So many of you have reached out to me, Yuuki and Ayumi. I am so grateful for the love and care that has sustained us. Yuuki and Ayumi are showing their appreciation by gaining weight at a healthy pace. Yuuki gained a pound in one week and is well over 6lbs. Ayumi is inching towards heavy weight status as she nears 8lbs.

Hope to see you next week.

Wayne, Chris, Judy, Tommy, Elaine and Christina shared memories that captured the rich life Joannie lived and the many ways in which they loved her. And Bobert reminded us all of Joannie’s persistence and desire to have children. He also rendered the video unwatchable for those under 18–Joannie would have approved.

Around the same time as the Brooklyn event, Joannie’s friends from the Kauai Paradise Ride held a pre-ride dinner in honor of Joannie. Joannie loved the ride and how it brought people together. In rough times, we remembered the shave ice, oxtail soup from Kapiolani Coffee shop, ribs from Helena’s, the beach and her extended family in Hawai’i. In that spirit, Angela sang the Big IZ rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a song we listened to driving to the beach from Honolulu and in Oakland when we wanted to conjure aloha spirits.

On the press side, thanks to Bob, Suyin, Elaine, Judy, Donna and Bob Egelko, The SF Chronicle, usually good for Bad Reporter and not much else, ran a tribute a tribute to Joannie. The link is here.

The Chinese language press has also published articles–Daily Journal and Sing Tao. Portia Li of the World Journal–Joannie and my favorite Chinese language reporter, is planning a longer piece about our work together in the Bay Area.

So many of you have commented on this blog, shared memories, cards, photos and funnies. I apologize I have not yet responded and thanked each of you individually. But every memory big and small is special and will be shared with Apple and Bacon.

The wonder crew is spearheading plans for a Bay Area memorial at the end of August. Stay tuned for details.

*Many people commented on the great picture of Joannie, Jack and Stinks. Photo credits go to our friend Bob Hsiang.

I’m going to watch this with friends later tonight, but think Joannie would have liked this. Joannie had the opportunity to work with David, David and Eric in different professional capacities. But what she was most interested in was urging David Campos to figure out a way Winston, his beloved bulldog, could come to work with him every day. I’m sure the tribute was lovely, but I can still hear Joannie, “David! You’re a Supervisor! There has to be a way you can bring Winston to work!”

The tribute is available online here:
http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=10&clip_id=10515

53 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY 11215-2693

http://www.bsec.org/901.html

Thank you.

53 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY 11215-2693
http://www.bsec.org/901.html

I continue to be overwhelmed by the love, laughter and memories you are all sharing. It makes each hour possible.

Please help me circulate this to Joannie’s NY and East Coast peoples.

peace and much love,
Luna

Since Joannie was diagnosed with cancer 7 weeks ago, she fought with the combination of grace and grit we all admire. Even in her most pain filled moments, she continued to take care of me and those caring for her. And there were and are so many people caring for her that her days were full of bright love light.

Life is full of moments that offer us opportunities to give and receive love and care. Joannie seized those opportunities in so many ways every single day– whether she was was bringing friends together for a BBQ or camping trip, riding her bike countless times around the hilly islands of Hawai’i to raise money for HIV/AIDS services, toting Jack around to protests and the countless community meetings she participated in, fighting for low-wage workers’ rights and access to health care–I know each of you have countless such memories. During this terrible time, all of that love and care Joannie gave in her life came back to support her. She passed knowing that we all love her so much. She also gave me the gift of bringing together our community to help me care for her and to get me through the hard days ahead. She, of course, also gave us Yuuki and Ayumi, our babies who are already showing us the way forward.

Since Joannie touched so many of us so deeply, it doesn’t feel right to say that she has passed, or that we are now sending her off. After so many weeks in the hospital, the antithesis of Home, I feel like we are finally welcoming her home and embracing Joannie, allowing our memories of and love for her to bring us together and to keep her spirit with us. This is devastating, but I know she would have wanted us to celebrate, listen to music, eat, laugh and be together. In that spirit, there will be two memorial services for Joannie–one later this week in New York and another later this month in the Bay Area.

Please feel free to share your memories of Joannie in the comments below.

Upon arrival, Joannie fed Apple and that mini-baby sucked down a whole 50cc/2oz bottle. That may seem tiny to you, but if you consider she weighed 4lbs 5oz that day…my brain is too addled to provide a proportion, but you get the point.

Steven is both a surgeon and father to four unbelievably cute kids. So not only did he help translate hospitalese, he showed us how swaddle, build crib boundaries, and apply diaper rash cream. He also demonstrated the ultimate parenting move–The Crotch Sniff. Hmm, I suppose this is one way to check for a dirty diaper…

Sadly and most unfortunate for Apple, Joannie had to remain in the hospital while the rest of us made our way back to Brooklyn. Elaine, Bob and I (yes, it required three full-grown adults) fed, changed and swaddled Apple. We got an A+ for effort, but compared to the NICU nurses, we were the 3 Stooges those first nights. Apple lay in her crib and shot us a look that could only mean, “what happened to the expert care I was receiving?”

Elaine inspected our swaddling technique and announced, “I bet she’s going to bust out of that thing in a minute.” Next thing you know Apple has her hands in the air and heeeeey, hoooo!!!

Apple is eager for Mommy and Bacon to get home, but she was the patient star of Amateur Hour that first night. She’s been easing her parents and family into preemie rhythms and after multiple viewings of the How to Care for Your Newborn DVD and more time in the NICU with Yuuki, we are confident we will Not Break the Baby. Aside from distressing Bob with a barrage of poo and pee her second day home, she’s been a mellow baby/alarm clock sleeping and eating every 3 hours. She also did us a favor and gained 7 oz in 4 days–as of last Thursday, she weighted 4 lbs 12 oz. I think we may have earned Gold Stars.

Yuuki is now eating from a bottle. She is 4 lbs 5 oz and passed her hearing and eye exams. She moved into an open air crib and will come home Friday–Bonklet party, bring it!

Apple has made a couple of visits to the hospital, but it’s definitely not the same as having Joannie home. Joannie’s been sleeping with a swaddle and some onesies so Apple can smell her Mommy. Ideas for how we can ease the separation are most welcome!

*Amazing how one week can bring so many changes. Will really, really post more from iphone this week. Promise. And Team Chang-Yasui of the Bay Area has generously provided the means for…video updates. Oh beware of Bonklet overdose…