Rat Pack

I'm transferring a bunch of data from computer to computer, and I came across this gag picture I threw together after we shot a game on Queens Boulevard. Thought it might be worth a smile...

Today

Thinking of all of the people who felt the loss of such a wonderful person, Denise we miss you. You touched our lives and added to them in a way that we will never truly be without you.
Broadhursts we love you and are thinking of you... Big hugs. xxx

mark on your calendars!

A memorial concert will be at for Denise at Naussau Community College on

Sept. 24th, 2009, we think this concert will start at 8pm.  (I will try and re-confirm the start time as we get closer to the date. ) 

It was so lovely to see so many people at the concert at Hoffstra, I hope to see you again on the 24th.

DR. DENISE BROADHURST!!!!

Congratulations Denise, or I should say Dr. Broadhurst!!! Based on her thesis work, Denise was awarded her PhD posthumously on Sept 30th, 2008 by CUNY (City University of New York, Graduate Center).

She worked so hard to earn her degree and even when things got tough, she still maintained her sense of humour through it all, as demonstrated in this poem she wrote about it. It's just so her and it makes me smile.


Ode to the Ph.D.
Written by Denise Broadhurst

There once was a college co-ed,
who nearly went out of her head.
Trying to get her degree,
the cursed Ph.D.
and she went slightly batty instead.

She tried with all of her might,
an intelligent thesis to write.
But the harder she worked,
the more she got irked,
and alas, the page still remains white.

An original topic she sought,
but could muster nary a thought.
Copland plans came undone,
She was back at square one!
In a battle she’d already fought.

Her musical piece too did shrink,
requiring less and less ink.
From “full orch” to just string,
to quintet (of all things)
both ambition and high hopes did sink.

Support from her schoolmates was lacking,
what she craved was some obvious backing.
Though perhaps they weren’t real,
she had started to feel
that the odds against her were stacking.

So she sank in a pit of despair,
would she never escape out of there?
Dreams of teaching were slipping,
while hamburger flipping
took on a more probable air.

But determined to win in the end,
she enlisted the aid of a friend,
to keep her on track,
and to help nudge her back
when away from her schoolwork she’d bend.

So it’s here that we leave our young student,
with the hope she’ll become much more prudent.
That she’ll maybe, with luck
(and some help) get unstuck
and make in her thesis a new dent.

Join us in a celebration of Denise's life through her music

To honor Denise's memory, the Long Island Composers Alliance will present a concert of Denise's compositions on

September 13th, 2009, at 3:00 pm
at Monroe Hall
Hofstra University
Hempstead, Long Island, New York 11550
(516) 463-6654

All are welcome.

I was in Montana last week, with my family to mourn the passing of my father, but Denise was on my mind a lot, largely because hers was the first loss I experienced in my life that really, genuinely hurt, on a daily basis. But I also thought of her because the family told stories about their adventures at the Montana state fair, and I remember how much Denise used to love to go to the state fair in Minnesota. She'd come back for the first week of school and tell us about it, enjoying the ridiculousness of it all, with that warm, sweet humor she had. I have a photo of her beside my computer, so I look at her face every day, just to say hello. She and I were e-mail pals, and I miss those long, rambling discussions we had (and how amused we were that we worked across campus from each other but did most of our communication in cyberspace). She was wickedly smart, and completely unaware of how brilliant she was. She loved with a full and open heart. And there are times when I feel her presence as if she is still right there, at the other end of an e-mail. The only thing that's missing is her wonderful, insightful, funny reply. But all the love is still there, all around us.