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Toy Story was Simon’s most important movie. Something about it grabbed him and wouldn’t let go. When he was gifted with a Woody doll, Simon became the child you see in the beginning of Toy Story, taking Woody everywhere with him and having imaginative adventures with him. 

In Toy Story, a change comes to Woody’s natural order of things when Buzz Lightyear, the newer, cooler space man toy arrives in Andy’s room. Woody fears being replaced. Everything in Woody’s world shifts. Things shifted for Simon, too, when he turned 7 years old.

Here was the arrival of a baby brother who was suddenly the new center of attention. It can’t have been easy for Simon to have Ian as a brother. Ian was immediately loved by everyone, good at everything he tried, and his social skills were off the charts in comparison to an awkward kid who spent most of his time trying to fit in. I always wondered whether Simon identified so much with Woody because of Woody’s pragmatic approach to things, and his fear of being upstaged or replaced by Buzz.

If Simon every had any actual such resentment toward his brother, he never showed it. In fact, Ian was the one person in his life who, even at the end, he was always kind to, and never once took advantage of. Despite any complicated feelings Simon may have had toward his baby brother, he (like everyone else) couldn’t help but love Ian. He’d often look forward to “being Ian’s wing man” when they’d both grow up and go places together, hoping to meet ladies.

I’ve had time to reflect on who they each becameand their relationship and in retrospect, I think I might have gotten it wrong. I always thought Simon was Woody and Ian was Buzz. Now I think that Simon may have been Buzz all along. 

Simon was very much the visitor from somewhere else, trying to belong, who didn’t always understand the way things work on Earth. He would miscalculate situations in bittersweet or humorous fashion. Simon always thought outside the box, and always had big aspirations. Simon was born under the Hale-Bopp comet, a space event.Perhaps he took Woody everywhere with him because Buzz took his best friend everywhere with him…to look out for him and share important adventures and things about life, much as Simon did with Ian. 

For his part, Ian has shown himself to be a grounded and fair leader, who cares more about the safety and comfort of everyone else. Just like Woody.

Now that I’ve come to understand things in another context, I hope Simon, like Buzz Lightyear, is back to exploring the universe, seeing things we can only dream of, and having fabulous adventures and continuing to dream big. I hope that wherever Simon is, he has found peace and a place where he can finally feel like he belongs. I know those of us here back on Earth who loved him, and will miss him, will do so to infinity, and beyond.

Simon William Robert Jasiewicz
April 8, 1997 – March 30, 2022

“Simon” means “One Who Hears.” Please join us, his family, as we present a celebration of Simon’s life, through music, which we collaborated on creating. Simon’s ashes will be pressed into a vinyl LP by the British company AndVinyly. Here is what will be on it, and we invite you to also be One Who Hears. We don’t intend to ever play the actual record. I’m a writer by trade and don’t think I can manage to write a eulogy that sums up who he was better than this collection can. This is a companion guide to the music, which you'll find under Gallery/Audio. Thank you so much for listening.

Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles 
When I was expecting Simon, I put headphones on my belly and let him listen to The Beatles. This song was the first music he ever heard after being born, which I sang to him. There was already a daughter, and here came the son.

Hei Hei (from Moana)   
This is a family joke because one of our nicknames for Simon was Blinky Chicken, and then when the movie Moana came out, the character of Hei Hei captured him pretty completely.

World Where You Live by Crowded House 
Simon used to dance around Oma’s living room to this song when he was 2-3 years old, and we will forever associate it with that.

Yakety Sax (Theme from the Benny Hill Show)  
This is on here as a practical joke. When my mother and I were trying to figure out what songs to put on the record, I got very solemn, took my mom’s hand, and said, “I know the perfect piece of music to sum up Simon’s life. Are you ready to hear it?” She said yes. Then, I played…this. We laughed so hard we cried. And agreed that it absolutely needs to be here. Sorry, kiddo…we needed the laugh. Though, I think he’d also laugh.

Somewhere Only We Know by Keane 
This song was used in a theatrical preview for a Winnie the Pooh movie. Simon watched a lot of Winnie the Pooh as a kid, but also, this song is about wanting to belong and never quite getting there. Simon spent his whole life wanting to belong but feeling like an outsider. The little tree creature in the video for this song reminds me of him in a way, kind of quietly present and looking in, hoping to be noticed. 

Never Alone (from Hook) 
Hook was a special movie for Simon. He even dressed as Captain Hook the Halloween that he was 4 years old, but because of Hook, not because of Peter Pan.

You’ve Got A Friend in Me by Randy Newman and Lyle Lovett 
Not only were Toy Story and Simon’s Woody doll a huge fixture of his childhood, but Simon and Oma had a special dance to this song at Jay and my wedding on September 29, 2001, which was a great day for our family. 

Merrily On Our Way (from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride) 
When Simon was little, he had a fascination with this movie, and he and his sister Annie used to laugh and laugh together at Mr. Toad. It was a wonderful, happy moment between them before things got so complicated between them, and it’s how I choose to pay tribute to that.

I'm Going to Go Back There Someday 
Anyone who knew Simon understands that there simply had to be a song from the Muppets in this collection. Several years of his life were about making puppets. He absolutely adored the Muppets. I chose this song because it speaks to how he always felt like an outsider, looking for the place he belonged.

Swedish Chef Theme (from the Muppet Show)  
Simon’s favorite Muppet (and mine) is the Swedish Chef. He dressed as the Swedish Chef one year for Halloween.

Higher Mental Plane (from MC 900 Foot Jesus) 
This is there as a little prayer that wherever Simon is now, his thoughts are now more ordered and peaceful.

Imagine by John Lennon, performed by Julian Lennon and Nuno Bettencourt 
Julian Lennon said that he would never perform his father’s song, Imagine. He chose to do so, however, in honor of Ukrainian refugees. It is included here not just for the importance of the song to our family and in these circumstances, but also because Julian Lennon and Simon shared a birthday, and this version was released on April 8, 2022, which was Julian Lennon’s 59th birthday and would have been Simon’s 25th.

New Moon on Monday by Duran Duran 
When we were expecting Simon, we had been told at the 7-month sonogram that he was a girl. Surprised to find that he was not, we had no girl name picked out. I rolled over in my hospital bed and happened to see the calendar on the wall, showing that April 8, 1997 (the day Simon was born) was also a New Moon, on a Monday. Suddenly it was very clear what this child’s name had to be, after Simon le Bon, the lead singer of Duran Duran. Thankfully, Simon did enjoy Duran Duran and he and I attended two of their concerts together over the course of his life.

The Land of Chalk Drawings 
During the TV show Captain Kangaroo in the early 70’s, he would play a cartoon about a little boy named Simon who would draw things out of chalk that came to life. My son Simon not only really looks like that other (cartoon) Simon but also loved to draw and was really good at it.

Pure Imagination (cover by Joseph Vincent) 
Simon really liked the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movies. But also, he was a child of pure imagination, and he liked to sing and play guitar, which this version pays tribute to.

Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini   
When Simon was about 13, I caught him dancing to this in the living room. 

Undella Theme (from the game Pokemon Black and White)  
From a very young age, Simon was “The Human Pokedex” who could quote you literally any statistic about any of over 500 Pokemon characters. He loved it that much. I needed to include something that recognized his love of games and his love of Pokemon in particular.

Leviathan by Volbeat
Of all the songs that Simon ever shared with his little brother, Ian, this one is Ian’s favorite. It is included as Ian’s selection.

Something Good by Bic Runga
This was a song Simon used to cheer himself up with when he got low. 

The Heart of Life by John Mayer
Simon really liked John Mayer’s music. His stepfather, Jason, chose this song to include from Mayer’s catalog.

Ordinary World by Duran Duran (sung by Simon’s Mom)