Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
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Sunday, April 8, 2012
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November 27, 2003
January 28, 2008
Memories of Leif Garretson, 1975 - 2008
Leif When He Was Happy
November 27, 2003
Leif on his 33rd and last birthday
January 28, 2008
Posts
Total Pageviews
Links about Leif, Things he cared about, and Mental Health Issues
- 42 - Wikipedia
- A US Veteran Dies by Suicide Every 80 Minutes
- ActionQuest BVI Teen Sail
- After Combat, Victims of an Inner War, from the New York Times
- Avatar - The Movie
- Battlestar Galactica
- Battlestar Galactica on scifi.com
- Billion Year Plan
- Bipolar Disorder - Mayo Clinic
- Bipolar Disorder - National Institute of Mental Health
- Black & Tan - Beer - Wikipedia
- BlogBackUpr (Back Up Your Blog)
- Combat Load of the Average Infantry Soldier
- Compulsive Shopping - The Journal of Family Practice
- Considering suicide? How to stay safe and find treatment - Mayo Clinic
- Cyberpunk - Wikipedia
- Daytona Bike Week
- DCUs - Desert Camouflage Uniform
- Depression - Out of the Shadows - PBS
- Depression Resources at about.com
- Depression Screening Test
- Disabled Veterans of America
- Douglas Adams - Official Website
- Douglas Adams - Wikipedia
- EIB - Expert Infantryman's Badge (Wikipedia)
- Find Joy CafePress Shop
- Garretson Class Reconnaissance Scout Ship on YouTube
- Garretson Class Tellan Recon Scout Ship forum
- Greased Lightning - Leif Sings "Greased Lightning" at Antilles High School
- Grief Over Suicide
- Hatrack River - The Official Website of Orson Scott Card
- How Depression is Diagnosed
- How to Help a Bereaved Parent
- How to Help Someone Who Is Thinking About Committing Suicide
- Imagicat - The book
- Imagicat on Amazon.com
- INFJ Personality Type Profile
- INTJ Personality Type Profile
- Jon Bon Jovi - Wikipedia
- Khalil Gibran (Wikipedia)
- Leif Ericson Biography (from ODIN)
- Leif's Facebook Page
- Leif's MySpace Page
- Lilies War XXII - Kingdom of Calontir - SCA
- Little Professor at Datamath
- Lyrics to "I am," I said by Neil Diamond
- Lyrics to "Who Wants to Live Forever?"
- Make Your Own Daruma-san
- Male Depression - Mayo Clinic
- Marion S. Kundiger - Leif's Grandmother
- Meet Harry Hauck
- Men and Depression - National Institute of Mental Health
- Men Get Depression
- Military Jargon, Lingo and Slang
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - Wikipedia
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- New Mom's Changing Brain - Scientific American
- Optimus Prime - Transformer
- Parable of the Prodigal Son (Wikipedia)
- PETA - Trent Rezor's Shocking New Fur Video
- Planetside - Terragen Classic
- Planetside Sci Fi Game
- PTSD - Dept. of Veterans Affairs
- PTSD - Mayo Clinic
- Putting a Face on Suicide
- Quick Depression Test at Psych Central
- Second Amendment - U.S. Constitution - Wikipedia
- Seven Stages of Grief
- Shopping Spree or Addition - webmd.com
- Signs & Symptoms of Male Depression
- St. Petersburg Unitarian Universalist Church
- Star Wars Home Page
- Suicide Leading Cause of Death for Gun Buyers
- Terragen Article - Wikipedia
- The 13th Floor - Wikipedia
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- The Matrix - Wikipedia
- The Ultimate Matrix Collection
- United States Constitution
- University of Michigan Depression Center
- What Ben Franklin Didn't Say About Beer
- Worriers Anonymous CafePress Shop
- You Give Love a Bad Name
- ZAON - Screenshot History of Website
- Zaphod Beeblebrox - Wikipedia
Blog Archive
Leif's Short Obituary
How little an obituary really says, summing up a life of hope, dreams, sadness, accomplishments, disappointments, love, work, family, friends, creativeness, defeat, with a formula of birth, family, work, death. Some papers will allow longer, but still inadequate, obituaries, for a price. Here is Leif's "standard" obituary, but I hope this blog will fill out, even in small snippets, more of the child, man, son, brother, uncle, comrade-in-arms, and passionate believer in the Constitution of the United States that he was. - Jerri
------------------------
Leif A. Garretson, 33, died April 9, 2008 at his home in Tampa, Florida of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Leif, known to many as "Alex," was born at Fort Riley, Kansas on January 28, 1975 and lived in Manhattan until 1976, when his family moved to several places around the world due to his father's military service, returning to Manhattan in 1992. He was a 1993 graduate of Manhattan High School and a 2003 graduate of Kansas State University. He was an avid member of the Society for Creative Anachronism in Manhattan, where he could often be seen in medieval armor on Sundays in the City Park.
Leif was a Medicare Customer Service Agent for Humana and a retired, disabled military veteran who served his country as an army machine gunner and certified armorer from January 1998 to May 2001, with a tour of peacekeeping duty in Bosnia.
He retired with the rank of Specialist 4 and received the NATO Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Machine Gun Bar, Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Pistol Bar, Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar, Marksman Marksmanship Badge with Grenade bar, and several brigade and unit awards.
He is survived by his parents, Peter W. and Geraldine (Jerri) Garretson of Sun City Center Florida (formerly of Manhattan, Kansas); his brother and sister-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Peter A. Garretson and his wife, Darlene, of Washington, DC; his maternal grandmother, Marion S. Kundiger of Sun City Center, Florida (also formerly of Manhattan, Kansas), eight first cousins, two nieces and one nephew.
On April 29, 2008, Leif was inurned with full military honors at the Bay Pines National Cemetery in Bay Pines, Florida, and later that afternoon a memorial service was performed at the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg, Florida, with Rev. Manish Mithra officiating. Leif's family members and friends spoke in his memory.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any contributions in Leif's honor be made to organizations assisting disabled veterans and requests that you thank service members you see in uniform for their patriotism and service to our country.
------------------------
Leif A. Garretson, 33, died April 9, 2008 at his home in Tampa, Florida of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Leif, known to many as "Alex," was born at Fort Riley, Kansas on January 28, 1975 and lived in Manhattan until 1976, when his family moved to several places around the world due to his father's military service, returning to Manhattan in 1992. He was a 1993 graduate of Manhattan High School and a 2003 graduate of Kansas State University. He was an avid member of the Society for Creative Anachronism in Manhattan, where he could often be seen in medieval armor on Sundays in the City Park.
Leif was a Medicare Customer Service Agent for Humana and a retired, disabled military veteran who served his country as an army machine gunner and certified armorer from January 1998 to May 2001, with a tour of peacekeeping duty in Bosnia.
He retired with the rank of Specialist 4 and received the NATO Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Machine Gun Bar, Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Pistol Bar, Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar, Marksman Marksmanship Badge with Grenade bar, and several brigade and unit awards.
He is survived by his parents, Peter W. and Geraldine (Jerri) Garretson of Sun City Center Florida (formerly of Manhattan, Kansas); his brother and sister-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Peter A. Garretson and his wife, Darlene, of Washington, DC; his maternal grandmother, Marion S. Kundiger of Sun City Center, Florida (also formerly of Manhattan, Kansas), eight first cousins, two nieces and one nephew.
On April 29, 2008, Leif was inurned with full military honors at the Bay Pines National Cemetery in Bay Pines, Florida, and later that afternoon a memorial service was performed at the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg, Florida, with Rev. Manish Mithra officiating. Leif's family members and friends spoke in his memory.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any contributions in Leif's honor be made to organizations assisting disabled veterans and requests that you thank service members you see in uniform for their patriotism and service to our country.
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A mother's quest for memory and understanding of his life and suicide.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my son, Leif Ashley Garretson, and to my quest to understand his life and death.
The photos on this blog were taken mostly by me or by Leif's father, Peter W. Garretson, but others were taken by my mother and sisters. I thank them for allowing me to use them here.
Leif or Alex?
Leif's given name was Leif Ashley Garretson. He was named Leif after the Norwegian Viking Leif Ericson, and Ashley after the famed anthropologist Ashley Montague.
The pronunciation of Leif was an issue with Leif. In America, people are taught to pronounce it like "leaf," but he didn't like that. In Germany, where we lived for three years during his childhood, it is pronounced "life," which is how we pronounced it until he was grown. In Scandinavian, it is pronounced "layf," and that was how he wanted it to be pronounced.
One amusing incident took place when he was serving in Bosnia and they had an activity with some Norwegian NATO troops. He took out his ID card, held it up (in front of his American soldier buddies) and asked the Norwegians how to pronounce his name. He was gratified when they said "Layf"!
A lot of people knew Leif as "Alex," and some of his friends, and his dad, still call him that. That nickname came about because when he was about seven and annoyed with people calling him "leaf" or "life" he wanted a nickname. We were moving from Japan to Hawaii, so he and his brother, Peter Anthony, thought that would be a good time to make the change because no one would know him by his real name at the new place.
They chose "Alex" because they enjoyed the show, "Family Ties," and the star was "Alex." Leif used that name from then until about 1998.
There were short periods when he tried out other nicknames, like "Ash" (from his middle name, Ashley), and "Crispy," which I think (but am not sure) came from his love of Crispy Treats. When he was a senior in high school, he contemplated legally changing his name to "Lance Alexander," but he never did it.
He started going back to Leif when he was in the army.
The pronunciation of Leif was an issue with Leif. In America, people are taught to pronounce it like "leaf," but he didn't like that. In Germany, where we lived for three years during his childhood, it is pronounced "life," which is how we pronounced it until he was grown. In Scandinavian, it is pronounced "layf," and that was how he wanted it to be pronounced.
One amusing incident took place when he was serving in Bosnia and they had an activity with some Norwegian NATO troops. He took out his ID card, held it up (in front of his American soldier buddies) and asked the Norwegians how to pronounce his name. He was gratified when they said "Layf"!
A lot of people knew Leif as "Alex," and some of his friends, and his dad, still call him that. That nickname came about because when he was about seven and annoyed with people calling him "leaf" or "life" he wanted a nickname. We were moving from Japan to Hawaii, so he and his brother, Peter Anthony, thought that would be a good time to make the change because no one would know him by his real name at the new place.
They chose "Alex" because they enjoyed the show, "Family Ties," and the star was "Alex." Leif used that name from then until about 1998.
There were short periods when he tried out other nicknames, like "Ash" (from his middle name, Ashley), and "Crispy," which I think (but am not sure) came from his love of Crispy Treats. When he was a senior in high school, he contemplated legally changing his name to "Lance Alexander," but he never did it.
He started going back to Leif when he was in the army.