Dear Colleagues, I am writing to inform you of another loss to our community. It may clearly have participated in the strength of the dream I shared. Esther Lyman of Lemmon, South Dakota, passed on January 19 at the age of 95. She, along with her husband Tom who died some over ten years ago were great guardians of our mission for many years. Among other things, they lent our task four of their children and they only had four. Almost all of us know one or more: Helen Lyman Williams (in Toronto), George Lyman (Texas), Addie Lyman Holm (South Dakota) and Susan Lyman Marley (who along with Darrell is in Massachusetts). As far back as the seventies when we didn't have the money we promised ourselves to have to start new houses in Europe, the Lyman's gave us what was needed to secure an apartment in Rome. They were wise and only did it when we all had jobs and enough money coming in to sustain ourselves, but no prospects for a sufficient windfall that would pay our advance rent guarantee. Addie and Susan came to visit us in that apartment. Tom and Esther came to visit after we had already moved to Trastevere (remember that was one of the original eight HDPs that we never did). Probably any one of us in a house with one of the family has memories we could share. I know that they were a lifeline to Cannonball when a project finally got that close to the family ranch in Lemmon. Esther always joked with me that she was glad that Esther was my daughter's name because the pattern of naming children was such that she had feared the use of that name might die with her. I don't know what else to say except that it feels necessary to honor those who year after year guarded our mission. Nancy Trask was interviewed on Public Radio last week (as the town librarian) about one of the notables of Winterset who was/is one of the characters in the new movie Monuments Men. The interviewer asked her what was special about Winterset in that it had so many notables (also home of John Wayne). She said (loosely quoted)that every community had heroes, lots of them. We just didn't look for or pay attention to their stories. Thanks for that good word, Nancy. Blessings to you all, Margaret