Loving Anne

Today, November 13, 2025, is KEXP’s annual “Music Heals” day honoring the pain of loss and the bittersweet joy of remembering. A few weeks ago, just after Anne’s Celebration of Life, I submitted a request for today for “Transatlanticism” by Death Cab For Cutie along with an accompanying story.

Today, John Richards played it just before 8:00AM. My sister-in-law Rose, who herself is battling cancer, happened to be driving her short commute to work when it came on. She pulled over and recorded it. Just now, I pulled a better quality version from the KEXP streaming archive and made a video (below).

Here’s the full story I submitted:

“I celebrated 20 years of marriage with my wife Anne last June while travelling in Europe. In early August, we attended the Death Cab for Cutie concert at Climate Pledge Arena. Two days later, Anne was struck by a car while crossing the street, suffering severe brain trauma.

Two days after the accident, while at her side in the hospital, I wrote a blog post referencing Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie. It was the first song my daughter requested by name as a 2 year old, except she called it “So Much Closer”. In the hospital, I remarked that the line “I need you so much closer” really hit hard. Anne was in a coma from which she would never emerge. She died 10 days later.

In addition to being a vibrant and loving wife and wonderful mother to our 16 year old daughter Kate, Anne was an incredible educator at Seattle schools, first as a middle school language arts teacher, and then for the past 15 years as the teacher librarian at Bryant Elementary in Northeast Seattle. To say she had impact is an understatement. She instilled a love of reading in hundreds and hundreds of kids, usually with a healthy dose of humor and pizazz. Well over 400 people attended her Celebration of Life at Bryant Elementary in October, including the mayor of Seattle who read a proclamation honoring her. Her sense of humor and giving nature were recurring themes.

I will love Anne always and miss her every single day. I take comfort knowing that part of her lives on inside each person she touched along the way.”