<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Thank you , Rena. And for including Susie’s words to you. I read her obituary in the Hartford Courant yesterday. Her lovely smile and the twinkle in her eyes ready for fun came back to me. I, too, hope she passed easily.<div>We are all turning or have turned 80. A number I find hard to understand.</div><div> I hope you are all well and have found peace in your hearts.</div><div>Love,</div><div>Alana<br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Aug 23, 2025, at 5:35 PM, Rena Koopman <rena.koopman7@gmail.com> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><br><div><br></div><div>of course you will know from the subject of this email to be prepared. Sadly Susie Myers Howard died on August 19th. Here is her obituary: https://www.courant.com/obituaries/susan-m-howard/</div><div><br></div><div>I have gone back and forth trying to decide about sharing an excerpt from her last email communication with me (she wrote this 4 days before surgery) and have decided Susie wouldn’t mind. </div><div>Her positive voice comforts me and I hope hope hope she was so medicated that she never regained consciousness and indeed got to “fly the kite.”</div><div><br></div><div>I had emailed her and said, among other things, that I was lighting a candle with a wish for her:</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><blockquote type="cite" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><div dir="ltr"><div><i>God really loves giving out challenges, and aren’t they supposed to open up the faith gates for us?</i></div><div><i>So, this is how it’s all going to happen! Do you think?</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>It will be a 2-month duration from start (Friday) to finish, but I understand I have incredibly good care lined up, starting with the surgeon. He’s planning to do the chest crack maneuver, and I’m still not worried.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>So I’ll probably be flying kites and hallucinating along the way, but maybe that’s a dream I can look forward to.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>I will make sure to let you know one way or another on how this all turns out.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Many thanks again for your good healing thoughts and wishes. I’ve never had a candle lit for me before. It sounds so special. Woooeee.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Love and hugs,</i></div><div><i>Susie</i></div></div></blockquote></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>oxford63 mailing list</span><br><span>oxford63@cyber-community.com</span><br><span>http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63</span><br></div></blockquote></div></body></html>