Hi Mary/Maya and Diane,

Some eons ago, when I was in high school, I had a friend, Valerie. She was completely alive, wore a flower in her hair long before hippies started doing this, and loved everyone. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone behind his or her back; I never knew her to judge.

She was killed in the Managua earthquake. She and her boyfriend had sailed down there and docked the day before. They were sleeping in some cheap hotel when the earthquake hit, and she swallowed her tongue.

Everyone asked, "Why Valerie? She was the most loving, caring, evolved one among us."

I never asked that question, because I knew the answer: that she was the most loving, caring, evolved one among us. She'd done her work here. It was time for her to move on.

I'll see her again some day; in the meantime, I occasionally feel her presence.

And Diane, pets come back to you. When it's time, Chip will come back and you will recognize him as the same old Chip, just in different fur.

Hope this helps,

Cathryn