Though your smile is gone forever,
and your hand we cannot touch,
we still have happy memories
of one we loved so much.
Your memory is our keepsake,
with which we'll never part,
God has you in his keeping,
we have you in our hearts--
Sadly missed, but NEVER forgotten.

The story of this photo is that Dad worked at Spring Lake Country Club in Sea Girt, NJ during the summer of his sophmore year at Lafayette.  A fraternity brother had a special connection.  Dad and his friend were managing the car garage.  The club was quite nice and the cars were large so they had to park them so close to each other that in order to get out of the garage they had to climb through the cars.  Dad got a great workout every day and also played quite a bit of golf, I imagine, to get a nice tan as well.  He is at the beach with his older brother, Bud, and his two children Susie and Buddy.  What a wonderful photo given to us by Susie!

On Father's Day, I’m remembering my treasured "little" brother, Tom. I'm so sorry for our loss. I always felt close to Tom and his family despite, in later years, living so far apart. How I love the pictures taken of him, as a toddler playing with a huge ball. He was so adorable! Fond memories of playing tennis with Tom, taking a month-long trip to California with him and my folks, knowing that he cared enough that I could count on his being loving and supportive, and my being so proud of his character and many accomplishments (including the uncomplaining manner in which he coped for so many years with his first frustrating stroke).

I have so many good memories of my "little" brother, Tom, included in this website--a brother whom I feel blessed to have had throughout my life, beginning with the much-anticipated night when (being just 5 years old) I'd been allowed to "stay up" with my grandma to greet Mom when she arrived home from the hospital carrying a basket that she set down on a chair in our dining room, and then unfolded some blankets inside to reveal my first glimpse of an awesome baby brother with an adorable face and  being impressed with how tiny his hands and feet were! Little did I realize then that he would eventually grow to tower over me and take me on in tennis. We all miss him so much, but keep in mind that his memory and spirit lives on through his wonderful family whom I cherish.

One of my favorite memories, also my earliest, of Uncle Tom is being in his home office in the house in Short Hills.  The room was filled with speakers, gauges and wires for his acoustic research.  I was in awe as he tried to explain this “stuff” to me.  All I could think was he must be a genius!  Thanks for the memories Uncle Tom.

We had the best time with the whole family visting Wendy and her new home in Vinalhaven, Maine.  These scenes are from a lobster boat trip we took that Wendy organized hosted by a terrific born and bred Maine lobsterman.  The vistas were beautiful and we were able to keep some of our catch for an amazing lobster dinner.  We had all the trimmings including fresh corn on the cob that night.

Here we are visiting Wendy up in Warren and Sugarbush, Vermont.  James has just been born so he is only 6 months old.  I remember making the journey up to the hotel condo and leaving James with Mom and Dad just to go do some food shopping and James got very vocal about us leaving.  Dad left a message on my cell to please come back since James was not too happy and getting louder!  I love the last scene where he is listening to Pachelbel, nodding his head and James is bouncing along as well. 

In this video we had recently combined two condos in Boston and we finally had a formal dining room when Mom and Dad came to visit for Christmas.  We served a goose which we thought would be a great historic idea but there was so little meat we ended up with massive amounts of stuffing and mashed potatoes to fill us up :-).  We did have the traditional flaming plum pudding with Mom's recipe for lemon sauce and of course yummy hard sauce.

This was such a special time for me and to share it with my Dad was so wonderful.  We rode a horse and carriage from my grandma's home a short way to the church.  He really had a great time and said he had never riden in a horse and carriage before.  He gave a heartfelt speech at the wedding about Andrew and I created another branch on the McKay family tree which was so touching.  I also loved dancing with him to "I'll Take Manhattan" as we didn't often get the chance.  I chose the song since I had such fond memories of our family trips into Manhattan from Short Hills to see the Radio City Christmas show or visit the historic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty.  He loved history and sharing with his family.

This video brings back such memories of Connecticut in the fall.  All of us girls were majorettes for Wilton High School and performing with the WHS band during half time at the Saturday football games were an integral part of the fall.  These scenes are from a weekend where Dad's brother, Uncle Bud and his wife Aunt Mary, came up to visit.  Dad loved showing his various garden plantings to Uncle Bud.  He created wonderfully landscaped gardens all around the Wilton property including a japanese garden with stone walkways in the back yard.

For me, these videos captured the essence of our family Christmas celebrations.  Dad always had wonderful choral music full of brass on the stereo creating a holiday mood.  We would pick out the tree and Dad would always put it in the stand and make sure it was straight.  He would then put on all the lights and Mom and the girls would take over decorating the tree.  I remember going shopping each year for an ornament each of our choosing with Dad - I think we used to go to Channel Lumber in NJ.  We would be blind folded going down the stairs so we couldn't see all the presents under the tree.  We would have these long breakfasts and then finally be able to rush into the living room to open our stockings first and then one by one open our gifts.

Dad didn't go with us often to Bermuda for our annual visits to our maternal grandma, Helen's, home so this is some rare footage of him swimming with us on the South shore.  We all think he owned this suit to this day but it was very sharp looking :-)

I remember Lisa's arrival very well.  Wendy and I were woken in the middle of the night to go over to The Lamades (our across the street neighbors).  We both very much wanted a little sister and were anxiously waiting for the word the next morning.  I remember coming down the stairs and reading the note that said Mom had had a baby girl and both of us jumped up and down. I also remember carefully laundering all the baby clothes in preparation.  We had quite a reception welcoming Mom and Lisa home to 101 Oakview Terrace in Short Hills.  Most of the children belonged to the Kelleher family down the street.  This was a big event in the neighborhood!

Wendy was so calm and peaceful in her arrival.  I love how we ride in the front of the car on Mom's lap with no seatbelts!  I also adore all the lovely outfits everyone wore for Easter Sunday and Wendy's white bonnet.

Grandpa Cox was really great about taking movies of all of us coming home from the hospital.  You'll see our maternal grandma, Helen, move quickly out of the movie - she didn't like being photographed :-).  Also my maternal grandfather, Marty, is shown taking a photo of me and I am named for him.  I love the indoor pictures of both my mom and dad feeding me a bottle so long ago.

We rarely have any photos of Dad in his work life but Grandpa Cox must have taken a movie of Dad going to work at Stromberg Carlson in Rochester.  He has a very determined stride!

We digitized all of Grandpa Cox's super 8 movies and lo and behold we found footage of Dad's graduation from Lafayette!  Mom and Aunt Dottie are in the video as well :-) I love the golf clubs in the beginning.

This video is great since both Dad's brother, Bud, his sister, Doris, and Mom are in it. Dad tells the story of the original recipe for Plum Pudding before singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas at my cousin Sue's home in Morristown.  Dad's dad, Grandpa Cox, was born in England and brought the tradition of lighting a plum pudding on fire with him from there.  We all continue that tradition each Chistmas.

I have so many wonderful memories that have bubbled up in creating the website.  Remembering Christmas’s in CT with Dad putting up the tree making sure it was straight all while beautiful choral music was playing in the background as well as Snoopy’s Christmas.  Playing family doubles – Dad always rose so early in Bermuda so it would be cooler to play. Teaching me how to drive. Driving me out to Purdue with Mom and setting me up in my dorm room. Riding in a horse drawn carriage to St. Anne’s church, walking me down the aisle and dancing with me at my wedding.  Giving a heartwarming speech at the reception. Dad also cared about all of our education and careers.  He and Mom gave me the framework to be successful in life.