An eternity in some ways – and in others, not long at all. The loss of Lyne is still fresh, still present, still woven into everyday life. Time doesn’t erase it; it just teaches you how to carry it.
Cancer remains around us in numbers that should be zero, but aren’t. That fact is as hard to accept now as it was then. As we said many times during the illness, it’s something we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy. And nothing would give us more satisfaction than seeing a proper cure finally found.
There is real reason for hope. Science keeps pushing forward, and artificial intelligence may prove to be one of the most powerful tools yet in changing outcomes, accelerating discovery, and sparing others from this kind of loss. That hope matters.
And still, above everything else, the truth remains unchanged:
On January 5, 2008, Lyne bravely concluded her battle with breast cancer.
Her journey was a testament to her remarkable character. Her optimism was infectious, providing solace to everyone around her, even during the most challenging moments of her fight.
We will never forget Lyne’s passion for life, unwavering optimism, and ability to find joy in the simplest of moments. Her legacy goes far beyond her struggle; it lives on in the countless lives she touched. Her kindness knew no bounds, and her compassionate nature left an indelible mark on many. She embraced each day with a zest for life, cherishing every moment.
We are reminded not of the pain of loss, but of the beauty of her existence. Her memory remains vivid, a guiding light that fuels our perseverance and underscores the value of cherishing every precious moment we are given.
Breast cancer might have taken her away physically, but her spirit, her laughter, her love—they endure within us and in the hearts of those she touched. Today, we honor her memory by celebrating the incredible person she was—loving, cherished, and an inspiration to many. To those fighting a similar battle or supporting a loved one through it, remember that every day is a chance to cherish those we hold dear and to continue advocating for better treatments and support for those affected by cancer.
John had an opportunity to walk through the condo in Hawai’i. The floors have been ripped out due to water damage, and contractors are installing new flooring throughout. Once the first wooded boards were lifted, it was clear just how many termites were having a party underneath. Anyway, the project is progressing and we’re excited to see what it will look like, once done.
The house was pressure washed recently as dust from the city’s water tank project had added a brown tint to both house and patio. Probably not the last time, and they’re just started to build the roof of the tank and add the outside cable. They (still) expect the tanks to be done in March of ’24, but that is course dependent of the amount of rain we’ll see over the coming months.
John, Eli and Andy went to see the Blue Angels during Fleet Week. Fastly had once again chartered a boat to take staff + family out. Being on the bay offers a nice and different viewpoint, but sadly we were forbidden to go where we camped out in ’19. It seems that area is now prohibited – maybe because it’s directly under the flight path. Anyway, Great to see colleagues and their families in a different and relaxed setting.
Duke is Duke… He’s still Olivia’s shadow and follows her everywhere she goes. And when she’s not around, he tries to sleep through the misery. Still chasing squirrels in our backyard, but with the inability to climb trees, it’s unfair odds from the get go.
Adriana has picked up cheer again and somehow manages to take care of that in addition to two jobs – at Dizzy Lizzy’s and at the gift shop at Mills-Peninsula. Of course, she’s also very busy with High School including the extra activities she’s signed up for.
Everybody made it back safe from their travels, and it was quickly back to reality for most. That includes Duke, who had to give up his roasted chicken diet in lieu of the raw food his mommy seems to prefer feeding him.
For the last few days, John’s been off on one of his whirlwind trips to Denmark. Mostly to pick up a long-sought-after lens. He had been on a waitlist for this particular lens model for two years before getting kicked off, citing unavailability and uncertainty. The lens was, however, in stock at a dealer in Copenhagen, and by saving the VAT, he even saved a few dollars.
It was also a welcome chance to see his mom and later catch up with an old friend. As it happened, Eli’s Danish citizenship papers came through and were waiting in Copenhagen, so those were also picked up. Great to have that behind us, and Eli is a Danish citizen for the rest of her life.
The return was through Paris, where John was lucky to see the final stage of the Tour de France. With a Dane winning for the second year in a row, it’s extra special, although it doesn’t quite hit last year’s highs with the tour starting in Denmark and an unexpected win over Pogacar. Overall, it brought back memories of a 1996 trip to Paris to celebrate another Dane winning “the tour” (Bjarne Riis). Back then, John was joined by two friends – Hans and Lars – and his dad. Fun memories all around, even though we never really got to see much of the fast-moving riders
It’s been a while since we last checked in. Since we last wrote, Olivia and her family sailed from Barcelona to Lisbon. Some arrived in Barcelona early, others departed Lisbon late. Most were back in California by July 5th.
At home, John and Duke enjoyed each other’s company. So much so that John was later accused of making Duke chunky, having put him back on his previous diet consisting mostly of rotisserie chicken. Anyway… lots of walking, lots of visits to the beach, and the bay, where Duke managed to find a leopard shark, correction, a dead leopard shark on one of their walks.
These little vacation pockets with very few people in the house are a good opportunity to catch up on the smaller-and-smaller list of things we need to take care of, and Manuel and his crew were here for a week treating all the outside woodwork. The outside looks so much better and should be OK for at least five years.
Eli went to Italy to visit a friend while the rest of the family was in Spain. She had a great time on the coast (La Spezia) and even made it out on the water in a family-owned boat. She was lucky to see one of her cousins in Copenhagen during a layover on the way back.
We continue to have construction in our backyard, and the dust from digging and the winds have been rather significant. The dust is everywhere – on the side of the house, on the cars, on the pool cover, and more. We have written the city, asking them to pay for at least one cleaning a quarter. Let’s see – we don’t have a great track record with them, although they have decided to take another look at our claim from the fallen tree. Their insurance company is still recommending that they deny our claim, so we don’t have high hopes for a positive outcome. For us, anyway.
On May 2nd, Olivia and John went through a Warriors game at the Chase Center in San Francisco. It was the first game in the playoff series and, sadly, a prediction of things to come. The Warriors lost. Not by much, but still. It was fun to be in a sporting event at the arena. Olivia and John had only been there for concerts before.
Later that week, John went to Denmark with Chris, a good friend, and former Akamai colleague. John arrived Thursday morning, immediately visited his mom, and later had dinner with Gurli in Central Copenhagen.
Chris arrived Friday morning, and after he had some breakfast and a shower, they went to central Copenhagen to walk around. Later that afternoon, they booked an architectural bike tour of the city and had four great hours with a local architect who showed both old and new architecture.
The main reason for visiting Denmark this time was the Mikkeler Copenhagen Beer Celebration event at Øksnehallen. It’s a two-day-long affair split up into four segments. For John and Chris, the fun started at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. After paying a hefty entrance fee, you could walk around for four hours and taste beer from all over the world. Unfortunately, there were many rumors that this year’s event would be the last. However, it’s part of a ten-day beer week in Copenhagen, and if it survives, it’s definitely worth a visit.
The Sunday was spent on a couple of rented bicycles, riding through much of Copenhagen and the surrounding areas. Weatherwise, the wind had finally died down, and it’s such a fun and safe way of getting around. The bike rental itself was a challenging experience, and threatened to put a kibosh on the whole thing, but it all worked out in the end.
The pool is still giving us trouble and driving us nuts. The latest is that the motherboard controlling the heater and pumps is faulty and needs to be replaced, luckily under warranty. Hopefully, that will cover the remaining issues and set us up for a fun summer. Sadly, we had another downed tree from what looks to be damage from the larger tree that fell in February. That case has still not been closed. The city is taking its sweet old time processing the claim. On a brighter note, we got the Pergola installed. We moved all our garden furniture under it, making it a nice place to sit when the sun is out.
This past Thursday brought a welcome reunion with many of John’s former Akamai colleagues. The San Francisco office on Market Street is shutting down, and everybody was invited for a last farewell. John has many fond memories from that office, and it was great to see people who he had interacted with daily. Earlier in the week, Fastly organized an evening at the AT&T ballpark. John took his cousin Nick to see the Giants beat the Phillies. Cold as always, but still a good time.
Adriana turned 16 on Wednesday. She celebrated during the weekend, although one of her events got rained out for the third time in a row. They left Friday afternoon all packed and ready for a weekend in Carmel, but the power went out, and they decided to come back to celebrate at home instead. They made the best of it, and 12 of us celebrated her at Left Bank in Menlo Park on the day itself.
Although there were several great gifts, the best one was that she passed her driving test Thursday morning. Although it comes with initial nervousness – especially on Olivia’s part – it’ll help all around and bring an extra bit of freedom.
The weather at home continues to be challenging. We have had powerful winds, and cleaning leaves and removing branches seem almost pointless. The winds were very powerful throughout the Bay Area on Tuesday, and like many other people, we lost power early in the day. As the night came, more than 300,000 people were without power, primarily due to downed power lines. Finally, we got the power – and heat back – after 36 hours. Unfortunately, many had to wait longer.
The weekend brought more wind and more rain. We have reached what we usually get for the entire year, but everybody reacts with “we need it” when it is brought up in conversation. And while we have had damage two times so far, we’re delighted California is getting soaked, and the reserves are full.
On Saturday, we had 30 teenagers and 15-20 parents over for a couple of hours before the party bus took them to the Notre Dame formal dance. Very lively but well-behaved. The weather, unfortunately, wasn’t cooperating, and only one photo was captured outside.
John And Adriana prepared a bunch of balloons on Friday evening. Little did they know that they would start popping in the middle of the night and set off the house alarm that has a built-in gunshot detector… Luckily they didn’t all pop ahead of time!
The rain finally seems to have stopped. There’s more in the forecast, but nothing like what we got the first couple of weeks of ’23. The water was hard on our landscaping, and there will be lots of repair work over the next few weeks. The back fence also took a beating but overall, we were lucky compared to many other places and homes throughout California.
On Monday, Adriana had four wisdom teeth removed. It was a rough three hours, but she did pretty well once home. At least for the first two days while the strong medications were still available. She had a dry socket treated Friday – cloves brought almost instant relief. She’s delighted it’s a closed chapter.
The surgery coincided with the Hillsborough Water Works making good on their promise to tear down the two old water tanks in our backyard. Unfortunately, the demolition was not for the faint at heart, bringing an almost unbearable noise. How Adriana slept through some of it is a testament to the effectiveness of the medicine. The noise lasted all week and left a big pile of twister metal and iron that needed transport away from here.
Over the weekend, John spent 24 hours at the condo in Hawaii fixing TVs, Internet, and appliances. The weather wasn’t too inviting, so staying indoors and crossing things off the to-do list was easy.
2023-01-22 | One of the two water tanks being torn down
John spent the last few days of last week at the Fastly office in London. Hoping to escape the Bay Area rain, he quickly realized it had followed him to Europe. There were even hints of snow on the first day.
Thursday evening, John met with Penny’s sister Olivia, her husband George, their daughter Alice and Alice’s husband Dickie. Alice and Dickie had just opened a cocktail bar – Maremmano – in London in addition to their restaurant. A super lovely place built on the tapas concept but for Italian food. After drinks, John, Alice, and Dickie went to the restaurant – Maremma – and enjoyed Tuscan food until only one server was left in the whole restaurant. Lovely food – even better to catch up!
Friday afternoon was spent visiting Shackleton to discuss gear for John’s upcoming trip to Antarctica. It was followed up with afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental – an absolute must when in London. The evening entertainment was delivered by The 1975 at the 02 arena. Fantastic band and show provided by a band celebrating their 20th year together.
John spent Saturday in Paris after a quick train ride across the channel. It felt good to revisit the riverside where John and Isabella spread Lyne’s ashes. But other than that, Paris was a cold and wet affaire this time, and John returned to London once his clothes were soaked, although not until he made it to the Eiffel Tower.
After packing Sunday morning, John went to see the “Slough House” building featured in Apple TV’s Slow Horses. Fun to see and great to be out on what turned out to be the only day with a blue sky and sun.
