Portrait # ONE

To many in our circle and adjacent circles; It has come as a shock to hear of the passing of Alana Markowitz. A Newport resident, business owner and friend to many. She was my wife and best friend. This is my first attempt at painting the portrait of her life and achievements. There will be many shots at this. Call it therapy… fine. It’s rough and raw around the edges but it’s a start.

 

The woman I love was born in Putnam CT, on the 30th of July 1985. A date which thought our relationship came to mean summer fun and a good party. Alana was never one to miss out on an excuse to have a party. Especially if it was for her, or somebody she loved, OR if she just felt like being a little reckless on a Thursday night. She could not resist the pull of the moon lining up her favorite restaurant and bar and music. Life with Alana was a party!

 

She was the daughter to Doreen (Mama Dee!) and Max. Both parents were immensely influential in her upbringing in very different ways, and were a critical piece of her becoming a kind, sympathetic, gentle, loving, adventurous, fierce and independent adult who blew me away the night we met, with a second to none, impersonation of a seagull stealing chips. What a legend!

 

Her grandparents on both sides were also key players in her upbringing. She spent a good amount of time with them all and picked up some key traits along the way; from culinary skills (Italian, Portuguese and Jewish); to business strategy and wisdom; to the most important skill of all… “knowing how to enjoying a day in Jamestown Rhode Island.”

 

After graduating high school with the prom queen crown on her head, she went to Salve Regina. Her love affair with Newport Rhode Island began here. Despite being a bit of an odd duck compared with the usual Salve cookies, she made a whole heap of good friends & great laughs; she fine-tuned her critique of basic bitches to a razors edge and even got suspended for smoking pot before it was cool. She was a bit of an awkward trailblazer without even trying. Don’t even get me started on her student activism fling during the Bush days.

 

She was FUNNY as FUCK! This trait was the number one thing I loved most about her. She always made me laugh, even when we were in the middle of heated argument. She was proud, stubborn, confident, persuasive and not one to walk away from a good fight; a trait that made me love her even more. ADD couples need a little heat to get the dopamine flowing. This mellowed out (on both sides) as we grew up together, but she always had that fire. Fire and humor are traits she has passed to her daughter, Travy, who has no problem whipping them out like a cowboy in a shootdown. OH my god!

 

She was my fiercest critic and occasional armchair coach. Always supporting the good/crazy ideas, and roasting the bad ones. The BANTER was world class, especially when there were other friends involved. The Banter. MAN. The Banter. I will miss her witty conversation.

 

Her cackle and her singing. The way her right eye wondered after a few drinks.

 

After Salve she became a house mom at Boys’ Town where she perfected her love of the naughty ones. This served her well when she became a teacher at Paul Cuffe in Providence.

But if the truth were to be told, being a teacher really was not for her. She longed for adventure.

 

That was where we worked. I was her muse to adventure. She would never admit it, and would yell at me for saying it, but that’s my truth.

 

The night we met, she lied to me. She claimed to be somebody who she was not. Mary or something like that. She loved a bit of mischief. That lie and mischief blossomed into a laugh, which started our relationship that turned into 11 years of marriage, companionship and our daughter. Sweet little lies.

 

Live music. Tom Petty. The Grateful Dead blaring out of her blue Chevy Aveo.

Driving around New Zealand listing to the Traveling Willberries. Her outrage at my “crap” taste in music. Making love in a canoe. Laughing at farts. Imitating fart sounds. Sitting in bed till late in the morning and sometimes even the afternoon drinking coffee. Bullshitting.

 

After I had met Alana, she decided to get into the yachting industry. I had recently got into it. It had taken me a long time due to it being the great recession and also that fact I never really fit the mold. She found a job in a day. I was pissed and impressed. She went from fill-in stew on Enticer to full-time stew on Freedom, a Trumpy motor yacht that had just been restored. She fell in love with it.

 

We went on to become a real couple. Working on all sorts of boats here and there. Till in 2012 we decide to start our own thing. The summer of 2013 we opened the Birdhouse Crew House. It was our first lifestyle business, and provided the money to buy Temma. We got married that fall.

 

Temma became the foundation to the business we went on to grow together. For the first few years it was a fun lifestyle; made mortgage payments; and was a nice intro at parties. BUT Alana dreamt of better. Bachelorettes.

 

Alana showed me the listing for Baywatch on her phone. I laughed at her. She persisted till I found myself stepping aboard. Instantly I went from “NO” to “THIS IS THE ONE!”. She saw the potential way before I did.

 

We learnt to run a small business together. She ran her business with compassion, and fairness. She was a first-class business lady who believed that doing the right thing by the customer and her crew was the best buisnesss policy… it has paid off 100-fold.

 

If Alana touched it. It was fun.

We always had fun.

 

We had it all. Money. Happiness. AND a fucking claw-footed bathtub. OH! and Travy!

 

Travy came into our lives like the storm she blew in on. Red hair and blue eyes. Alana and Travy were soulmates from day one. She loved Travy more than anything in this world. In fact, Travy was her world. A better mother could not be had. She was the best: Loving, Patient, Generous, ever touching, always kissing, her daughters’ best interests ever at the fore.

 

The three of us were a very close family. Mama Dee is/was always there. Alana learnt from the best.

 

At 38 some may say her life was cut short. But she achieved an immense amount, touched the lives of many and loved intensely in the time she did get.

 

She was my best friend.

 

She is and she was Alana.

 

This is my first attempt. It’s FAR from perfect or complete. I think it needs more about her friends and other family members, BUT this is the start and the result of an evening writing bender without food. I will flesh it out and tone it down as I receive the inevitable critique of friends, family and randoms.