Sheila Lives

Sitting in my office and looking at Sheila's iconic "dancing" picture posted next to my clock -- always makes me skip a breath, silently think her name, wonder what might have been -- if she had lived. It is more than unlucky to get a terminal disease when you are young -- and especially if you have lived the kind of measured careful thoughtful life that should have earned you extra decades, instead of lost ones.

I loved Sheila then -- and still do now. I can't really explain why. The magic that we had was trust, and giving, and trying to understand. I don't know that we were perfect together -- mostly because we were such amateurs at what love really is. Too many times selfishness on both our parts, or reticence, or unsureness, or even fear --interfered with our surface communications. But inside -- we loved. In our hearts -- we loved. In our souls -- we understood what love means. We loved each other.