Renee with Denis

Albert with Denis

Meme, Albert, Renee at Denis' Baptism



Pepe & Meme with Denis

Denis with his guitar

In Italy

Front left side  (he dealt with the radar)

Lead guitar for his band "Fried Eggs"

Denis with his mother Renee

Karen & Denis in Switzerland

Denis giving his daughter Nicole away at her wedding (August 2009)

Wow, what a hard post.  This year I learned that my father was diagnosed with a brain tumor and possible lung cancer.  He also has a bleeding ulcer and has strokes and a history of heart attacks.  I don't really keep in close contact with him.  He's has called me a lot more these last few years than I have called him.  I flew out in May to visit him for a week.  It was a tough week.  It was difficult to see my Dad like he is now.  He is bed ridden with the use of one arm only.  Which means he is totally dependent upon others.  He is still sharp and as communicative as a man can be.  He loves to watch hockey and is following the Stanley Cup.  It was one thing that we could talk about.  My life and his are and have been so completely different that I struggled to find something to chat about.  He has a friend that comes over once a week to visit.  They talk model airplanes and a little politics.  I had some photos of him in his youth and had them put on a CD.  We went through the photos and I learned a little bit about him.  I knew he had a band but didn't know what it was called.  I somewhat remember an orange VW bus but not much else.  He grew up in France overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  Being French he was obligated to serve in the military for a couple of years.  My mother and father divorced when I was 4 years old.  He moved back to France when I was 13 or 14.  I saw him two or three times in the next 15 years.  He moved back to Montana after I had moved to Bellingham and again I didn't see him much. He has two children that are quite a bit younger than I am.  In fact his youngest son is only three years older than Isaac my son.  My Dad has done some research on our family tree and traced our family back to 1580.  The family tree paper is almost 10 feet long and is missing Lona.  I brought it back with my and am going to have it copied.  It has on there a man named Pierre Eugene Ducimetiere (du Simitiere).  Apparently he helped design the great seal of America, particularly the motto: E pluribus unum  and the eye of providence.



Denis at his home in Montana (May 2012)