A Visit

I visited Dion's grave in August. It was such a typical San Francisco day. I travelled from Danville, in flip-flops, a thin cotton t-shirt and short pants and by the time I crossed the San Mateo Bridge, I knew I was in trouble and would be freezing in Colma. The fog was rolling in and as I reached the cemetery, the fog hung so low that moisture covered the front windshield. My daughter, Madeleine, and I hurried from the car to the cemetery's information center to pick up a map to locate Dion's grave. After some confusion, and help from a groundskeeper, we found the corner on the hillside where I had seen Dion's ashes interred in April. I stood there just feeling that fog cling to me. There was no marker, yet, for Dion, only the marker of his Grandfather's grave. The earth was still somewhat disturbed, marking the place where his urn was placed. I know that Dion isn't really in that cemetery, but somehow it feels right knowing that there is a place on the earth that marks his existence. And there is such a strong connection to place in that cemetery--the topography of that northern penninsula area, its climate, its smell and feeling all are connections to Dion for me. Now it has been almost a year since he died. There are so many things that have happened this year that I wish I could've heard his take on, I can often hear one of his off-hand remarks as I'm listening to a newstory or reading an article or watching a movie, or even when I see random people on the street. It's still so hard for me to believe that that's all he got, and that's all we got of him. I haven't forgotten you, Dion!

Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DION

Summer

It's now the heart of summer and I have had Dion in my thoughts often. I am reminded of just two years ago driving to meet him and Jill and the kids and Rita and Ron and Don and Mary and Nicole and all of our kids at the Frog Creek house. I miss him just as much now as I did three, four, five months ago. It doesn't seem to get any easier. I am going to visit his grave in August on a Bay Area trip. Two season changes without Dion.

Sopranos Update for Dion

I wish I could tell Dion...Phil Leotardo got Sil & Bobby! Only one more episode of the Sopranos left and I wish I could speculate with Dion on how it will all end... I was thinking a lot about Dion this past week...I just kept having this recurring memory of going to see the movie Tommy Boy with him in Seattle and how I thought he was going to have a coronary from laughing so hard. And after the movie we went to Rita & Ron's for a party and we just kept losing it over some of those scenes--like the one where the deer they hit ends up living and sits up in the backseat of the car. I was also remembering this time he house-sat for someone (I have no idea who it was now) in Edmonds, WA and we all went up to this house and made tacos and watched Reservoir Dogs. I think it must have been in the Spring and that may be why that memory has come back to me. I think it was also right around the time that OJ was fleeing, which I think was in June. It's events like OJ that were best shared with Dion. I also remember using Dion's apartment on the Ave all the time to print out my resumes because he had a printer and I didn't. I remember I sent out this huge batch of resumes and none of my resumes had my phone number on it!!! I can still see Dion sitting there in that apartment giving me shit about not putting my phone number on those resumes...saying something like "yeah, I want a job, but just don't bother me at home about it." Dion definitely rescued me in many a dark moment...I really miss him.

Things I Wish I Could Talk to Dion About

So many things that happen that make me think of Dion...I think he would have had special appreciation for the following news stories...the astronaut with diapers, Anna Nicole Smith, and the Virginia Tech shootings. Other things I'll never get to talk to Dion about: the first season of Weeds, the second season of The Wire, the final season of the Sopranos.

Dion in July, 2005

Purpose of this Blog

This blog has been created for anyone and everyone who knew Dion Mathewson. Dion had a very large and diverse network of friends and family members who miss him very much. This blog is an opportunity to share your friendship or relationship with Dion with others and to keep his spirit, sense of humor and wisdom with us still.