Below are some pictures (all taken within the last four years) of some fun moments with Jamin that were captured by camera. I am so thankful for these images now because his crazy faces and exuberance for practically anything will always make me smile.
Ha, ha . . . I don't even know how to explain this picture. The only thing that can make it more funny is knowing that this was taken in the "middle of nowhere" Wyoming.
"Life's Little Book of Instructions" a gift via a matching plaid dad was obviously something that Jamin got a little bit more excited about than the rest of us.
Jamin scanning the "wild blue yonder" - always one to look forward and never back
One of my all time favorites! Jamin, while waterskiing discovered that the string holding his swimsuit up had broken and consequently had to let go of the line and climb back in the boat with one hand holding up his swimming trunks. All of us on shore wondered what was going on. When the boat pulled back up to the dock Jamin stepped out on the dock looking like this . . . . with a giant piece of yellow rope now tied around his waist. He was pretty proud of his ingenuity in a "crisis situation" as he called it, and gladly modeled it for me to take this shot.The following was submitted by Sara Lewis, a friend and fellow Adams house mate during his time at Harvard:
I was part of J.B.'s blocking group at Harvard, I knew him only very little when we decided to block as part of one big group with all the folks from Gray's and me and my one roommate from Canaday (a dorm across the yard). From the second I met J.B. I thought he was one of the nicest, easiest people to get to know, and while I may have been nervous I would get along with some of the other people I had faith that J.B. would be probably the most accepting person in the blocking group. As the years went on and we lived in Adams together, I had a meal with J.B. here and there and always enjoyed his company, and he occasionally challenged my beliefs, because he was so strong and sure in his, and I always appreciated the fact he made me think about exactly what I stood for. To me J.B. was always one of the kindest, most confident and modest persons I have met in my life, and I am honored he was a part of it.
I have trouble imagining a world without J.B., he was an incredible person.
I know its not a shock for many of you to hear that J.B. was a perfectionist. But it may be a shock that J.B. even brought perfection to the table during meals. See whenever we had a meal that included yogurt it was always an experience. It was usually at breakfast when we saw this magnificent feat of perfection. J.B. would grab a bottle of yogurt and would scoot his chair back a little bit from the table. He would then take a deep breath and shake the yogurt vigorously in his hand off to the side of his chair. He would continue shaking it until he was either tired or felt it had been shaken sufficiently. To me it seemed like it was an excess amount when he would shake it that much because I could shake it one or twice and it would be fine. He just had to have it the "perfect consistency" as he would put it. At times it would be very annoying to us especially me in the mornings since I am not much of a morning person some days. My parents would often ask him to stop but it ended up making us all laugh because the way he did it was hilarious. I can still picture him doing that and now as a joke I do it sometimes just to remind myself and my family about how funny he was when it came to his perfectionism.
The following was submitted to us by Carlos Pinedo, 2Lt, USAF who was a fellow ROTC cadet at MIT during Jamin's years in college:
J.B. was an "outstanding" person. Now when I say "outstanding," I don't just mean because of all the excellent things he did, but also because he said "outstanding" a lot.
At MIT, ROTC class always started around 6am on Monday mornings. Now out in the real world that's pretty early, but for college students that is an ungodly hour! To begin, the commanding officers would have us stand at attention for morning inspection. While passing down the line they would usually ask you how you were doing. The expected response "outstanding" was usually delivered more as a grumble than exclamation by most of the cadets. But no one, especially myself, felt outstanding that early on a Monday morning. However to our dismay, envy, etc., whenever the inspector got to J.B. you always knew because out of no where you would hear "OUTSTANDING! SIR!" I bring this up not showcase how lazy and unmotivated I or the rest of the squadron was in ROTC, as most of my friends can attest, but rather to show the dedication and joy that J.B. had for ROTC, the military, and anything else that challenged him in the least. He loved getting dirty, dropping and doing push ups, and was always getting yelled at for having a that smile of his spread across his face.
here was also another thing that J.B. did that I always admired. Even though I went to MIT and he Harvard, we would still run into each other all the time during ROTC, after class, or on weekends. When we did meet, J.B. never gave a simple hello, what's up, or the proverbial head nod. He would not only stop to greet you but would say your name, "Carlos, hey man, how's it going" Just that small thing of saying one's name, of acknowledging who they are, was so amazing. He did it because he genuinely cared about how things were going and genuinely cared for people.
All this comes back to two things. While in college I was expanding upon my own spirituality and learning what it means to be a Christian. From the gospels I learned two important things from the life of Jesus Christ. One was his great love for all, the other his willingness to serve. That's what J.B. did all the time. He loved everyone, and was always willing to help you out, or cheer you up. He never stopped showing that he cared. His also always carried with him a willingness to serve; his friends, family, or this country.
I have tried and failed many times to live up to Christ's example. But J.B. got closer to Christ's character than any other person I have known, closer than any of us could aspire to. We're gonna miss you J.B.!
