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suspected there were more than one hundred people in the room.
    For a long moment, she simply stood at the podium that had been set up for her. She might have stayed frozen that way had Barbara not caught her eye and given her a reassuring smile and nod.
    “Th-the fact that there are so many of you here, on such short notice and so far away from home for most of you—well, it says a lot for the kind of person Jay is.”
    There was a low buzz in the room and Kate looked up to find a sea of sympathetic faces. She paused. “As you can imagine, this is very difficult for me. I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.” She struggled to keep her emotions in check. “As a result, what I’m going to ask you all to do today may seem a bit unorthodox.” She smiled weakly. “I hope you’ll bear with me.
    “Today isn’t about endings. It’s a celebration of one extraordinary woman’s life. I wish…I wish Jay were here right now to feel all the love for her in this room.” Kate swallowed hard.
    “I’d like to start by having those of you who are so inclined say one word you’d use to describe Jay.” Her eyes settled on the president. “Mr.
    President, sir, I believe I’d like you to start.”
    All eyes turned to the charismatic man in the front row. Charles Hyland rose to his full 6’2” height. “Delightful.”
    There were murmurs of assent.
    Barbara stood next. “Engaging.”
    Peter followed. “Sweet.”
    It was Trish’s turn. “Talented.”
    Words started to flow in such rapid-fire succession that it became difficult for Kate to keep track of the source for each descriptor.
    “Intelligent.”
    “Dedicated.”
    “Loyal.”
    “Witty.”
    “Dependable.”
    “Vivacious.”
    “Tireless.”
    “Relentless.”
    “Thorough.”
    “Friendly.”

    Lynn Ames

    “Outgoing.”
    “Funny.”
    “Sneaky.”
    That comment caused a ripple of laughter and a round of hearty agreements. When the words had died down and quiet resumed, Kate smiled at the group. “My word for Jay is perfect, although I know she’d argue with me about that.” She looked at the faces around the room. “I see so many of you here who have known Jay as long, or longer, than I have. I think one of the best ways to honor and celebrate someone is to share her stories. I’ll start with the first time I laid eyes on Jay—which is not, ironically, the first time I met her; that didn’t come until later.
    “It was a little more than seven years ago, and I was a senior in college. There I was, locked in a tennis duel to the death with my arch nemesis in the final match of my college career. I was about to serve a pivotal point when something on the hillside overlooking the court caught my eye. I looked up, and there she was—this gorgeous girl in a Middlebury lacrosse sweatshirt. She smiled at me. I knew I’d better win the point and the match or I’d feel like a chump.”
    The room exploded in laughter.
    “Hey, that was a lot of pressure!” Kate waited a beat.
    Someone yelled out, “Well? What happened? Did you win the match or not?”
    “You bet your sweet bippy I did. Unfortunately, it was another five years before I won the girl. Although, we both agreed we fell in love at first sight that day.”
    “Hopeless romantics.”
    “Something wrong with that?” Kate shot back in the general direction of the comment.
    More laughter. “Not a thing, Kate.”
    “Good. Who wants to go next?” Kate was glad that her story seemed to have the intended effect—the group was looser and much less somber.
    “I guess I’ll go,” Barbara said, standing up. “The first time I met Jay, she was pulling Kate by the ear into my office. It was the middle of the night, the New York state capitol building had been bombed, Kate had been the only reporter on the air for more hours than seemed humanly possible…” Barbara paused for effect. “And she looked like hell.”
    “Hey!”
    The group laughed again.
    “Well, there’s no denying, toots, I’ve