I met Jeannie at her college graduation as a friend of my sister, Ruth. I remember hanging out with her and Ruth in an outdoor cafe in Hoolihan's in suburban MD. She was the most entertaining person and I loved to hear her self-deprecating comparions of herself to her beautiful sister, Grace. I never met Grace, but Jeannie could paint stories that were just so fun to hear, to watch her tell and to laugh at. I think Jeannie could have been a comedian. If there was ever a person that to know is to love, it was Jeannie. I went to New York City with some hairdresser friends in 1991 and while the hairdressers were going to a convention, I had the day to myself. Ruth gave me Jeannie's phone number and I thought we should go to the Empire State Building, but she let me know, Oh no, we need to go to the Twin Towers. They are much higher than the Empire State Building. I have Jeannie to thank for having experienced something that is no more. A few hours with her and to a place that is part of World history, really. I was always fascinated with her because she loved life and people and food so much. I really didn't know her that well, but since she was an open book, you felt so included being with her. I feel very lucky to have known Jeannie. She lived her life fully and that is something I truly admire her for.

I must have attended at least 4 or 5 weddings as Jeannie's "Date", whether planned in advance, or we just paired up at the Wedding, being good friends showing up as stags for the party to be had. The weddings included her brother Andrew's, Kevin Vogel, Tommy Tung's and I am sure a few others of mutual friends from college. One of the most fun nights to be had was due to John Berner's score of a dozen invites to one of the many Inaugural Balls, held in DC for Bill Clinton. We all got to go to one "environmental Ball", where Al Gore was in attendance (at least for part of it). Jeannie loved big gala events, whether weddings, balls of importance, or simply a Night at the Opera. 

Every conversation with Jeannie included plans--not just what we'd do that day, but for later in the week, for sometime in the future, little plans, big plans. She was a woman who never doubted that her life would be long and productive, and full of caring and love -- for her sister, her niece and nephew, her extended family, and her uncountable number of friends.

Jeannie was the strongest, most genuine and most generous person I've ever met. She never failed to make friends everywhere she went -- not simply because she was, of course, a lovely person, but because she was interested, she could connect.

She could strike up conversations with anyone because she really was curious to learn about you, she really was engaged with what you had to say. And beyond that, she made the effort to keep in touch--and not just in a casual Facebook way. Jeannie has friends who love her around the world.

When Jeannie decided she wanted to do something, she just did it, no matter how how long it took or what anyone else said. I met Jeannie at a gym on 23rd St, many years ago. (She was wearing a Long Beach t-shirt and we struck up a conversation, which lead to going to the beach together and much more.) For her, what started as a vague effort to keep fit developed into marathons. I don't know why I found that so amazing -- this is, after all, a woman whose idea of a vacation was to hike across England, or travel to Haiti to help out at an orphanage.

Still, some of my favorite memories of Jeannie are of lazy days at Long Beach, where she'd "plunk" herself down in her beach chair and snooze and read and eat and chat all day.

And that's how I want to remember Jean: a perfect endless summer day at the beach.

Jeannie, you were an amazing friend, mentor, and colleague. I still can't believe I won't be able to laugh, drink wine, and eat amazing food with you ever again. My only comfort is knowing you always lived life to the fullest, touching everyone you met along the way. You were a confident, independent woman who beats to her own drum. As we said, that's hard for an Italian woman coming from a traditional Italian family. But, you did it with such grace, love, and confidence. You truly inspire me to continue to beat to my own drum, no matter how difficult it can be. I admire this and so many other qualities about you. I will be lucky if, one day, I grow and become a woman as amazing as you. Cheers to you Jeannie.

We always loved having Jean over for a family meal at our house. She loved my husband's Joe's cooking, and she was always an animated and fun guest at our dinner table. My kids loved her, and it was part of the routine that we would pick her up at the LIRR train station early in the day, do something fun with her, like go to the beach, a park, or come to our house just to catch up and have fun, and then after a family dinner, I would drive her back to the LIRR so she could get back to the city. She even joined us a couple of summers ago on my son Noah's 9th birthday. Our family went out on a boat, and we went fishing for the day. I remember how much Jean enjoyed the fun, the sun, and the ocean. She was always up for any adventure, big or small, and had a great attitidue about life. We met when we both worked at the Neurological Instittute at Columbia in 1989. More than 20 years of a great frienship, including hanging out in Manhattan in the late '80's and early 90's, traveling to DC together, and enjoying the beach on Long Island. My family and I will miss her terribly.

Jeannie was forever keeping herself safe.....and in ways no one else would think of...one weekend when I had spent the night at her apt she needed to change the battery on her smoke detector attached to her very high ceiling...I had to hold the ladder for her and guard her with my life so she told me while she was on the ladder...so she didn't fall and end up a quadriplegic.  She told me that if she needed to change the battery when she was alone she would call Bob Furno and he would stay on the phone with her until she climbed up the ladder and down so if she fell she could scream and Bob could get to her in a hurry....yeah right, 4 subways and a cab and three hours later to save her!!!  That's a Jeannie story, right?  God love her always!

I shared Jeannie with all my friends over the years.  I always joked with her that she collected people the way others collected stamps or spoons.  When Jeannie decided to go to India we decided it would take a village to wish her a bon voyage.  I hosted a soiree at my house and all my friends who over the years had become Jeannie’s friends gave her a send off.   We laughed and cried over what seemed like a very long time for Jeannie to be out of the country. 

We gave a gallant heartfelt send off and then over the months all enjoyed the pictures and stories of elephants on the road, Jeannie blazing a new trail for women - running at dawn, crazy drivers, her security detail, chef and the incredible good she did while she was there. 

Upon her return the same group got together. Jeannie brought us all presents from India – a beautiful egg.  She was so thoughtful and had a way of making everyone feel special.  I mean how could she have managed to bring everyone a present when she had precious little room in her luggage, but that was Jeannie!  Everyone was special.

Jeannie - I already miss the tale of your next great adventure. 

I will miss Jeannie allot.   One of the things I will remember fondly is always getting an email on St. Joseph’s day.    When she visited Christine and I soon after that day she would tug on my ear and bring me St. Joseph’s pastries.  I shared with her that my mom used to tug on my ear too.  From the day I met her, each year without fail – even when I didn’t remember the date the first email of the day would be “Happy St. Joseph’s Day”. 

While Christine has known her forever – I cant imagine her not being around for our summer bbq’s or weekends at the beach.  We used to love to talk “Rangers hockey” and going to a game one night, as Christine would roll her eyes. 

Jeannie I will miss you! 

For those of you who have known Jeannie a long time you may recall her short lived "blue hair" period.  I believe my son Matt was around 6 at this point and my daughter Alli was 4.  This would have been summer around 14-15 years ago.  My kids and their friends all of whom knew Jeannie, as she spent many a beach day with our crowd, got the biggest kick out of the blue hair.  

Jeannie being Jeannie decided it was fun but too expensive to continue as she cut her hair about "every 20 seconds".  She was "done" with blue hair.  My children though wanted to come to the rescue and got it into their heads they would "paint Jeannie's hair blue".  While I protested about the crazy idea, Jeannie calmly sat in a lounge chair in my backyard while my children giggling uncontrollably ran to get their blue poster paint.  They proceeded to literally paint her hair royal blue while Jeannie laughed at their ingenuity and got into the spirit of the young hair stylists at work.  
 

The tales of this event reached "the beach" the next weekend where Jeannie succumbed to another hair painting event by a crowd of 4, 5 and 6 year olds on the sand.   They laughed and cheered about their final product; Jeannie with blue hair!

It's a great family and friend memory that we end up retelling in Jeannie's company at least once a year. To this day we chuckle allot and it brings a huge smile to all our faces.  

In August when Jeannie was up to our house for a BBQ,she had a bus to catch the next day at 1:30PM and we had time to kill so we stopped at the local thrift shop......we meandered our way through the kitchenware area and she noticed a mini crock pot...she said "what da ya think about this small crock pot?"  What would I make in it....I said anything and everything.....it's a one stop cook!   She said "I have too much stuff to take home on the bus" (I had given her a lot of food to take home from the night before) so she proceeded to buy an old used backpack and the crock pot and put it into the backpack...she couldn't be happier that she was going to be able to cook herself something without having to use 20 pots and pans...she was in her glory!!

We love you Jeannie always and forever....I miss you already...your sense of humor, friendship and love you gave me and my family for all the years will never be forgotten......may you rest in peace with your mom in heaven!!! 
xoxoxo Lisa 

In December 2009, I registered on Facebook. I thought I'd take a try at finding my long lost cousins from Long Island. Our fathers are brothers, and due to something I don't care about, they have not spoken in over 30 years. I found Andrew, and he told Grace & Jeannie. Jeannie was only a state away in NYC! Grace was in Italy, Andrew in GA. Jeannie & I began emailing eachother, comparing our fathers, telling each other about our siblings, cracking jokes, and planning a reunion. In Feb 2010, Jeannie took the train to Fairfield and we went to my sister Janet's house. These are Denaro's, so imagine the food! Jeannie was totally digging this, as you can imagine. She was delighted to have found family. At one point, I took a step back and realized how LOUD it was in the kitchen. Jeannie, my brother Louis, Prasama his wife, Janet, her husband Don, and Janet's girl,s Lucy & Grace, and myself. My brother Louis made our Grandma Grace's  chicken caccaitore. Jeannie tasted it, teared up, put her head on my brother's shoulder, and told him that this is what Rosanna would make her every year for her birthday. Jeannie went back to NYC with a bag full of my bread, beef braciole, caccaitore, and God knows what else. Whenver she would come up, she would go back home with a bag of food, she said, to feast on all week. One weekend the two of us were faced with half a leftover carrot cake. Well, we just HAD to eat it, it would be a crime for it to be wasted! Once I picked her up at New Haven station, and we had drinks and dinner. Louis has a little speedboat on Lake Zoar, and he put Jeannie in a big tube, and she was totally game to be dragged around the lake, bouncing over wakes, laughing the whole time. This summer, Megan and her friend joined the boating party, with sandwiches we all made and a birthday cake for Prasama. Jeannie and I have the same sense of humor; we would make jokes back and forth. Her rule when she was in the hospital was, "I can make you laugh, but no jokes from you. You can't make me laugh because it will hurt". We have had such a great  connection, after far too long, for too short a time. This is a time in my life I will truly treasure. I will miss you, cousin.

In April of this year, I was able to fly to New York (on UNC's bill) for a conference in Times Square.  It was right before finals so it had to be a quick trip.  My flight in the morning was out of LaGuardia at 6am.  We called a car to pick me up outside of her apartment at 4:30am.  The plan was that she would say goodbye as I went out the door.  Well, long story short, I didn't hear the alarm but I did wake up to the ringing of my phone at 4:40.  As if I weren't panicked enough, the driver started yelling at me to hurry up.  Jeannie asked why I was upset, and I explained that the driver was being mean.  Well, she marched right down the steps in her pajamas and told that driver off!  Leave it to Jeannie to defend her flock.  I'll always laugh when I think about how she yelled at a New York cabman for being mean. 

My mom, Jeannie's college roommate and close friend, surprised me on my 8th birthday with a trip to NYC.  It was my first time in New York and Jeannie showed us a wonderful time.  I suppose the gift was a little too big for my head because I spent the second day being a bit of a brat about everything.  My mom reprimanded me that evening telling me that even Jeannie thought I was being bratty!  Well let me tell you, I was so embarrassed that I snapped right out of it.  In fact, that conversation was one of the most vivid memories I had from that trip.  Well, that and the huge Italian meal Mrs. Denaro made for me on my birthday! 

I ran my first marathon for a variety of reasons, but one reason that stands out today is that I thought that Jeannie would be proud of me for running it.  She would probably laugh and say that I did it because I knew that if old Jeannie could do it, this young 19-year-old could too.  Jeannie--one day I will run the NYC Marathon in your memory, just as you did for your mother.   Grace, it would be an honor if I could have one of her racing jerseys.

Jeannie, I miss you and love you.  You touched more people than any of us know.