Life should not be just a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely, in a preserved body.....but rather a skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ( "woo hoo...what a ride") adventure! The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside while we live. I am an artist and a dancer. I have been an art teacher and a dance instructor. My current position is a pastoral care counselor at my church. "Now to meet only in dreams...starting from sleep...bitterly seeking...groping in the dark...with hands that touch nothing."....for you, Sonny. What you left behind could never be engraved on a stone monument. What you left behind was woven into the hearts of everyone you touched with truth, compassion, and love. I have been intrigued by cemeteries since I was fourteen. Friends and I would explore graveyards at any opportunity. The grave stone names, histories, and epitaphs are invaluable stories of once vibrant, dearly loved souls who (each in their own way), changed the world. One noteworthy resident of Palisado Cemetery, located in my childhood home of Windsor, Ct. (along the "Freedom Trail") is Nancy Tony, the longest living Connecticut slave. Belonging (since childhood) to Hezekiah Chaffee and his wife, Nancy was enslaved until her passing at 82 in 1857, eight years before slavery was outlawed in the United States. "If you remember anything about me after I leave this world....remember that I loved, even if it was foolish.....I cared, even when it was unwanted. When my body is gone, remember my heart". Unknown

Life should not be just a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely, in a preserved body.....but rather a skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ( "woo hoo...what a ride") adventure! The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside while we live. I am an artist and a dancer. I have been an art teacher and a dance instructor. My current position is a pastoral care counselor at my church. "Now to meet only in dreams...starting from sleep...bitterly seeking...groping in the dark...with hands that touch nothing."....for you, Sonny. What you left behind could never be engraved on a stone monument. What you left behind was woven into the hearts of everyone you touched with truth, compassion, and love. I have been intrigued by cemeteries since I was fourteen. Friends and I would explore graveyards at any opportunity. The grave stone names, histories, and epitaphs are invaluable stories of once vibrant, dearly loved souls who (each in their own way), changed the world. One noteworthy resident of Palisado Cemetery, located in my childhood home of Windsor, Ct. (along the "Freedom Trail") is Nancy Tony, the longest living Connecticut slave. Belonging (since childhood) to Hezekiah Chaffee and his wife, Nancy was enslaved until her passing at 82 in 1857, eight years before slavery was outlawed in the United States. "If you remember anything about me after I leave this world....remember that I loved, even if it was foolish.....I cared, even when it was unwanted. When my body is gone, remember my heart". Unknown