Participation in Holiday Homes Tour helps family cope with recent death

When a loved one dies, family members often try to keep themselves busy as a means of therapy. The O’Brien family in Westlake Village is doing just that.

After 33-year-old Jamie O’Brien died of ocular melanoma (cancer of the eye) the day before his birthday in July, his parents, brothers, extended family and others decided to participate in the Wellness Community Valley/Ventura Holiday Homes Tour as a means to help other cancer victims and cope with their own loss.

“This is the first time that we’ve been asked to be involved in this (Holiday Homes Tour),” said Susan O’Brien, Jamie’s sister-in-law. “It just happened to be the right year because Jamie passed away in July. The proceeds (of the tour) go to the Wellness Community, which helps cancer victims and their families deal with cancer.”

Susan said that an acquaintance who is with Wellness Community approached her in June, when Jamie was struggling with his cancer, and asked if Susan would be interested in having her home in the Holiday Homes Tour. She and the O’Brien family thought it would be a great way to deal with Jamie’s cancer and they agreed to participate.

Jamie’s family includes his twin brother, Colin, his older brothers, Rob and Chris (Susan’s husband), and Jamie’s parents, Carol and John. John O’Brien is a former Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station commander.

“(The Holiday Homes Tour) has kind of been a blessing in disguise,” Susan said. “This has been a really tough time for everybody, and when we hooked onto this thing, everybody just decided to get involved. For instance, Chris’s mom took a room and decided to decorate it. Chris’s grandmother, who is 80 years old, is helping out. Chris’s aunt also took a room. We all kind of separated the house to make it less intimidating.”

Each Holiday Homes Tour house must have a theme, and the O’Brien house theme is “A Christmas Party.” The rooms are decorated as if the hosts are expecting guests for dinner. Tables are set (one for kids, with candy canes and other goodies, another for an elegant Christmas feast), the recreation room and bar area are prepped with drink glasses and more, and other rooms have equally festive setups.

“Our house is very entertaining-friendly,” Susan said. “That’s why we originally bought it.”

The O’Brien family has enjoyed working on the holiday house not only for the creativity involved, but also for the business of the work, according to Susan.

“This has been therapy (for the family),” Susan said. “It’s keeping everyone busy, keeping everyone shopping—it’s doing things so that every minute of every day isn’t thinking about Jamie. (The family has) something else to focus on.”

The O’Briens have spent about $5,000 on decorations for their home, according to Susan.

“We’ve only lived in this house for a little over two years,” Susan said. “Usually people add a few decorations to their house every year, but because we’re so new into this house, we had to start from scratch. We had to buy it all in one year.”

Jamie was diagnosed with cancer last Feb. 15. The doctors told him he had about six months to live, according to Susan. Doctors tried chemotherapy and other treatments, but nothing helped. The cause of Jamie’s cancer was unknown.

“Jamie was such a great guy,” Susan said. “He drew for ‘The Simpsons.’. . . He was so talented. He used to come to my son’s classroom once a year and do an art lesson for all the kids. He’d show them how to draw all ‘The Simpsons’ characters.”

Susan said Jamie ultimately wanted to be a teacher.

The Holiday Homes Tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat. and Sun., Dec. 3 and 4 at four homes located in the Agoura Hills/North Ranch areas. Tickets are $25 if ordered before the event and $30 at the door. For more information,

call (805) 379-4777 or go to

www.twcvv.org and click on “Holiday Homes Tour.”

The O’Brien house is at 4393 Cresthaven Drive in Westlake Village.