Farewell

Dear friends and family,

This will be my final entry for the foreseeable future. I post a few pictures of Janet here as I add a few last thoughts. This one is of us at an awards ceremony a few years ago.

It has been a week since Janet’s death. Over the last few days I have been receiving remarkable messages from people who knew Janet. Janet had a wonderful personality and she immediately endeared herself to everyone who met her. The outpouring of grief has been amazing. Many people were stunned and deeply affected by Janet’s sudden passing. I have been reduced to tears many times as I have read your messages, emails, and letters. I wanted to get some of these up onto this blog site, but there are too many. I thank all of you who sent them and the messages mean a lot to me. I will try to respond privately to as many as I can over the next weeks and months.

Please feel free to contact me by letter, email, or telephone in the coming weeks and months. If you think of an anecdote about Janet that you’d like to share, let me know. I can also pass it along to GW and Aleta.

Did you know that Janet was studying to beocme a fitness instructor? She worked out regularly with GW at Gold's gym and with gerson at the NIST gym. She was studying how to teach fitness and how to get certified.

Also, I mentioned that she had a new artistic endeavor: making decorated flash computer drives (aka thumbnail drives). These could be worn as pendants. She alos made matching beaded chains. If you would like to get one of these as a momento, contact our son G.W. at george.w.quinn@nist.gov
Or contact me, and I can pass the message along. G.W. has several dozen of these that Janet was going to sell and he may get more made.

Sometime in the fall, the Kismet dancers (Janet's troupe) may organize a special show or benefit in Janet's memory.

The next photo shows the urn that contains Janet's cremated ashes. It is a beautiful hand made ceramic piece from a local artisan. It is fitting that a ceramist should be in a ceramic urn.

I finish by quoting a message that Dr. V. Sundar, one of Janet’s dental friends, sent to me on June 19. He said:

“There’s an old saying by the poet saint Kabir from India….
“‘When I was born, the world laughed, and I cried. May I live a life so that when I go, I would laugh, and the world cries.’”
I think Janet’s that kind of lady.”

God bless you all and thank you so very much for supporting Janet, GW, Aleta and me through this ordeal. In the beginning of this blog, I said that Janet drew strength knowing that so many of you were supporting her and were monitoring the blog daily. That was true right up to the end.

Goodbye Janet. You were so beautiful and we will love you forever.

george quinn, sr.