Just a quick note. I enjoyed our visit by phone yesterday. so good to know how well Miki was loved by you and Bev. She is now playing bridge in the best game ever with Regina as her partner. My email is sbritt1@nycap.rr.com. Call whenever or email. Loved talking to you.

Marie, you have all been such wonderful friends to Miki. I was at the funeral in spirit. I drove by the grave site afterwards and actually happened to take a remembrance walk at Wonderland Lake that day. :) Sending love to all of you. She was an awesome woman and friend to us all, especially you, Patty, Beverly, and Lynn. How sweet Paige came. She touched many lives.

Thank you Marie. You are amazing. Sending love & hugs to you and Miki in spirit.

Thank you for everything you've done, Marie and All.

I'm posting this note that I sent to Miki in hospice. I don't know if she saw it. It's a very different view of her life, but shows the same qualities we all love.

Dear Miki,
I'm very sad to hear that you have reached the end of the road. I want you to know that a long time ago you were a very pivotal person in my life.

I remember in detail how we met. It was the first day of classes in our first year of high school. My junior high school years were very difficult for me socially, and I feared that high school might be the same. You may remember that a few days before we met, my mother had a nearly fatal auto accident and was still in critical condition. I really needed a friend. Also, since it was eighth period, I wanted to sit close to the door to get out quickly, but I didn't want to be so obvious as to sit in the closest seat to the door. The closest non-obvious seat was one row back, next to you, and as I looked around to choose a seat, you smiled at me. That smile became the defining event of my high school years.

The homecoming dance was six weeks later. I remember how hesitant I was to ask you to go with me, and later realized that you were waiting for me to do that. We had our, and my, first date on October 20, 1962. That was also the day that my mother came home from the hospital. Before the dance, I said to my mother, "I think I have a girlfriend". A few weeks later was the backwards dance. You invited me, and kissed me on my back porch at the end. Many happy times followed.

We both valued intelligence highly. You once told me that you were intelligent, but not an intellectual. By then, I knew you were a word person, and I understood the distinction, but was never quite sure that you were right. One time, when we were discussing our friend Leslie, you said she was worried that she was going to be "sweet 16 and never been kissed". I replied, "How can that be? She's really smart!" You informed me that that isn't always an asset. Well, it always has been to me.

I used to daydream through the morning PA announcements, missing most of them. You let me know that I really should take the PSAT and the National Merit Scholarship tests, which I had not heard announced.

I'm still deeply affected by seeing the numbers on Don Metcalf's father-in-law's arm. Never again.

All of these things have had valuable and enduring effects on me. I will remember you forever. Thank you for the sharing of our lives during those years.
Jeff

Miki and y’all were surrounded in spirit by throngs who loved her❤️ We were all present across Holy Ground just “holding place” with love❤️ Sooo appreciative of those who were there and could give voice to our love and loss😘

Marie, Thank you for all of the support you've provide to Miki, and for arranging her burial. It was Paige Orgel who was at the graveside. Paige, I want to thank you so much for sharing memories of Miki with all of your classmates, and for being there! Miki loved teaching and she LOVED her students. It makes my heart happy to know you were there for all of us, and spoke some words of remembrance for Miki. Showing up is a powerful expression of love and community, and it is good and right that Wake Law showed up for Miki through you.

Marie, Every word that you've written about Miki has been so filled with the love you have of her, that it always makes me feel that SHE knew it, and that it had to be of enormous comfort to her, especially near the end when she knew where the path she had chosen for herself would lead. Your words and description of the way you, and her other close friends, said goodbye was also filled with the kind of respect that a woman like Miki so deserved, but that so few ever receive. I am so proud to be brother to a woman who has given her dear friend the kind of love and respect that so filled her directly from her heart.
And, I thank you for allowing me inside to be able to share this.

I was with you in my heart and thoughts Tuesday! Pain is pain and you will always have it where Miki is concerned. It just grows to a different level of acceptance. We never forget, but finally, after time, and that time frame is different for each of us, we start to Smile when we think of those Special People, Pets, and even Places that STILL hold a Special Place in our Hearts! I still miss Terribly People who have been gone for years! I still MISS Deeply Dogs that I LOVED and wish they were still here, but alas, never will be again. I can now Smile and Remember ALL the Joy they brought me, and am GLAD they touched my Life! Miki will ALWAYS be in Your Heart Marie, and the fact that You met Her, Loved Her, and UNDERSTOOD Her, will carry You through the coming Years..... and COMFORT YOU!!

Marie, what a beautiful article you just wrote. I was wiping away tears as I read it. You were such a marvelous friend to Miki, and I hope your grief will ease a little . You have such wonderful memories and experiences with Miki. She touched all of our lives with her bravery and goodness. God bless you and give you peace.

So glad she was surrounded by so much love. Thank you all so much for being there for my friend Miki.
Stay well!