…that are the church of Jesus Christ. Wherever believers are together you will see the love and the light of Christ. This is my people post. These people came together in love to support my sister Vera and her kids. They came to love one another and to serve one another and to comfort one another.

My sister’s family.

The Bagdanov cousins with a few missing.

Many of the grandchildren with our pop.

Our kids all together for the first time since Dan and Jamie’s wedding.

Dear’s SIL Christina and our nieces Kacie and Annie, with our Dan and Jamie.

Katie and Andrew with cousin Kacie.

Kelly, Christina and Lydia.

Svetlana and Irina.

Tanya and Fred. They are cousins.

John with Nick’s brother in law Alex and sister Nadia.

Nick’s sister Janet with her sons George and Victor. I spent some time with George and Victor in the critical care waiting room at Cedar Sinai and was moved by their love and concern for Nick and Vera. They spent hours at the hospital on Saturday and Sunday and made sure Vera had something to eat and drink.

Diane with my cousin Jim and Jeaneen.

Vera and Lee,  a friend from our days at Evangelical Free Church Huntington Beach.

My cousin Katrina with Jaydee.

Heidi with my cousins Nina and Helen.

Paul, Diane, Vera, Valia, Christine, and George. Valia is my cousin and Vera is her aunt. Paul is Vera’s son. Diane says she and Vera were my Sunday School teachers when I was in kindergarten at Bethany Baptist Church.  Diane and Christine are sisters. George’s parents were good friends of my parents from their time in Iran and after they immigrated to the U.S.A. We were in youth group together, too.

My cousin Tanya and sister Kathy.

Milla with her husband Ron and my girlfriend Shirley’s husband Chuck, friendships that started at Bethany Baptist Church. Milla’s mother and my mom were good friends in Tehran and in the U.S.A.

Cousin and cousin’s of cousins, Milla, Tanya, Manya, Shirley and Vera.

The couple on the left whose names are Nick and Vera met at my sister Vera and Nick’s wedding back in 1969. They started dating and were later married. Fun story. John and my cousin Valia are on the right.

My best friend from Bethany Baptist with her daughter and our son Josh and dil Laura.

Laura, Nicole, me and Heidi.

I missed taking a photo of many others that attended.

There are stories behind the centerpieces Nick’s kids, nieces and nephews came up with for the tables at the reception. Nick was known for his white t-shirts. He was most comfortable in a white t-shirt and shorts. When the weather was colder he enjoyed short sleeved sweatshirts and shorts. If you ever asked Nick for something or thanked him for a meal he prepared at his house for you he would always say “that will be a quarter” or “just give me a quarter”. There was always a small pile of quarters on the kitchen counter. When Lenny asked for Debbee’s hand in marriage he gave Nick a quarter. He had a bag of quarters in his car just in case Nick didn’t think one quarter was enough for permission to marry Debbee. At the wedding when Nick handed Debbee over to Lenny at the end of the aisle Lenny handed him a quarter.

When I walked up to the casket with my sister Vera she placed this quarter in Nick’s hand. Tears were flowing…