I thought about it on Wednesday, and it made me
cry...I tried to think
about it yesterday, but it was just a little to
busy, I put it off until
the next day. Today let the thoughts dart between
walls of busyness. A
year has passed since Claudette died...I met her at
the PUSH
apprenticeship in '03. I wasn't sure how to deal
with her blunt remarks
at first... I remember talking to her about how
wierd it was for me to
be away from my family and not know anyone...I told
her that I relied on
them for so much. She kind of bristled at that
remark "No, not me. I
rely on God only." I tried to defend myself gently
outloud, while inside
I was saying "yeah don't we all." It didn't take
that long to realize
how deeply true that statement was of her...she
never showed otherwise
in her behavior. Jesus was/is her beloved. Everyone
else knew it too...

Me and my clingy insecurites learned a lot from her
small mexican
frame...I heard her stories of leaving her family in
Mexico (whom she
loved a lot), to become a "missionary to the
states". She was just that.
My thoughts are choppy here...

The best memory I have of her, is when I partnered
with her in class. We
were to do this mirror type exercise...our hands
touching, with one
person leading and the other following. The idea was
to make it look
like no one was leading, so not only did you need a
good "speaker" but a
good "listener". I put on my insecure face and told
her to lead,
beacause I didn't know what to do. She took me on
the most beautiful
ride ever...I learned so much from her confidence.
It definately rooted
deeply into God. I want to be like that. She left so
many amazing
friendships behind, and my heart aches for them
today. This post doesn't
serve anything justice...but I wanted to remember.