I feel so very lucky to have been the last person to see you smile. I'm grateful I had the chance to come visit you on Christmas, along with Manher and Enrique, to sing you Christmas carols, bring you a special homemade dinner cooked by Becky, and adorn you with a colorful lei as we sang a Hawaiian Christmas song. I will cherish this moment with you always. I'm deeply honored to have been with you in your final hours, and to have the privilege of calling you my friend. I love you. I miss you. I will carry you always in my heart.

Your friend,

Minda

-- Karen

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean—

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

—Mary Oliver

Linda

I miss you so much. I feel as though the wind was knocked out of me.

I keep thinking, "I should ask Phyllis... oh yeah." or "I wonder if Phyllis would like...oh yeah."

I know I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I just thought I would have more time. More time to tell you how much I've enjoyed our friendship over the last two decades.

I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your skills and how sorely they will be missed here. You are irreplaceable.

More time to hear you laugh.

I never played a Scrabble game with you. I get beaten by the worst scrabble players, so I know I wouldn't have been challenging enough for your amazing brain.

I will miss your desserts so much!

Please visit me in my dreams, maybe play a game of scrabble with me and let me win (You would likely have replied, "Only in your dreams, Jeanne, would I let you win.")

Visit me in my dreams and make me something with one of your amazingly flakey crusts.

Or visit me in my dreams and say nothing, just visit me, because the idea of not seeing you again is too painful.

-Jeanne

When we hung out the Saturday 12/23 we talked about picking a rehab, and about how hopeful it felt that you qualified for radiation still. That wasn't a goodbye visit.

I was planning to tell you how much you meant to me. How much I've learned from you over the years building cohousing together. I wanted to ask more questions. I wanted advice on baking, on picking the right meat for the grill, on where to vacation in Florida. That wasn't a goodbye visit.

I went through photos of our trip to Mexico last night. I wanted to look at the photos with you, maybe create a collage or a photo album. Remember the coffee plantation where you got swept up and bought a ton of coffee? And you don't even drink coffee anymore? And how fabulous it was that you just gave me the coffee once we got home?

Goodbye Phyllis. I miss you very much. I love you.

Patti

There once was a tribe called Cohousing

They found each other by browsing

We joined whether brave or naïve

A web of connections, we sought to weave

Around noise-clutter-emotion-design-taste-tolerance, you find your edge

When up against it, you leave or you hedge

I know more than I should about my mates

Does it cause you to expand, or do you deflate?

We are up against ourselves at every turn

We can close down, or we can learn

There is more to gain than we often admit

If only we are open, to let it sit

Such a rich place we have built to be

If we are just open enough, to see

- Phyllis Giuliano

Saying goodbye with all of my heart,

David

After 35 or so years of friendship,

scores of shared beach houses,

countless hours of conversation,

a multitude of meals made and shared,

100s of walks,

many miles on our bikes,

and lots and lots of laughter,

it feels like you left us too soon.

Words cannot express how much we miss everything about you, but especially your smile, your wit, your courage, and your zest for life.

With gratitude for the time we had together,

Barb & Bob

David & Kimberly Leggett

Holding you in my heart,

Amy

I am so sorry that I hadn’t seen you in a long time and now you are gone too soon. As members of our self-described group “the yoginis” for many years, besides yoga with Steffi Shapiro, we shared a multitude of dinners and conversations and many, many group hugs. Here are a couple of pictures from when we all traveled to Oregon in 1997 to visit Laura, one of the yoginis who moved there. You were a woman of many talents and lots of curiosity about different facets of life. I respect what a hard worker and take charge woman you were. And I’m glad that we all loved going to the beach and spent some happy days there. I am glad that you made so many new friends and comrades at JP Co-housing. I know you were an integral part of that group and will be sorely missed by many. May you be completely peaceful in your new form. May you be nothing but Bliss and Joy and feel the Love from those of us still here.

With Love,

Carolyn

Phyllis Giuliano, Presente!

~ María Christina Blanco

Damn -- What I missed!

David (H)