PEABODY — Grief is rarely graceful.
It arrives messy and disorienting, chaotic and all-consuming. It lingers in old memories, unfinished conversations, and the painful effort to hold onto someone after they are gone.
Earlier this winter, seven crew members aboard the Gloucester-based Lily Jean fishing vessel went missing, leaving their family and friends grieving over the shocking tragedy.
Those crew members were identified as: Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, captain; Paul Beal Sr., crew; Paul “PJ” Beal Jr., crew; John Paul Rousanidis, crew; Freeman Short, crew; Sean Therrien, crew; and Jada Samitt, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries observer.
Rousanidis, who died at 33 years old, was born in Salem and raised in Peabody until he was 8. He spent the rest of his childhood and young adulthood growing up in Greece before returning to Massachusetts. Rousanidis is survived by four sisters: Paula Rousanidis, Keri Rousanidis, Irene Rousanidis, and Lisa Russo; two brothers: Michael Brown and Paulo Rousanidis; and his mother, Ann Rousanidis.
As a way to honor her brother’s life and work through her grief, Keri Rousanidis has published a short, 14-chapter book called “A Life Too Big For This World: The Life of John Paul Rousanidis.” The book is available on Amazon.
“I just want people to see who he really was and not just (remember him) through the tragedy,” Keri said. “I want people to connect with him and see how he lived and how his life was, and not just how it ended.”
The book expands upon John’s life beyond the fishing industry through his sister’s memories.
“He was on a fishing vessel, yes, but he wanted more to life,” Keri shared. “He eventually wanted to get enough money to walk away from the fishing industry. He wanted to live up in Maine, have a family, eventually have kids, get married. He wanted a different life after that because fishing, yeah, it did bring good money, but he also wanted something better for himself as well.”
“A Life Too Big For This World” begins with childhood memories, dives into their lives in Greece, and tells his tale through details from John’s military service, his hobbies, his personal strength, and, of course, his wild spirit.
Keri described her brother as someone with a magical presence, someone who was free, fearless, and unbelievably funny.
“He didn’t just ride through life. He raced through it, full speed, no brakes, making everyone around him laugh along the way,” Keri wrote in Chapter 2.
In Chapter 3, and throughout the work, Keri explained just how close she was with her brother.
“We were like glitter and glue, always stuck together, always leaving a little bit of chaos and fun behind us,” she wrote.
Keri recalled that she and her brother were inseparable. From snow forts in the winter to playing cops and robbers, she said it didn’t matter what they were doing — so long as they were together.
Beyond the impact John had on Keri’s life, the book also emphasizes the impact John had on his other family members, friends, and the world at large.
Everywhere he went, John attracted people with his “magnetic energy” that made people feel “comfortable, warm, (and) seen.” Keri noted that people were often drawn to him because of his aura, his smile, his laughter, his kindness, and his hospitality.
“I want them to remember how good of a person he was,” Keri said. “He would help people, make them feel like family. For his good heart, his generosity. He was a good brother, a good uncle, a good son.”
John’s book ends not in chronological order, but instead with photos of, and with, the people who loved him most. By the final pages of “A Life Too Big For This World,” readers are left with a simple yet powerful message: John was deeply loved, cherished, and his absence will be felt for many years to come.
Through this book, Keri hopes the pages offer proof that love does not disappear, even after loss.
