A little late for Memorial Day

Hi! Joanne here, wanted to get this on for Memorial Day as well -- oh where does the time go?? Anyway, Jimmy and I went to D.C. to visit Eddie & Tammy back in March, and as always I have to go to the wall and see Lanny. I thought I would leave you the picture of his name on "The Wall". It was packed there that day. D.C. was great and my brother and sister-in-law are doing well. Take care - sorry so late. Joanne

Aunt Irene's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT IRENE

LOVE
The Zobre's

update on Terri's Surg

I went to surg on Oct 14th to have my kidney removed because of cancer. The pathology came back and there were 3 tumors. One in the utuer which was begin, two in the kidney one stage one and one stage 2. They were all still incapicalated in the kidney but the stage 2 one was starting to break through. This means that I have to go to an oncologist to see if they need to do any type of chemo or radiation. This appt is wednesday the 29th.

On to better news Dave left early this morning for north carolina to see the new grandchild Madison and Kaleb. Monday is the final court hearning for wether or not Eric is going to have full custoudy of Kaleb. Our lawyer says that he has a verygood chance. We will know Monday.

Back from Arizona

Hey everyone it's Joanne and Jimmy back from Arizona. Weather was sunny and 85-90 dry degrees everyday. We renewed our vows on my 47th birthday, went to the Grand Canyon, The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, did Red Rock Jeep Tour in Sedona, just had ourselves some r&r as well at the resort, here are some pictures. The bottom left is me at Montezuma's Castle and the bottom right is Jimmy at our resort. The resort is called Sedona Pines and what the resort is, instead of hotel rooms, they are cottages. We lucked out we only had neighbors to the left of us. If you get a chance, you can view what the inside of the cottages look like by going to Sedona Pines.com and clicking on "cottages" then click on each room. Also click on the other images of the resort. It's a time share I bought into 7 years ago.

Terri Surg update

I was suppose to have surg to have my kidney removed on Wed. Oct. 1st but it is posponed till Oct. 11th or 12th. I am going to have it removed laperscopic. This will mean less recovery time and less pain. I have transitional cell cancerima. If the transiction of the kidney after it is removed shows only stage 1 than that is all I will have to have done. If it shows stage 2 or 3 than I will have to have chemo.

Also to let everybody know Ashley, Eric, Kaleb and Madison are all doing great.

Love All,
Terri

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - MOM

Hi everyone, it's Joanne. I just got back from the cemetary - it would have been my mom's 73rd birthday today. As most of you know, after you lose a parent or any loved one for that matter, the first of everything is hard. So today was a little rough, although it also brought back a lot of fond memories of celebrating mom's birthday as well. I went to the cemetary and they were finally able to engrave 2008 in mom's stone (they haven't been able to because of all the cold weather we've not been enjoying around here). The guy who engraves the memorial promised he'd get it done by mom's birthday, but told me he couldn't do it until the weather warms up and said this is the first year he's not been able to get some of them done in March.

Anyway, again - Happy birthday - mom - I miss you soooooo much, but truly feel you around me a lot. Thanks for coming to me in my dreams - Joanne

Another Wedding

Hi Everyone Terri here. Just sending this to let everyone know that there is going to be a wedding in NC. My son Eric is getting married to his girlfriend on April 19th. Her name is Ashley Herring and they have be seeing one another for 2 years. They are also expecting a little one about sometime in early september.

Terri Zobre (Braman)

Memorium for my dad

Hey everyone, Joanne here - just to let you know Monday (1/28) will be my dad's 10th anniversary since his passing - there will be a memorium in the Albany Times Union on monday in the obit section - if you'd like to see it, you can either get the paper or view it online at http://www.timesunion.com/. Take care - Joanne Braman-Palmer

Thank you everyone - from Annette's family

Joanne Braman-Palmer here, I just can't thank the family enough for the strength and encouragement during my mother's time in the hospital, many of you stepped up and helped my sisters and my brother and his wife Tammy, above and beyond expectations, especially during some of the moments when we, ourselves, couldn't handle much more. If some of you don't know, by the time Thursday, 1/10, hit - we were all pretty much at wits end. My stepdaughter, Bria, was being taken to Albany Med for, what the family thought at first, was appendicitis. She was in the emergency room on the 1st floor, mom had been moved to the post-surgical unit on the second floor and my husband and I were ready for the psych ward (I think it's on the 6th floor). I didn't know where I belonged, with my husband in the ER and his daughter, or my mother and my family - he didn't want to leave me alone and yet his daughter was scared out of her mind not knowing what was going to happen to her. It turns out she had kidney stones (at the age of 13) and they had to do emergency surgery on her which the hospital decided to do around 6 p.m. So it was up and down for Jimmy and I. Father came in and gave my mom her last rights around 6:15 p.m., Jimmy and I went down to the Recovery Room around 8 p.m. Bria (thankfully) was doing incredible and we were just heading back to be with mom when Terri called me and told me she took her last breath.

Again, I can't say thank you enough for being there before, during and after this whole ordeal. I would like to specially thank Suzy, Carolyn, Traci, Donna, Debbie & Frank and Nicole for all their hard work and thanks Tom for putting the obit up.

The good news is mom got to see DaoustNation on Christmas and was very pleased with it. We're not seeing a lot of activity on here lately. Let's keep DaoustNation alive for our parents. I know most of them are proud of this site.

P.S. Today is Uncle Gerard's 10th anniversary of his death and next Monday (the 28th) is my father's 10th anniversary.

Uncle Gerard- your in my thoughts and prayers, I hope you're all having a good time and keep watching over us - we all need it - there's a lot of us who are now orphans here and we still need guidance because, God knows, we'll never grow up - we can't - it's the Daoust in us.

Take care - Joanne Braman-Palmer

Annette Braman - passed away last night

Hi everyone - Joanne here, I guess DaoustNation has it's first sad announcement. My mother passed away last night at 8:15 (1/10/08), after being in Albany Medical Center monday night. It was a tough few days for my sisters, my brother and I - and yes, Eddie made it in with his wife Tammy on Wednesday, so he was able to be there and we know she knows he was there. She's at peace now and with my father, Uncle Wilfred, Aunt Julia, Holly, Lanny, Ronnie, Jr. ...... and the list goes on. She went peacefully. I would like to thank everyone who was there for us and I'm sure we'll see many of you at the wake. We'll keep you posted on the info. We have to meet with Lyon's Funeral Home this afternoon. Take care and thanks - Joanne Braman-Palmer

Uncle Wil's Eulogy

The following is the Eulogy Eddie delivered at Uncle Wil's Memorial Service.



TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF WILFORD H. DAOUST

As Delivered September 25, 2007
St. Johns Catholic Church
By: Edward J. Braman
Contributions by Irene Daoust, Joanne Braman, Ellen Bigelow, Suzanne & Gary March, Paul and Judith Daoust & Aunt Marie

Good Evening,

We are here tonight to celebrate the life of Wilford H. Daoust. I have been asked on behalf of the family to say a few words and share some remembrances of Uncle Will. I want to thank all of you who contributed -- especially Aunt Irene, my sister Joanne, and my cousins Ellen Bigelow, Suzanne and Gary March, Paul and Judith Daoust & Aunt Marie.

It is very difficult to capture all of the complexities of Uncle Will. A life is made up of roles, characteristics, experiences and memories. Uncle Will played many roles -- he was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather, a brother, an uncle, a leader and a friend. These were just a few of his roles. The one thing we all can say about Uncle Will -- he sure was a character. His exterior was gruff, he didn’t sit still for long, and he did things with a passion and purpose. He also was caring, loving, proud and funny man. Rarely was he seen without a cigar in his mouth. Finally, there was his signature trait; he could mumble a sentence better than anyone we have ever known. His family and friends mastered the art of understanding about every third word and filling in the blank. That was the only way we knew what he was saying.

Aunt Marie recalls that Will came into this world number fourteen of nineteen children in the Daoust clan. He was a blond curly headed boy with a mind of his own. He was competitive which was not unusual for a child in the Daoust family because there were so many brothers and sisters. Aunt Irene remembers that at dinner time (one of the most competitive parts of any Daoust sibling’s day) Will would start off with a plate full of mashed potatoes before heading to the main course.

He grew up to be a fine young man and with a sense of pride and duty -- off to the Air Force he went. As happened with many of our service men and women back in those days, the U.S. Mail Service became a matchmaker and Uncle Will fell in love with the girl next door, Aunt Frankie’s best friend Phyllis. They got married and Uncle Will was deployed to Japan where Michelle and Andy were born; then back to the states where Darlene and Mathew joined the family. While he served two tours in Viet Nam, Aunt Phyllis found herself back on Second Avenue where the cousins quickly became friends.

All of the “Second Ave. Crew” remember those years with Uncle Will’s family. We were very young but our impressions of him will last a lifetime. Uncle Will always liked to play with the kids. Joanne fondly remembers how Uncle Will nicknamed her motor mouth. For those of us who know Joanne, its not hard to imagine why. It stemmed from an incident one day when Michelle and Joanne were playing with their dolls. Uncle Will interrupted them because he only heard Joanne’s doll talking. Joanne explained that was because her doll was old enough to talk, Michelle’s doll was a baby and only old enough to cry. Next week Uncle Will bought Michelle a new doll that was as old as Joanne’s so she could join in on the conversation. In retaliation, Joanne came up with a nickname for Uncle Will -- he was now officially “Uncle Mumbles.”

Eventually the Air Force would move Will and his family to northern California where he would retire. Uncle Will always enjoyed having his family visit. Cousin Ellen was one of the first and ended up staying with him while attending college. Her memories of him are of a very giving person who always opened up his home for family. Whenever anyone would visit he made sure there was never a dull moment. Gary and Suzanne made their way west and remember him whisking them away to see all the sites, and going camping. Uncle Will and Aunt Pat in an RV and Gary and Suzanne had all the luxuries their pup tent had to offer. Paul and Judy drove across the country when they were first married and Judy met Uncle Will for the first time. He came out of the garage naturally chewing on a cigar and mumbled something. Judy looked at him and asked “are you saying something important?” They were fast friends from that point on.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Uncle Will and Aunt Pat a few years ago. After a nice visit to his home, he was excited to take us to lunch at his favorite gourmet restaurant – Jack-in-the-Box. Now looking back, it was the best gourmet fast food I’ve ever had.

These stories are examples of how important family was to him, even though he lived so far away.

Upon his retirement from the Air Force he became a postal worker. Will was very active in his community, getting involved in the local Moose Lodge where he was a legend for his friendship, loyalty, volunteerism, coffee and cigars. He was also active in St. Rosary Church where he was an usher.

The last sibling to visit him was Aunt Irene in 2003. She had been to see him many times throughout the years with various friends. It never mattered who she was with, Uncle Will and Aunt Pat always made them feel at home. As with all who visited he would keep them on a busy itinerary that would include memorable trips to Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Napa Valley. On her last trip she and Uncle Bill went to visit him in Zamora, California. Not a big town -- Zamora consisted of five houses, a Post Office, a Community Center and a Catholic Church. Besides his love of people Uncle Will loved pets. With 4 cats, 2 dogs, a rabbit, 8 fish and a potbelly pig, he had more pets at his house than the entire human population of Zamora. When Uncle Bill learned that the pig’s name was Bacon, he told Uncle Will he should have named him Breakfast. Fortunately for Aunt Irene and Uncle Bill, they never did have Bacon for breakfast.

We will all miss Will very much are blessed to have had him in our lives.

Hello from our Nation's Capital

Hi All,

It took me a while but I finally got on. It is good to see all the posts and I think this is a great idea. Tammy and I are doing fine here in DC. David (my nephew, Diane's son) lives in our basement apartment and is the Asst. Manager at Morton's Steakhouse in Bethesda, MD. Tammy is a legal assistant at an international law firm Greenberg, Traurig. I recently closed my catering business and am looking to get back into the political arena (I am currently talking with a couple of the unions I used to work with.) Sorry Debbie D., I'll be back with the Dems but I love ya anyway.

This is our first post however I am going to put some pictures together and also I will be posting the Eulogy I gave at Uncle Wil's memorial, as soon as I figure out how to attach it.

For all the family football fan's it is a very, very sad time for us here in the District. Yesterday one of our top players (one of the best in the NFL) was shot and killed. This town can survive political scandels, electoral upheaval, changes in the power of Congress but when it comes to our Skins, nothing compares.

Looking forward to future blogging.

Ed Braman & Tammy Goggans

The Bramans - Thanksgiving 2007

Joanne Braman Palmer here. This would not be the winner of the largest Daoust family Thanksgiving gathering. But I think my sister Diane and my mother (Annette) and myself trumped the thanksgiving turkey tradition. Mom is not feeling good at all, she had complications of pneumonia and a lung condition going on. Anyway, Diane and I could not take her out so the nursing home dressed her up, we took her into the atrium and her request for a thanksgiving meal was to have FILET MIGNON. She's not a fan of turkey. What you see on her plate in the first picture is filet mignon, twice baked potatoes with bacon and cheese, some kind of breaded baked mushroom dish (yuck for me, I hate mushrooms), shrimp cocktails and deviled eggs. She seemed to have enjoyed it, because she ate almost everything we put on her plate. Happy Thanksgiving everyone

THE COOKIE JAR

It's me, again, Joanne Braman-Palmer. I thought I'd share a "bittersweet" story with you that Michael shared with me last night after he gave the news of the soon-to-be grandchildren.

Michael asked me if I remembered the Donald Duck cookie jar that we had when we were kids. At first I didn't remember. But then he said my mother kept it on top of the refrigerator and suddenly it came back to memory. He told me he has the cookie jar and still looks at it everyday and then he asked me if I knew the story of the cookie jar. I replied I did not. So here's the story.

Apparently after Michael was born my parents gave his mother and father the cookie jar. When his father died, his mother (Aunt Dottie) gave the cookie jar back to my mother and felt she should have it back so my mother had a piece of Uncle Ray. My mother took it back and kept it on top of our refrigerator. Later in the years, when Michael grew up, my mother gave it to Michael and told him about the cookie jar and said she wanted him to have it. Michael still cherishes that cookie jar and said he thinks of my mom when he looks at it. He said he wanted me to know it's still there and to tell mom.

I never knew this story and thought about it all day today and tried to remember the last time I ever laid eyes on that cookie jar and for the life of me, I don't remember it ever being gone from our house. But now that he told me the story, I thought it was bittersweet and endearing and just so neat that such a simple little thing as a cookie jar in our house had such a story and meaning and still lives on. Now the memory of that cookie jar has taken on a whole new memory and meaning.

I was wondering if anyone else has a story of an item they have from an aunt or uncle, cousin or sibling, parent or grandparent that they can share with us. That simple Donald Duck cookie jar now has such meaning - who knew? Take care - Joanne

Stepson Jonathan

Well it took awhile to find a picture of Jonathan, Dave's son. This was taken about 10 yrs ago. We just found him and met him and found out that Dave was a grandpa. In the picture with Jonathan is Austin.

Cousins, Aunts and Stepdaughters

The first picture's my two stepdaughters, Shayla & Bria (now 15 and 13), the next picture are some of the cousins, Traci, Carolyn, me, Donna, Bernie, Nancy, Bernie III, and Heather. The next picture - Aunts - Aunt Yvonne, Aunt Marie, Aunt Frankie, Aunt Irene and my mother, Annette.

Heather & Allie Johnsen (Zobre)

Now here is a pic of Heather and her daughter Alexandria. We all call her Allie. She will tell you her name is Allie if you call her anything else. She is 4 yrs old but she talks and acts like she is 25. Just ask Joanne. Well that is all for now. Just going through the photos and adding them to my new computer.

Austin & Devon Hover (Zobre)

I don't know how many of you know that Dave had a child when he was in High School. But he always said that he would find him when he turned 21. Well that day was eleven years ago. His name is Jonathan and he has a son Austin in the plain yellow shirt. He is twelve. He did not marry Austin's mother. Jonathan is married now and he and his wife Kelly have a son Devon. Devon and Kaleb are 7 months apart. Kaleb being older. We keep in touch with them and they don't live far. Eric is close to him. When they talk about one another to anyone they refer to each other as brother and sister. Heather also talks to him alot. Just a little update on the grandchildren. 3 boys and 1 girl.

Eric & Kaleb

Hi Michelle this is Terri sending you info you requested from Tom. It very rarely snows in NC and if it does the State shuts down. They do not have the equipment to clear it. My son Eric was in the Marines and he also was stationed in NC but it was in Cherry Point. He was in Crash/Fire/Rescue so this is an Air Base. He is home now and is divorced and has a son (Kaleb) who is 3 soon to be 4 in January. There was one year that NC got some snow and the base shut down and Eric did not know because it was only about an inch. He got into the car and drove to the base once he go to the base they told him everything was shut down and they asked him to stay because he was there, and why did he come in. He told them that the snow was nothing. He is used to driving in 32 inches of snow in one storm. Yes it is humid but it should start cooling down a little and the humidity should be going away soon. Hope this helps.

Terri & Dave in Hawaii 2006

Here is Dave & I in Hawaii last August. Loved it we had so much fun. We spent two weeks. One week on Oahu. Yes we did all the tourist things. I even climbed Diamond Head, man I will never do that again. We were right on Waikiki Beach. The second week we went to the Big Island and that was not as busy. We did walk down to where the lava cut off the road that goes around the island and walked halfway down to where the lava is flowing into the ocean. We only went halfway the steam was coming right at us and it is somewhat toxic so we did not go any further. All and all it was great but after the airplane it will be awhile before I or we go again.