Friday, January 20, 2023
/public-file/87527/Ultra/3cf68723-a5f0-4eba-9886-db3096449771.png
When I think of Joan, I think of laughter, out of the box thinking, perennial learner, risk-taker, and orneriness. Our years of friendship together included telling wild stories around the campfire at her teepee (which she and Wally built), traveling to Greece with Marta, skiing, writing limericks for our colleagues (many were wildly inappropriate), attending the opera -- and so much more. She made my life richer in many ways, including the time she took me in when I was going through a very difficult time. One of my favorite memories -- and a memory that has shaped much of my life -- was when we were in Ireland. We were driving through the hills one evening in a rental car that had an unpredictable gas gauge. It wiggled from full to empty, and I was nervous. We didn't know how far to our destination and I wasn't trusting that we had enough gas to get there. I started voicing my worries when Joan stopped me with this bit of wisdom: "Well, either we'll make it or we won't." We started laughing, I calmed down, and we arrived at our b and b with gas still in the tank.
(970) 235-2444