Nico, Amy, Ashley, my heart is broken with your grief at having to say good bye to your beloved wife and mother. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share my memories of my precious friend, Christine. I was an American Peace Corps Volunteer serving in the Seychelles. After about a year there, I was desperate for a close friend, a girl friend, someone I could share the challenges with of being ex-pat. Within a week of “ declaring” this need, I met Christine on the bus. Turns out we were neighbors! And despite her hesitation to befriend an American ( we are all arrogant, right?) and my wariness of Brits (snobs, no?), we became fast friends. I soon met Nico and she met my husband, Tom, and we spent the remainder of our time on those magical islands together, the four of us. After moving back to the States, we were delighted to have Christine and Nico come for a visit. Christine was insistent on visiting Cherokee, NC as she had a keen interest in Native Americans. My work now is with the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and I feel certain Christine influenced that path. During the years when she and Nico were in Lesotho and Botswana, Christine, Susie, my former college roommate, and I began a writing group in which we wrote on a given topic and shared on writings with each other. This was done using snail mail only!! Christine was an exquisite writer. I can only imagine what a phenomenal teacher she must have been. For me, she was and will always be one of the kindest, most non-judgmental, loyal of friends. I will treasure the time we had together, knowing that she changed me in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, and I am a better person for it. May her beauty and love live on in all who knew her.