Katie

Katie was my host in Oakland. She just turned 80. To celebrate, she bought herself two big beautiful rings and had a butterfly tatooed above her wrist. In the bedroom where I stayed, there's a photograph of her daughter -- tanned, in shorts and hiking books, with a red bandana tied around her brow. She's sitting atop a large rock, so high up only clouds and sky can be seen in the background. She's beautiful, with a smile that would melt your heart. The photo was taken in the 1970's when her daughter was a student at Evergreen State College in my old hometown of Olympia, WA. Not long after, Katie's daughter was killed in an avalanche while climbing Mt. Rainier.

Katie has six surviving children. One of her sons, a sculptor, won a design competition in Rhode Island to build the state's 9/11 memorial. Katie has a framed photo of the sculpture on the wall of her apartment. Reminds me of a Celtic symbol I've seen -- like a three-dimensional looped cross. It appears to be made out of thousands upon thousands of tiny mirrors. Magnificent. Just like Katie.