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| Kathy Bowman |
It is Halloween and the first of the winter storms has blown in. The Santa Anna winds have already blown down all the leaves and they now lie limp in the streets. No snow here in Berkeley, but it's getting dark early and the wet chill bespeaks an atavistic dread of winter even to us. In addition to the usual last minute errands, we have one unexpected gathering to attend: a memorial to the life of Kathy Bowman, Susie's sister. I married into an extraordinary family of three talented and feisty daughters, their artistic, opinionated mother and shy, scientific father over 30 years ago. Of that family only Judy, the eldest and my Susie, the youngest remain. Most families assign each offspring a special role and Kathy was "the musical one". In Kathy's case, her perfect pitch and a strong sense of rhythm made competition in this arena unwise for the others. Music was her real life. Now she is suddenly, and unexpectedly gone. She died last week of CLL at the age of 61.
We have often heard a slogan from Elvis in St. Lucia which has become our mantra as we struggle with various boat repairs: "If it isn't dead, you can fix it"
Exactly. This you can't fix.
We can escape the winter's gloom by flying away to the tropics. We cannot escape the loss of the sense of invulnerability we had before cancer entered our lives. We will vote and go on November 4th. Life is short. Use it well.
Fair winds,
Lance
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