This photo made me want to give a fun shout-out birthday to a brother-in-law of mine, Jeffrey Black!
Since one of the words I would use to describe Jeffrey is “thoughtful,” I felt it may be a good idea to combine this image of Jeffrey doing what he’s so good at, with some “Thank-yous” and “Congratulations,” as there are a few stories going on here.
What you’re looking at in the picture above is Jeffrey giving out the Kinsey Black Jones Memorial Scholarship to a deserving senior at Hammond School. Whenever Jeffrey presents the award, he does a great job of reminding people about his little sister, who left this earth over 20 years ago.
For context, Kinsey is my late wife and was a teacher at Hammond School before breast cancer metastasized to her liver during the summer of 2001.
Back to the picture: In the foreground is my oldest daughter, Finley, who could tell that I was welling up as her “Uncle Jeffrey” was telling a story about Kinsey and Hammond’s Lower School. Finley leaned into me and held me tightly. You can’t see it, but her right arm is draped across my chest, as she squeezed me until Jeffrey finished his talk.
It was a sweet moment that I wouldn’t have forgotten for a long time, which brings me to one of my “Thank yous.” Shout-out and a heartfelt hug to my friend, Louise Cruea, for noticing what was going on and capturing the moment!
The “Congratulations” of this post goes to Grace Webb! Grace is the 2025 recipient of the Kinsey Black Jones Scholarship. Now that it has been 20+ years, the children of my college classmates (and Kinsey’s) are starting to win the award, which is always pretty special, as they can tell their kids about their relationship with “Mrs. Black/Jones.” (We were only married 11 months, so the last name thing gets confusing). Well done, Grace! Hammond is lucky to have had you as an exceptional student!
The second, “Thank You,” goes to Hammond School. The Hammond family embraced ours during a scary, sad, and terrible time and has always been wonderful to my family and me.
That all said, HAPPY…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEFFREY BLACK!!!
Jennifer, the girls, and I love and appreciate you!!
Franklin
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