Lost a friend today; a lovely woman. Lydia Gardner was a buddy of many years. No matter what was happening to her, she found the amusing side to her circumstances be it dating, running for political office or fighting cancer. I didn’t know she was dealing with another round of the disease. I’m glad I didn’t. Surely I would have looked and talked to her differently when I last saw her a few months ago. Instead, she and I did our normal verbal dance of gossip and giggles, genuinely enjoying each other, same as always.
To her core, Lydia was a teacher. After hearing of her illness and her quiet departure, I have once again learned from her -- the lesson of integrity and grace.