Gratefulness, that I got to see my old friend before she went, grateful that something pressed me to make sure I kept our long overdue appointment days before she kept her last one. Grateful for a lovely, lesiurely meeting, it turned from 11:04 pm to 1:00 a.m. in the wink of an eye and I was bundling into my filthy parka and she was remarking that I looked like an explorer.   Grateful that she seems to have gone peacefully in her chair.

Grateful to have known her, and loved her, and to have been loved by her for so many  decades.   Grateful for the light she shed, and the love of her mysterious calling that she wore so lightly, and by her great example, taught me to wear lightly.  

Grateful that she laughed and agreed when I asked her if she’d mind if I began to hold myself out as her protégé.  She treated it as an absurd request I was playing for laughs.  I was, she had a great laugh, but I was also dead serious.  The woman was a major role model.