As some of you know, I've had a career in caregiving for people with disabilities, which I'm now winding down.

I just lost a client yesterday: a very sad and unexpected event. This woman, Faith, had a hard life in many ways; she was rescued from an abusive home and lived several years in an institution before arriving at the group home. She has a brother living, but he has pretty much cut off contact with her. Despite her bad luck in the genetic lottery - a mental handicap - she learned as much as she could about her passions, the Spanish language and Latino music. Her housemates and we regular staff were her family for all practical purposes, and she touched us all with her enthusiasm for daily activities, her concern for the needs of her less verbal housemates, her sensitivity to the sad stories she heard on the news, and her interest in our lives and appreciation for our cooking.

I last saw her a week ago when she was fine, but a disease claimed her in the space of a few days, so it was quite a shock. What's there to do but curl up with a guitar and Wayfaring Stranger and Will the Circle be Unbroken?

I've been asked to sing at her funeral, and what is there to sing but Gracias a la Vida? (lyrics here) Even if it is tempting to translate it not as "Thanks be to life which has given me so much" but as "given me so little."

Marion