For Terry Beresford

 I don’t know whether it’s your sense of humor; feisty good-natured and smart,  or your indefatigable being which never tired in its thirst for understanding or your thoughtfulness and kindness and sense of purpose; always larger than yourself, always giving away the most valuable element any of us has, the heart of our self, our passion, that I will miss most.  You have touched the lives of so many, many people.  You have taught us so much.  I have thought lots recently about my mentor, who was mentored by you, and reflected that some rare people are truly born “ teachers”.  Here teacher is meant in its loftiest and most estimable sense.   They show. They enlighten. What is meant, is that some people are oriented to the world to bring forth knowledge and wisdom in themselves and others and their very existence coaxes that light out, nurtures it forth, wherever they are.  Like fire, ready to catch aflame logs in proximity and set ablaze each log’s own light, those people are a bonfire for many.  In a room of hundreds or one, they do it consciously, in their speech, actions, and writing but the most gifted of all do it with their very presence, carriage , manner, and attitude.  Those people are rare gifts.  I cannot help but think of the many logs who considered themselves warmed by your light and the many lives they in turn brightened because of your spark.  They are counted among my most dear.  And in some small way, even amidst this sorrow, I am able to see and hold the good alongside the grief of your passing.  Perhaps that is what I will miss the most;  how you nurtured that little light in all of us.  And how fitting it is, for light continues on far beyond where anyone can ever imagine or contemplate.