Who You Are -- Page 4

Here's the 4th set of 10 names of people who have taken the time and care to Comment on this blog:

#31 -- Marta W. Marta is a member of Deb's conversational French group -- which has been meeting for well over 30 years (which is how long Deb has been a member). Marta is also a tournament-level competitive bowler and an excellent hostess. (We've never seen her bowl, but we've had the pleasure of enjoying her hospitality on a number of occasions.) In addition she's a volunteer working with persons with disabilities. A lady with a big heart and a smooth delivery on the lanes.

#32 -- Martin B. Did you ever get the feeling, when you meet someone, that this person will make a considerable difference in his/her chosen field of endeavor? We feel strongly this way about Martin. We met him during one of our dinosaur trips out west and have followed his career ever since. He's recently received his PhD in Paleontology (or "Palaeontology" as he would spell it. He's Canadian...) from the University in Uppsala. Which is in Sweden. I'm still impressed that Martin chose this school for this critical part of his educational and professional career without ever visiting the campus and not knowing a word of Swedish. Rather than specializing in dinosaurs (which is so 20th century...), Martin has focused on that wonderful time in the history of life when fish grew feet and lungs. And became amphibians. His explanations of all that are crystal clear and carefully adjusted to the background of his audience. He is extremely pleasant and affable with a knife-like wit and a great sense of humor.

#33 -- Martha. Martha, as many of you know, is my sister -- younger than me by 3 or 4 years. She is Emily's mom (see "Emily" - #16 on Page 2 of this series of blog postings), an office manager at Johns Hopkins (in the Radiology Department, which has been truly helpful in recent months), a woodwind repair person with an enthusiastic following in Baltimore, the organizer of a Flute Choir (also in Baltimore), an avid kayaker, and someone very dear to my heart. In a family comprised mainly of political conservatives -- some of whom have been rather vocal on the subject -- Martha and I are the two wayward liberals. And at many, many stressful times in our lives (about politics, cancer, life choices, and on and on) Martha and I have supported each other and encouraged each other in the most loving of ways. If I had three wishes for the world, one of them would be that everyone would have a sibling like Martha.

#34 -- Matt. Matt is the Head of West Chester Friends School, which is affiliated with our Quaker Meeting. Matt has been an active supporter of our Turks Head Jugglers program for years. (And, as I have written elsewhere, the #1 reason for juggling clubs closing down is the loss of the practice facility. Without Matt's support and continued access to the School's gymnasium, the Turks Heads would be only a fond memory...) As a member of the WCFS School Board, I've had many opportunities to see how thorough and professional Matt is at his job -- and also many opportunities to see how the staff, faculty, and most of all the students at our School benefit from Matt's work.

#35 -- Nancy Bermudez. Nancy is a member of my class at the Meadville School. The assignments for the 2008-2009 school year found Nancy and me "teamed up" for counseling sessions, with her as the counselor and me as the client. We became quite close as the year went by, and her words and approach to life (she was working through her own medical issues) were inspiring and constantly helpful throughout my surgeries, chemo, and radiation treatments. I missed seeing Nancy at the last school gathering in Meadville and look forward to seeing her again in a few weeks.

#36 -- Nicholas. One of the few serious mysteries of the blog Commenters! Back in June, Nicholas wrote a brief summary of the state of West Virginia: that Charleston is its capital city and the largest city in Kanawha County, and so forth. I don't know anything more about him. So, Nicholas, if you're still reading the blog, please feel free to Comment again and let us all know a little more about you!

#37 -- PaleoPatti. Patti, like myself, is in orbit around the paleontology programs at Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences -- America's oldest Natural History Museum and the lab where I volunteer to clean dinosaur bones and talk to visitors. Some time ago, I had a scheduled a dinosaur talk that I could not fulfill: my schedule had changed abruptly and I had to let go of the gig. My supervisor at the Academy recommended that I call Patti, who has done this sort of thing on numerous occasions before. So I did. I hadn't heard much from her since then, but was most pleased to see that she had Commented on the blog!

#38 -- Paul Malley. Back in July, I posted on the blog that everyone should have a living will, and that an organization called "Aging With Dignity" had created an excellent version of this document called "Five Wishes." This version was and is very user-friendly, avoiding all legal gobbildygook while still being a valid legal document, and presenting all your choices in a logical and caring way. Paul is President of Aging with Dignity, and he wrote to thank me for writing about Five Wishes and correcting a few misunderstandings I had about the document. So, thank you Paul -- for the document and for the corrections! (By the way dear reader, have you made out your living will yet?)

#39 -- Ron W (aka Ronzoni). Ron and I were classmates and roommates back at Drexel a number of years ago. (We won't bother you with details about how many years ago...) Ron was also Best Man at my wedding. Ron is also the guy who recommended Terry Pratchett as a writer of wonderfully funny and engaging fantasy novels about the inhabitants of a planet called "Discworld." (The planet is shaped like a Frisbee. And the planet is carried through space on the backs of four gigantic elephants. Which, in turn, are standing on the shell of an unimaginably huge turtle. That should help you understand how wonderfully crazy and fun the books were...) The books were enormously helpful in getting through my therapies. (I added them up: I read over 3,500 pages of Discworld novels during the summer. Almost all of them either lying down prior to taking a nap or sitting on our front porch. Prior to going inside to take a nap.) And Ron's Comments on the blog have always been instructive and helpful. In short, at numerous crossroads and turning points and critical moments in my life, Ron has been there for me. And I will be eternally grateful for his friendship.

#40 -- Roz. Another mystery Commenter. I feel I should know who Roz is, but nothing comes to mind to help me identify her. I guess it's a "her." So Roz, please feel free to drop me a note and fill me in on who you are.

If you're interested in getting in touch with any of these folks -- or with me -- please drop me an e-mail at GotaJugl@msn.com and I will, if it seems appropriate to do so, forward your message.

The last set of Commenters will be described shortly... Stay tuned!