Sad day...

[johnpalmer]

I've struggled with depression and fatigue much of my life, and sometimes it's helped me to develop some unusual, and useful, coping mechanisms. One is, I've gotten pretty good at listening - this way I don't have to be as active. It's risky, of course - get caught with a bore and you may regret ever having developed this talent! - but unless I'm really low, I can muster the energy to listen (and be engaged) and most people love to talk. And you can learn a lot about people by what they want to talk about.

One day, I visited pagawne and her husband wcg - but, of course, Bill was at work. And I had nothing special planned to do, so I listened.

What did Paula love? What did she want to talk about? What filled her mind in an odd moment?

People. People, and community. She talked about people, and situations, and how things went here, and there, and how people interacted. There was a powerful sense that those stories belonged to her, and she to them.

I'm going to miss her. My deepest condolences to her family.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Thanks, John.

You're right. She cared about people and communities. If ever a person was made of love and kindness, it was Paula. One of her favorite bits of SF was the Heinlein short story about Mount Shasta, where there was an old woman whose magic was making groups of people work together happily without friction. She wanted to be that woman. Sometimes she was that woman.

[erin-c-1978.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry about the loss of your friend. From when I occasionally read alt.callahans, I remember her being very kind and levelheaded.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

This, exactly.