Yesterday, my sister (Stinko) and I spent the beautiful spring sunlight visiting playgrounds (KaBoom!), my new favorite hole in the wall barber shop/ lunch spot (the JuJu Bag) and 1 of our brand new school sites (Lake Terrace). Then we went to Carver/ Penn Field. Last night she sent me this…

chris jones was my husband.  he was born in september 1968 in georgia, i met him in july 2004 in texas and we got married in october 2006 also in texas.  he built things made of wood (and when i say built i mean everything he made was meant to last for a good 100 years or longer) as a hobby.  he drew houses as a living.  we came to new orleans seven months after we got married.  nola is home for me and we wanted to help to rebuild the city after the storm. the best way we could think to do that was to live here, have a family here, and grow old here.  we did not get to do all of that because chris died in july 2008.

for my birthday in 2006 he designed and built me a giant four poster bed.  he searched for weeks to find the right wood.  had his dad help him with the lathe to hand turn all four posts and the filial eggs for on top of them.  i had always wanted a four poster bed.  after he died, i had my brother help me take it apart (which was entertaining for me to watch because there were bolts, and hidden bolts, and screws you couldn’t see that troy had to find).  i loved the bed but i couldn’t sleep in it anymore.  troy kept the wood for me.  one day i knew he’d find a way to use it.

when the AmeriCorps NCCC silver 6  team and jill came to new orleans i got to work with them building KaBoom! playgrounds around the city.  what i didn’t know was that there was a “secret” project they were working on.  one that would mean so much to me.  they and my brother were building benches out of the wood from chris’ bed that would go to a baseball diamond that was to built this spring.  they cut and re-stained and varnished the wood and built two really beautiful (and comfortable) benches for people to use at the brand new baseball field.  the AmeriCorps NCCC gold 3 team and marnie then installed them this spring.  they made a plaque and brought it to my brother that says “in memory of chris jones”.

troy had a rare day off today and he called and asked me to lunch and said he had a surprise for me.  after we ate he drove me around to a couple different places and we ended up at the new baseball field.  we got out and walked around and then came to the benches that silver 6 made.  i recognized the wood.  then he brought out the plaque that gold 3 made and we walked to the back of the benches and he mounted the plaque.

i cannot imagine that chris would not be overjoyed at the re-purposing of the wood he so carefully chose and sanded and stained for me.  he wanted to bring something good to new orleans, because he didn’t believe that the people here deserved so much that was bad.  one of the very first things we ever did when we met was go to my first baseball game in round rock just outside of austin.  since he cannot be here in person to bring good things home i think he will be there in spirit every time a mom or dad  sits on the benches to watch their child play ball or a little brother or sister crawls or lies on those beautiful benches.  i can’t say thank you loudly or longly enough to silver 6 and jill and gold 3 and marnie and especially my brother troy.  what they have done for chris and for me is amazing.  what they all continue to do will be history changing for the city of new orleans and the people who call it home.