It was a frosty cold month for North Carolinians this past January. Heating bills were high and the layers of clothing were thick, but that didn’t stop John, Larkin, and Reagan from enjoying the outside world. They were fortunate to have a couple of nice wintry weather storms this month, which they have come to love. They really enjoy sledding, rolling down hills, making snow angels, and grabbing large handfuls of snow and throwing or licking it. The first of these snowfalls occurred while the Kindem family was up at the mountain cabin. John, Larkin, and Reagan were accompanied by their cousins Lindsay and Anna Katherine. Everyone had a nice time eating good food, getting into the hot tub, and playing with the kids in the snow. Continue Reading →
John, Larkin, and Reagan had a busy month. They enjoyed spending a weekend with New York friends and they were excited to have Santa come to their house for Christmas.
Andrew and Terese drove down from New York to spend a weekend with the adorables. 
The Consentinos were very close friends with Jamie and Terese was virtually on the same pregnancy schedule as Jamie for both of their pregnancies (both deliveries less than one month apart). All five kids got along famously! After the initial hour of shyness wore off, John, Larkin, and Lia were racing around the house, cul-de-sac, or downtown Franklin Street. Reagan and Ali had a food eating contest or two and Ali won the prize for the calmest 16 month-old to stay up late. It was very bittersweet watching all of the kids play together (a goal/dream of all of ours ever since Jamie and Terese were pregnant the first time together). The adorables can’t wait to see Lia and Ali again, and Paul truly enjoyed the quality time he had with Andrew and Terese. Thank you for driving all the way to NC! Continue Reading →
I (Erin – Jamie’s hand on my shoulder in the below picture) have spent quite some time compiling my memories of Jamie. Early on I wanted to make sure I shared everything. Silly, I know, especially because there’s much that I’ve left out. I have so many special memories of Jamie. It’s an honor to share those memories and what her friendship meant to me. 
Jamie and I developed a friendship our freshman year at Conestoga High School. My first “real” memory was during pre-season for soccer that year. We were sitting alone on the concrete, surrounded by everyone’s equipment bags, putting on our cleats. Jamie pulled her strings very tight, checked to make sure no one could hear her, leaned towards me, grinned and said, “I think we made varsity!” Sure enough, we did ;). We were the only ones from our class to make ‘Stoga’s varsity soccer team our freshman, sophomore and junior year. We formed a special bond.
The day we got our uniforms. J sat next to me, “I hope no one already has #1. I reeeeeally hope no one has #1”. We went in to choose our uniforms by class, making Jamie and me the last to go. She held my arm and strained to see what number each player before us came out holding. When a teammate walked by us she would ask, “What number are you? Did anyone take 1?” She did quite the happy dance when she found her official ‘Stoga uniform with a big old “1” on the back waiting for her on the gym floor Continue Reading →
John and Larkin turned 3 years old on November 17th. Paul had a relatively small gathering for their birthday with family and friends. John and Larkin enjoyed their many gifts, including their new (craigslist, gotta love it) train and lego table, and the adults enjoyed some great food, courtesy of Costco (shrimp cocktail, sandwich rolls, spinach salad) and some great 7 layer dip by Kathryn, corn dip by Sase, and salad by Nana. 
The kids enjoyed (yes, this includes Uncle Pete) playing baseball in the backyard with J & L’s new bases, and John enjoyed using his new baseball glove. I’m not sure who had the most fun; was it Conner Collicutt smashing the ball around the yard or was it Uncle Pete playing target practice while throwing out the runners going to home plate. Seriously, Pete went something like 12 for 14 on beaning the runner while they ran from 3rd to home and this was like from 40 feet. Kathryn made delicious cupcakes for everyone (blue for John, and pink and purple for Larkin – as requested). Alex, John and Larkin’s cousin, was also celebrating a birthday, his 4th birthday, and he is a speedster. He sprints from activity to activity and rarely stops to take a breath. Go Alex! Give that boy a baton and he’s going to make a name for himself.
The Kindem family enjoyed an early Thanksgiving meal at Nana and Bapa’s house the Saturday before Thanksgiving. John, Larkin, and Reagan enjoyed spending time with their extended family members. Nana’s sausage gravy is out of this world good and the families enjoyed good conversations, watching football, and playing with the kids.
Paul and kiddos made the trek to Philly for Thanksgiving this year. It was an easy decision because Jamie’s high school teammates organized a 5k run/walk in Jamie’s honor the Saturday following Thanksgiving and Paul really wanted to spend time with Doug, Nessa, and baby Aiden. It was a truly amazing event and I encourage everyone to see the family update (soon to come) about this event. Continue Reading →
The month of October has brought some challenges to the Kindem household. Paul tore his ACL and meniscus in 
his left knee for the second time. The meniscus tear was called a bucket handle tear because one side of the meniscus had flipped over to the center of the knee. This type of tear can cause serious damage to the cartilage in the knee and therefore had to be operated on immediately. This was a very unwelcomed injury and Paul really wasn’t sure how he was going to get by after surgery, but the O’Brien-Kindem families reassured him that they would be there to help him recover and to make sure the household kept on track. There is truly no replacement for having a good family and good friends. Continue Reading →
Doug, Vanessa, and Baby Aiden visited NC for a full week. 
It was wonderful having them down here and we were very sad to see them go. John, Larkin, and Reagan adored Baby Aiden and Larkin made sure to hold him numerous times each day. Whenever Larkin would hold Aiden, she would either smile brightly or have a proud but cautious look on her face. Aiden is very good at telling his parents when he is hungry or needs a diaper change and he seems to training to be a boxer. Aiden trains hard by throwing many right jabs and left hooks all throughout the day. Doug and Vanessa are doing such an amazing job as new parents and already seem so comfortable in this new role. Continue Reading →
(Picture from left to right – Kathryn, Maureen, Erik, Kristina, Jamie, Delphine, Doug)
When I checked my mail today I was so pleased to see there was a letter from you Dan; I realised that we had lost contact for such a long time and I was so glad to get news from you and your family after all the good moments we had all spent together when I was younger!
But reading your letter was so painful to me. It came as such a shock to learn the news about Jamie; I can still recall the day when I arrived as your babysitter for Jamie, Doug and Kathryn, at Pelham Manor, back in the summer of 1986, I was just 15 and Jamie was around 8; we just got on so well from the very start, it never felt like working, all the time I was with the 5 of you; I just felt I was with family, looking after my younger brother and sisters! 
You were all so kind to me and the times I spent with you have marked me forever (maybe that’s why I now teach English to high school students, and am currently trying to start a project with New-Yorkers so I can help my students discover the world, like I did when I was their age….).
Well Jamie was so lively and cheerful; it was always so much fun being with her, I have kept such a dear memory of her! I have taken out the pictures I have kept of that time and so many good memories with Jamie are coming back to me (like sailing off the New York coast, skiing and freezing on the Vermont hills that Christmas you had invited me over, fooling around and diving in the pool, playing Trivial Pursuit at the Babbits’, watching Dirty Dancing over and over again and so many more…)! She was a great friend to me!
I’m sure she must have been the best of moms too and I would really have loved to meet her again, both as adults! From all the nice things I could read about her on her memorial website, I feel there would have been so much we could have shared, so many things we had in common…. It was just so moving to read about her married life with you Paul and seeing all the pictures of your lovely family; being on your website has greatly helped me to cope with the news, thanks for sharing that with me! I feel so close to you right now and truly hope that I can meet you all one of these days; if I come back to the States, I’ll try to get in touch with you and see if you have a couple of hours to spare me…
Maureen, Dan, Doug, Kathryn, I would just be so happy to see you again and meet your respective families; my house is big enough to accommodate you if you can make it to France one of these days…
In the meanwhile, please keep in touch with me!
Love
Delphine
As we mentioned in the July update, we celebrated Reagan’s first birthday on August 10th, the anniversary of the day she came home from the hospital. The O’Brien-Kindem families celebrated by cooking kabobs on the grill, playing in the backyard or in Paul’s two playrooms, and Reagan enjoyed her first cake. Reagan was the star of the show as she opened her presents, with the help of her brother, sister, and cousins. Reagan received many great gifts but her favorite was a purple car given to her from her aunt Stacey and uncle Tom. Reagan stepped into the car the moment daddy finished assembling it and she showed an immediate look of determination and delight as she zoomed around the house. John and Larkin demanded their turns on the car as well, but they were kind enough to allow Reagan to sit on their laps.
On August 27th, the SAS inside sales team (Jamie’s old department and colleagues) hosted an event in honor of Jamie and her children. The goal of the event was to spend time with the Kindem-O’Brien families, especially ‘the adorables,’ but also to raise money for the fund set up for John, Larkin, and Reagan. It was a highly successful event, and Paul and the family were deeply touched by this thoughtful gesture. The event included an organized corn hole tournament (72 participants – 36 teams), a raffle drawing for prizes where John, Larkin, and Reagan picked the winning tickets, and many good conversations. The most entertaining prize was a $100 gift certificate to Adam & Eve. A young woman won the prize which brought much muttering and laughter throughout the crowd. Paul and Pete were teammates in the corn hole tournament and made it to the final game, but were outmatched by two of SAS’s finest bag throwers. John, Larkin, and Reagan enjoyed practicing their bean bag tosses, eating off other people’s plates, playing skeet-ball, and meeting many new people. Continue Reading →
When I think of Jamie I remember a beautiful, bright, and curious young woman who had a spirit for adventure. I was a teacher in her world. At Conestoga she was an accomplished athlete and a top student. I didn’t influence her academic or athletic world. I shared my passion for travel and other cultures with my students by taking them to different parts of the world. Jamie joined my trip to Greece and it is in this experience that we became friends.
Like a little kid in a candy store, Jamie absorbed the museums of ancient Greece and walked the Acropolis. She wasn’t just there for the sun and the cruise. Jamie enjoyed learning. One night I took the students to a garden for dinner and live music. As we sat and listened to the Greek music, people gathered in a circle on the stage. They created a wild circling motion and their feet moved quickly to match the instrumental beats. I shouted out to the students “Come on, I didn’t bring you here to sit and watch. Let’s dance!” The students sat timidly ignoring me. I joined the circle and next to me was Jamie O’Brien with her big smile. We danced wildly and laughed until we were exhausted and had to take a rest. She said ” You’re crazy , Mrs. Barry.” And I responded, “But , isn’t it fun?” We laughed and danced. She wasn’t afraid to put herself out there. She enjoyed the adventure. Her eyes always spoke for her.
During the day we were surrounded by the sea as we gazed from cliffs. She loved the sea. I gave the students some time on the beach. I can still see Jamie’s bronze shimmering skin as she splashed in the water. She was like a mermaid. Continue Reading →
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