I was asked by my aunts and uncles to deliver the Eulogy at my Grandfather's Funeral.  4 days later, here is what I came up with.  

Eugene Valcourt, Father, Grandfather, Great-grandfather. 89 Years old. Born September 15th, 1919, Passed Away April 20th, 2009. Of the 6.7 Billion inhabitants on the planet, most would hear that statement and say "I'm sure he lived a good life". But for the people here today, both physically and spiritually, I say "He lived a extraordinary life".

For the short time I have been on this earth, I've had my share of role models,

Eugene Valcourt, 89, husband of Adrienne (Gervais) Valcourt, of Groton, formerly of Westford, died April 20th in Westford. He was born in St. Rose du Degele, Canada September 15, 1919, a son of Baptiste J. Valcourt and Marie L. (Beaulieu) Valcourt.

He served in the United States Army, in the 3606th Ordnance Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company, in ground combat in Iwo Jima and received the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal and the Asiatic Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon.  He was honorably discharged October 31, 1945.

Prior to his retirement, he worked for the Abbot Worsted Company in Westford, the Custance Brothers Painting Company in Lexington and Florian Woitowicz Carpentry in Westford.  Mr. Valcourt was a member of the Franco American Club and the VFW Mattawanakee Post 6539, having served as a Past Commander.  He enjoyed woodworking, gardening and caning chairs.  

Besides his wife Adrienne, with whom he would have celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary, he is survived by five children; Dennis Valcourt and his wife Rebecca, Jane Lamy and her husband Leo, George Valcourt and his wife Paula, Suzanne Ricard and her husband Garry, Margaret Collins and her husband Alvin, ten grandchildren; Cynthia Phelps and Brian Lamy, Michael and Matthew Ricard, Jeffrey, Jamie and Ryan Valcourt, Lisa Aho and Heather Picariello, and Andrew Collins, eight grandchildren, Jacob Ricard, Nicholas and Olivia Valcourt, Abigail Phelps, Caleb and Brody Lamy, and Arianna and Anthony Picariello.  2 Step Grandchildren, Alvin Collins and his wife Jennifer, Karen Madden and her husband Thomas, 2 Step Great Grandchildren Kayla and Tyler Duarte.  He was pre-deceased by ten brothers and sisters.

VALCOURT visiting hours will be on Thursday, April 23rd from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the HEALY FUNERAL HOME, 57 NORTH MAIN ST., WESTFORD. His funeral mass will be celebrated Friday, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Catherine's Church, 107 North Main St. Westford., followed by burial in St. Catherine's Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, friends may make memorial contributions in his name to the Alzheimer's Association , 311 Arsenal St., Watertown, MA 02472. or the Groton Ambulance Fund 173 Main St. Groton MA 01450 FUNERAL DIRECTOR J.A. HEALY SON, WESTFORD. 978.692.6502.

An online guest book has been created to share memories. 

Yesterday as I departed from work, I sent out a simple message on Twitter to my followers:

This morning as I signed on line, a number of replies had come in with regards to my message. Most people suggested doing all three. This of course got me nowhere in my decision making process. I’m sure it’s possible, but I can’t begin to imaging buying a house, going to graduate school, and starting a business all at the same time.

One reply though came out of the blue from 

So over on Facebook, a new meme has been brewing for a few weeks now.  Someone creates a list of 25 random things about themselves, posts it to their profile as a note, and tags 25 of their friends in the note.  Those 25 people are suppose to do the same.  I figured I would post it to my blog for all to see, but it's being cross-posted to my Facebook profile as a note.  Here are the 25 random things about myself...

1. I have been a Boy Scout since I was 6, and can't imagine what the last 17 years would have been like if it were not for the adventures and people I have met in that time. Life long friendships have been forged in this time, and the person I am today is a result of my involvement in the Boy Scouts.
2. I realized while writing this, that I will be 23 this year. This absolutely scares the crap out of me to no end.
3. Going into college, I had no clue what I wanted to major in. My family all but pushed me towards majoring in Business. Looking back, I still have no clue what I want to do.
4. I have never really failed in life at anything to the point of needing help to be picked back up. For this, I am not grateful. I wish to fail at least once in the next 2.5 years so I know what it feels like, and get a greater appreciation of things in general.
5. My immediate family is far from being normal, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
6. I am home brewing beer in my spare time. I've found it to be an interesting, yet challenging skill.
7. In my final year of college, I contemplated relocating to the SF Bay area, or the Raleigh-Durham, NC area. In the end, I decided that New England was the place for me, and I'll probably keep it that way.

Alright, I admit it. I haven’t exactly updated this blog of mine in the past month. It has been a busy month though. Between the extra commuting for work, an out of town weekend to New Jersey, and good ol’ Turkey Day, there hasn’t exactly been a lot of spare time. Good news is I’m beginning to have a bit more time on my hands since December has begun.

The biggest thing has been my relocation of offices for work. The re-organization at work finally finished up, and I’m now officially working for Schneider Electric directly. I was able to move back to my old office building in Billerica the Monday after Thanksgiving, so my commute has officially been cut to 20 minutes (from 2 hours) one way. I’ve been able to see a bunch of old friends who I use to work with when I was in IT, so all and all it’s been a much less stressful time since I’m not driving 4+ hours a day.

That’s it for now. I’ve got a new hobby up my sleeves that I’ll fill everyone in on in the coming days. Let’s just say that I’ve just joined the ranks of a number of our founding fathers of this country. If you think you might have a guess of what the hobby might be, shoot me an e-mail.