camping trips, and then went onto farther-away places: Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and scariest of all, Canada. When I look back at my photo albums, there�s barely a year since 1988 that he and I were not off on some adventure somewhere. Many of my greatest travel memories are with him. During our first trip to Europe, we mentioned to a man with whom we were sharing a hostel room that we were from San Francisco. Later that night I woke up with the man standing over me asking if I "wanted some companionship." I politely declined, but �Do you want some companionship?� has been a running joke with Mike ever since. We slept in our rental car a couple of nights later, because I was chasing a Swedish girl, and forgot to get us a room before every place affordable sold out. Mike got his revenge in Amsterdam when he failed to reserve a bed for me at a hostel; I ended up sleeping on a bench in a bar. Mike is currently on a year-long around-the-world trip that so far has taken him to Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa (Cape Town), Italy (Rome), France (Paris), Singapore, India, Thailand and Myanmar, with more to come. I am grateful for his dependable friendship over the years and his inspiring sense of adventure to travel to some difficult parts of the world solo. Click for a sampling of photos from our 18 years of friendship. |
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I met Sophia in Bologna, Italy in 1996. She was just
20 years old studying for her Masters Degree. I was
impressed! We lived in the same part of Bologna and
became fast friends.
At the end of our year in Bologna, she studied in France while I returned to Stanford. In 1999, we met up again in Washington DC to complete our degrees. After we graduated, I headed to the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was one of the few friends to come visit me there. Then she headed off to Botswana, and despite my intention, I never visited her there. One day I received an email from her in Botswana. In typical Sophia terseness she wrote, �I have had a brain tumor removed and got married in the last few months!� I called her as soon as I could, and both were true. Sophia is back in the States now, continuing her battle against her resurgent brain tumor. She has endured chemotherapy and radiation and multiple surgeries. Her husband is a lovely, funny man who keeps her spirits high, although she has few complaints to begin with. She calls her treatments a mostly passive process. I am honored to have such a courageous fighter as a friend and pray for her recovery. I've collected some photos of our friendship over the years. Also, please sponsor me next weekend as I run/walk with Sophia in a benefit run to raise money for brain tumor research. PLEASE DONATE! |
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I met Heidi when I first moved to New York. Our
friendship is as unlikely as they come. We met on a
subway train and I gave her my card. She waited
nearly a month to call. After a few dates, she did
what any intelligent woman does: she stopped
returning my calls. A year passed during which we
had no contact. Then one day we met up again to
discuss a potential real estate deal. So began our
second-chance friendship.
Eventually, Heidi left New York and moved west, where she met a man and fell deeply in love. One day she called me to say they were getting married, and she wanted to come to New York and show him the big city. They would wed in Central Park: just the two of them, a minister, and would I be the witness. I told her I would be honored. Tivod and Heidi, both in their 20s, were married in New York's Central Park on Christmas Day 2004. It was as cold a day as I can remember in Central Park, but the tears of joy in Heidi�s eyes were truly heartwarming. We had dinner that evening, then she showed Tivod the big city for a few days and they returned west. Several months later she left me a barely audible voicemail: Something terrible has happened � call me! I called her. Tivod had died in his sleep of a prior condition. I flew out for the funeral, but could do little to help my crushed friend. Barely a month after the funeral, I received another call from Heidi. She asked me if I was sitting down. She had just found out she was pregnant with Tivod�s baby. In December, she had their daughter, also named Tivod in honor of dad. Heidi and Tivod senior had planned not to have children right away. When Heidi discovered she was pregnant with the last earthly part of her love, there was no question but that she would keep the baby. Ironically, Tivod junior may be not only the product of Tivod senior�s life, but also of his death. Although she misses her lost true love everyday, Heidi is an amazing mom and completely in love with her baby daughter. After all she�s been through, she deserved a miracle, and Tivod is as miraculous as they come. Click for some photos: |
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I wasn�t going to include anyone on this list for their
career choices, because let�s face it: in New York, a
lot of people are doing a lot of interesting things, and
I would not know where to start. But Jeremy
deserves to be treated differently.
I met Jeremy at my law firm several years ago. We also worked together on a pro bono assignment, and I could see the he had that rare combination of intellect, conviviality and leadership that made him partnership material in my book. We also attended each other�s parties (he DJs too). Last month, after completing the restructuring of Iraq�s debt, he gave up firm life to take up a position in Iraq as the U.S. Treasury Department�s Financial Attache� in Iraq, where he will work with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on financial, reconstruction, economic reform and institution-building issues and serve as the Treasury's representative. The message from colleagues has been uniformly schizophrenic: You�re crazy! Congratulations! Be careful please!!! My sentiments too. I wish my friend safety and security, apologize that I probably won�t be visiting while any members of my family are alive to excoriate me for doing so, and pray for a speedy return. Congratulations on a bold move. Click here for more on Jeremy. |
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Not that anyone mails me anything ever, but my new
address effective immediately is:
Jeff Jordan | 61 Lenox Ave. #2A | New York | NY | 10026 By the way, newcomers or people who missed Issue 6 will find it in the Archive. Until next time, Jeff |
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