To Kate
 
I still can hear your voice:
Your measured arguments and firm persuasions. Your sense and sensitivity. Your laughter.
 
I still can see your face:
Those warm brown eyes and the smile of contentment the last time I saw you. Your obvious sincerity. The sometime soft pink lipstick - because there are occasions when we women just want to feel different.
 
I still can see your place:
Your books, your collected quotes and articles of things that mattered.
Your treasured family heirlooms and nurtured plants on the windowsill, pots on the stove. The busyness of a life well lived.
 
I still can feel your vibes:
Your energy to foster better ways to live, to trade, to connect with others.  A kinder society. Your zest for life and new horizons, embracing change as something good.
 
I still respect your caring:
Your empathy and little gestures of kindness, gifts to never be forgotten. Inseparable friendships and those which didn’t need constant attention to give them meaning, value: your friends were in your thoughts and you in theirs.
And central to your life - your family.  So very loved, you were SO proud.
 
I still can read your words.
Because I keep your cards and messages, the intricacy of your thoughts and fluency of style straight from your quick mind. Kate, you ray of sunlight … I will always remember you and your special ways.