You know when you’ve been to a funeral and people get up to share? Very often the person who has passed achieves a life much larger in death than they possessed in life. It is human nature to assign sainthood: “Best Dad”; “Best Husband”; “Best Father”, etc. Valerie, on the other hand, was the “real deal”. She was the exception to the rule. words are poor things indeed to convey what an incredible human being she was. She was brilliant and penny bright. Her interest in life and the world around her was eclectic. Her analysis and description of something amazing that she had seen or read about. She loved the beauty of the world around her, the changing of the leaves in autumn on the East Coast or when our group would hike the trails near Lake Tahoe. We called ourselves the “Wild Women of the Woods”. But the very best thing, the most exceptional thing about Valerie, was her gift of making you feel so “special”. She was so “special” and when she spent time with you, she made you feel special. She mirrored back to you your better self, and made you want to be a better person because she made you feel it was possible. She saw only the best in you, which made it possible for you to see it, too.I have never met one person who was so multi-dimensional. She embodied that rare package of a combination of the best attributes all we humans strive for, but was absolutely human in every way. Losing Val is not just a loss, it is an enormous loss. There are only a handful of people like Val. I will never again have someone like her in my life, but was so incredibly lucky to have had her there at all. I hope I can live up to be the “special” person she saw in me. A light has gone out, never to shine on us again. With love & graditude, forever and beyond, Maureen
