I have a hard time believing or accepting, what my whole being doesn’t want to believe, that Susan, so vital, so dear, is no longer in our midst.

Susan is perhaps the loveliest and most alive person I have known. Twice I was chatting with Susan on the street when someone I knew passed by. Later they asked me, “Who was that beautiful person you were with?” Susan’s beauty was not like Angelina Jolie or Beyoncé [sp?]: It flowed from inward outward lighting up her being.

When I phoned Susan, it was a pleasure, even when she wasn’t there. Even for the short space of an answering machine message, she couldn’t keep her laughter and warmth out of it.

She was the person in Washington who most appreciated what I was doing. Doubtless other people felt the same.

Goodbye, dear Susan, we loved you and always will. More than words can say, thank you for being here.