It's been really nice to see everybody again, Cindy. I hope to be here more often.

It is completely wrong and stupid, Allyson, but you have pretty hair and no one could do it better. Please hand off everything you can.

Burrell, I'd be glad to help too. Back in the day, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and newly minted reporters wrote the obits, I wrote many, many obits.

I love Ginger more than ginger (and more than MaryAnn, for the record).

Okay, girl, I know I watch more cable channels than most, but I would really like to skip the Jamaica commercials. They're too hurty.

Thanks Cindy. I am going to try working on it now. Maybe right after I pour a wee glass of wine for myself.

Thank you too, Ginger

Pretty hair roll call: Allyson, Kristen, Polgara, Burrell, bon bon, Cindy and Ginger, and if anyone attempts to deny it I shall kill them with someone's pinky. Not mine. Mine are pretty useless for anything but typing.

Alibelle, that is such a great story.

I actually only ever met ita in person at the LA F2F, at prom, when she was full of post-belt-test weariness and I felt too shy to pester her when it was amazing that she'd managed to drag her pounded-on self there at all. And I just assumed there'd be some endless array of F2Fs and visits to LA, and there weren't.

I want to choke the shit out of all her doctors. Even if whatever happened was something that couldn't have been predicted or prevented, all the moments of pain that came before it *were* predicted, with 100% reliably, and absolutely could have been prevented, or at the very least eased.

I have been writing a remeberance of my own, just as a way to help me process this. When it is a bit furthrr along I will be glad to share it in case anyone wants to cannibalize bits of it for the official obit.

Also i have a good ita story that has not been entioned so far, one you may want to share with her sisiter. Apparently at a young age (11 or so?) ita found a child pschology/child rearing book. She read the whole thing and then began applying it on her sister. So, though t heir parent did not know it, ita's sister ha a third parent playing a major role n raising her. Searches are still a bit tough for me, even with the new tablet. I'e optimized it for composition rather than internet browing. But this story is somewhere on the board, and someone may want to search for it. It is such an ita story.

Allyson, you have lovely hair.

Burrell, you also have pretty hair.

It's all wrong and stupid and it should not be.