In Memorium

 

The end of the year seems a good time to remember the dead. Some who were very close to me, whether family or friends. Some who were not so close, but who were in one of my circles, and impactful. Some whose connection to me was ephemeral, but whose life touched me in some way. Some who died after this blog debuted. Some who died years before.

My mother, Carol: The Last Monday Letter and posts that featured her here.

Carol on the Delta Queen. October 2013. Credit: Mzuriana.

My father, Ron: I hold complicated feelings about my father, but as they relate to challenges and opportunities I encountered as an adult, he delivered support in both tangible and intangible ways. With eight children, and, at times, a dog and a duck, not to mention my mom - he was definitely rooted. Except. He had a life-long dream of learning to fly. My dad sustained that dream through a stint with the Air Force, marriage, college, various household relocations, raising and supporting the eight kids, until, finally, he made it happen in his 60s.

 

My father, Ron, and my mother, Carol

Dan Offret in Tucson: A Toast to Dan

Jessica Terrell in Missouri (then New Mexico): Voluntary Simplicity

Judy Ackerman in El Paso, whose orbit I circled through her varied avocations and activist work: hiking, land preservation, voter engagement, women's rights, and pro-choice rights.

Donna Snyder in El Paso, founder of the Tumblewords Project, a weekly writers' workshop - still going strong 28 years later, even beyond her death in 2022. This interview, A Conversation with Donna Snyder: An Advocate and Speaker for the Unseen, published in April 2022, serves as a memorial to some parts to her whole of a life.