Rich, do you know the Jewish custom of Jahrzeit? My understanding is that it is the custom of reading the names of the departed each week, whoever's anniversary of passing it is... so that they are never forgotten. So that they are always celebrated as having been members of the community, interwoven forever. I would hope that seeing everyone's words of last year, once again, brought you more comfort than pain, and that finding the thread back up today helped against the pre-coffee lurch.

By sharing your grief last year, here, you gave the Mudcat the gift of stories. You blessed us all, sweetie.

And ya know what. Someday I bet we'll get a chance to jam together. Whaddaya think, amped-to-the-max electric autoharp and bodhran, striding along as loud and powerful as possible? You up for it?

~Susan