Monday, December 14, 2015

Video of the Memorial Celebration

The Memorial Video


We had thought the memorial celebration would run about an hour, but Nick had many friends who had many great stories to share, and so the presentations ran closer to two hours.

My iMovie skills are very basic, and so the best I could do was to cut the video into roughly twenty minute segments, so that the video would load faster and stream better. I trimmed out some of the interstitial commentary between speakers to get to the tributes faster. And so what follows is a loving tribute to Nick from friends and family, presented in 8 Acts. Enjoy.

Act I: The Welcome, Father Frascadore, Chris Dodd's Letter read by Peter Kelly, Peter's own thoughts, Nick's sister Francesca Matthews' letter read by her daughter Fran.
https://youtu.be/OtvXMlgqB2o
Click to view; video should open in new window.
Act II: Lisa Martin, Lew Brown, and Robert Killian Jr.
Click to view; video should open in new window.
Act III: Liz Brown, Sid Holbrook, and Edith Pollock Karsky
Click to view; video should open in new window.
Act IV: Joe Marfuggi, Dick Suisman, and Nick's Granddaughter, Nicky Carbone. Note: There's about a 12 second delay at the start of Nicky's recording. Please wait and it will come in.
Click to view: video should open in new window.

Act V: U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, The Georgetown Chimes singing “Great God of Love,” and Flora Parisky.
Click to view: video should open in new window.

Act VI: Bill DiBella and U.S. Congressman John Larson
Click to view: video should open in new window.

Act VII: Nick's son, Michael Carbone remembers his father. And his mother.
Click to view: video should open in new window.

Act VIII: Nick's son, Nick Carbone, closes the memorial with some final thoughts.
                                         
Click to view; video should open in new window.
  

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

From Congressman John B. Larson -- A Memorial Flag

Our thanks to Congressman John Larson, who attended the memorial on December 5 and brought for Nick's children and his brothers and sister flags that had flown over the United States Capitol building in Nick's honor.

Each flag comes with a certificate that reads:
This is to certify that the accompanying flag was flown over the United States Capitol. 
At the request of the Honorable John B. Larson, Member of Congress, this flag was flown in memory of Nicholas R. Carbone.
The certificate is signed by Stephen T. Ayers, FAIA, LEED AP, Architect of the Capitol.

Here's the flag and certificate framed:


Sunday, December 6, 2015

Thank you Peter Kelly

My father's friend, Peter Kelly, who graduated high school the same year as Nick, did so much for us as a family and friend.

He sang beautifully at the funeral mass held for my father back in September. My sister Barbara was in charge of the music at the mass, and she wanted Ombra Ma Fui sung; she found a wonderful opera singer to do it. Peter coordinated rehearsal time for he and the singer with Cathedral's music director.

He also arranged for the Georgetown Chimes to sing acapella at the memorial, and the when memorial video is up, you'll hear how lovingly sung that was.

But in addition to all that, he helped us put the program together, putting us in touch with Chris Dodd, and with Father Frascadore, two dear friends of my father whose words opened the memorial and set for us the perfect beginning (as you'll see and hear when the video is up).

I had meant to thank Peter at the end, before I set forth with my own thoughts as final speaker, but in the moment and emotion of things, I neglected to do that.

So here and now, let me say on behalf of brothers and sister, thank you, Peter. Your help was a gift of grace and we appreciate it deeply.

Nicky Carbone's Sailing Remembrance -- An Audio Link

Nicky Carbone, Nick's oldest grandchild, became his aide -- driver, appointment keeper, reminder -- both after his attack in 2008 and some years later after his quadruple bypass. In this remembrance, however, she harkens back to an earlier time in her life with grandfather, when she was a small girl and they would sail together.

 She happened to record her remembrance because she's a talented and dedicated stage manager who was overseeing things backstage for a children's theater production of Merry Poppins, a play that involves actors flying. To create the effect, special training on fly system rigging and knowing the play and its timing. A substitute she had found who promised to cover for her went back on his word the day before the memorial, leaving her no time to find a replacement. And so while she couldn't join us, and was missed by many of my father's friends who came to know her from when she spent so much time with him, she was able to gift us with our voice.

 To hear story, follow this link to Soundcloud and press play. Enjoy: https://soundcloud.com/nick-carbone-304604348/nicky-sailing-story

Chris Dodd's Letter -- A PDF Download

Peter Kelly, who has known my father since high-school, read the following letter from retired U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.

The link will open a PDF that you can read online or download.

 It moved everyone who attended to hear it, and more than one later speaker made reference to what Chris wrote.

So here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByxBrKKmQWRsa2ZvTkhrWWJkdFk/view?usp=sharing

Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Memorial Program for Saturday, December 5

You can download a PDF of the program, with updates on speakers made after the program went to press. Click the thumbnail to open the PDF file for downloading.

shows nick in white text on brown background and photo of nick below
Click to get a PDF copy of the program.

Nick's last interview: On passing the 1978 Gay Rights Ordinance in Hartford

On Saturday, June 6, 2015, Nick sat down with Richard Nelson, formerly of the Connecticut Stonewall Foundation, and Jay Deacon, who was the former pastor of Metropolitan Community Church in Hartford when the events took place in 1978, to talk about his role in getting passage of the City Hartford's ordinance that disallowed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as well as race and gender. Passed in 1978, it was the first ordinance of its kind by a city government in the nation.

The full interview is on YouTube as part of the CTLGBT History and Archives Channel.