Last year I did a series of posts leading-up to Bakersfield and then fell off the blog wagon. This year’s an opportunity for redemption. Last Friday I pack up the Audi, pick the boys up after Jacob’s soccer tryouts, and drive two-and-a-half hours to where Southern California’s rec soccer youth’s…
Nate plays a lot of soccer. Just ask Uncle B. Late last year, he generously came to help with shuttling the boys around. Explaining Nate’s practice schedule was like trying to understand Brett’s career path in the fire fighting system. I’ve been trying to follow it for years but just never really…
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. And when I woke-up I had this almost instant recollection that James and I got engaged on Valentine’s Day. He’d never really bought into the holiday. Hallmark holiday blah blah blah. But he thought that maybe if he proposed it would change his mind. It didn’t…
I was expecting last week to be a hard one. I knew once the celebration was over, the weight of James’ absence and the rest of our lives would spread out before us. But dude, it was a WEEK. And to be honest, I’m still recovering… Monday: After school Jacob…
A long, long time ago… back when getting email was thrilling and Amazon was our favorite rainforest, I lived in a townhouse with Alesia, Jenny, and Karen. Melanie lived next door and Jill was always over. The townhouse was just around the corner from Nate’s school. I was eighteen, it…
James Patrick Terra Fucillo was born on June 25, 1975 in Merced, California. He passed on December 20, 2022, at the age of 47, after a six year journey with cancer. James grew up in Atwater, California with his mom and dad, Kathy and Vince Fucillo. He had a special…
Today it’s raining again. We got a brief taste of blue skies and our weather apps are full of little sunshines without emoji clouds, but my rain boots and my Banff coat tell another story. I’m currently tucked into a coffee shop booth as my car is serviced and I…
A big thanks to everyone for your patience as we’ve traversed California during the final weeks of the holiday break. Yesterday was the day “Back to Life… Back to Reality” was on a continuous loop in my head. And today was the day I had to do some hard things. After dropping…
Over the holidays, we noticed a new sign up on one of our local hills. Just behind Taco Temple, and not far from where kindergartner Nate thought “God was buried.” In his defense, on the mountainside there’s an enormous cross made of rocks surrounded by stones stacked in the shape of what…
Clothes have power. The first day of school. An interview suit. A soccer uniform. Deep down, James knew. He was a quiet ambassador for this power. He harnessed it to make countless friends and to build connections with a community. After his initial diagnosis and the surgeries and treatments, he…