The Very Best of Us

I was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Joan (Housner) McMath.  It was a shock to me.  I live far away from Bridgeport now, and I don't always catch the news about my classmates.  I was not aware of her courageous battle with cancer.

I cannot pretend to a closeness I did not possess.  We went to school together for many years, back to the elementary years.  We were involved in student government together.  She went to the same university, even living in the same dorm.  The only college memory of her was maybe a shared ride or two back to Bridgeport. So, even though we were often in the same geographic proximity, we really did not have any kind of relationship.

I did know enough, and see enough, and hear enough to know this -

She represented the very best of us.

Not just because of her incredible academic success, her great beauty, her ability to land a good job at GM (something that was somewhat elusive at that time) - no, it wasn't only these things.

She represented the very best of us because she was unfailingly kind, generous, and caring.  Even though not a close friend, this was easy for me to see in the way she treated and responded to others.

I cannot prove it, given the time and fragile shape of memory, but I believe she was responsible for some of the kindest and most generous acts of our class.  Whenever there was a class decision to be made, she bent us towards goodness.  She did things that put others - the underdogs, the hurt, those in need - ahead of attention on herself.

There is no perfectly charmed life.  We all have struggles and challenges.  I hope we all have the courage of this beautiful, intelligent, kind woman, this devoted wife, and mother, in facing what life brings us.

She represented the very best of us.  And she believed in us.  We need to remember and cherish her and honor her by believing in ourselves and strive to do the best for others.