Like Bill, I've had a hard time deciding what I could add to this. Reading everyone else's wonderful words has been helpful. Thank you, Jerry, your threads are always so memorable and thoughtful.

There are a few specifics where I feel I was in the right place at the right time such as when I kept a little girl from drowning, but I think it is the seeming little day to day to things which have built the foundation of my life and helped me to realise, finally, who I am or, was meant to be.

I didn't know, until the past few years, what being a good listener meant or the value of it when freely practised. I'd always been a good listener, but often it has been job-motivated, i.e. salepeople or emts who are good listeners sell more or have happier patients.

In the past nine years I've come to spend at least 3-4 hours almost everyday on the phone, listening and visiting with friends and family who might be in need, but who also give, in whatever way they are able. I see it as a gift, now, and there is not a day goes by that I don't give thanks for it. There is nothing which lifts my heart more than to hear someone's joy after a good *visit*, esp. if they sounded glum when we first said hello. I used to think this wasn't doing much, just listening, paraphrasing back, figuring out solutions or just comforting and sharing, but I've really come to value it so much.

A couple of the best times I can think of are the ongoing calls I have with my dad, now. He is 86 and slowing down. His childhood memories are close to the surface and through tears, laughter, and sometimes forgetful repetition he shares them all with me. That is a priceless treasure to me. Another is the cousin I helped while her mother was dying. All we did was talk, cry, and laugh together, but the card she sent me after was another priceless expression and a validation of what happens when I follow what my heart tells me.

Friends I've never met in person have shared their deepest held fears, family secrets, abundant joys, longings, knowledge, motivations, sorrows, growth, and experiences with me and I am grateful. It seems a tapestry of the best kind of communication, save maybe that of music shared, and I am glad of it. There is so much to share and so much to be enriched by. Thanks to all who have shared.

kat