Lost days, sleepless nights

When I don’t get enough sleep, I lose all track of time … among other things.

Researchers who study the effects of sleep deprivation on the body and brain tell us that losing sleep makes a person fat and crabby … not to mention loopy. Of course, they use more sophisticated and scientific words, but work with me people, I’m running on about five non-continuous hours here.

In the five days since my last post, the world has changed. Great friends have left their long-time home in San Francisco to move to Minneapolis. My number one son, Riley, has turned 7. And, a wonderful, dear mentor and friend, Joan Curtis, died unexpectedly while in Winnipeg.

All the world should mourn Joan’s passing, because the world has lost a vigorous, joyous soul. I met Joan and her husband, Phil, and their family when I was a reporter in Jamestown, ND.  I was just 22 or 23 and working at my first daily newspaper. Joan curated the Jamestown Arts Center and ran the artist-in-residence program at the public school. Joan believed that the arts … and the arts well-done … should be available to all people of all ages … and she did everything in her power to make that happen in her community. She brought in fabulous, talented painters, sculptors, writers, poets, drama directors to teach young students in the schools and to display or perform their works at the arts center. Some of them, such as Kathleen Norris, have become famous. It was a fabulous experience to be part of Joan and Phil’s rich, enriching, welcoming and interesting world, because one could not help but become a deeper, richer, more aware person because of it. But best of all, Joan welcomed me into her home, her heart and her family, listening to my young 20-something dreams and woes, encouraging me, challenging me, stretching me. After she and Phil retired and moved to Minneapolis, our friendship continued.

I think Joan did a master’s based on John Milton … she knew so much and was such a full participant in the world of ideas … she loved NPR and public television and all that stretched and moved one’s mind.

She would rage against small ideas and limited imaginations and argue for a more caring, healthier, progressive society, government and world.

To quote Milton: Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. 
 

There is no way to sum up such an amazing person … a master quilter, a teacher, an accomplished cook, a mother, wife, friend, mentor, advocate, volunteer, tutor …

I count myself, and my family, deeply blessed by having known Joan and her family.