Dear Colleagues, Thought you'd enjoy a story of a unique encounter from Friday night. Judy and I were visiting Salvatore Caruso and Dianne Greenwald in Boulder for a night after our stay in Denver. They took us to "Pearl Street", a section of town that is just pedestrian with all sorts of places to eat, street performers, fancy shops and just a great place to 'people watch'. The three of sat on a bench while Salvatore found a parking place. Shortly an older lady came and sat next to me. I said hi and we struck up a conversation. Soon Salvatore joined us and I could tell by her accent she was hispanic. She was from Mexico City, but had lived in the States for many years. She asked us to guess how old she was, and she looked late 60's or early 70's. She is 87 and what energy she had! She told us she takes hikes in the hills and she really takes care of herself. Then she told us her name is Magdalena and she was a concert pianist. Her kids are also musicians and play in different parts of the country. She lives in a retirement community in Boulder that had a piano in the lobby which was neglected so she gave them her piano which she said was worth $200,000! We weren't sure if she was telling the truth, but nearly was a street performer who regularly plays an old honky tonk piano where he lays on a rock and plays for the crowd. We asked if she wanted to play and she said yes. So we took her over and asked if he'd let her play. At first he said no, saying he often gets 'nuts' who want to play, but after standing for awhile while he played he finally got up and invited her to play. She got on the rock and then she started to play. Although the piano was out of tune she proceeded to play an incredible medley of fantastic songs; latin, jazz, and classical. It was absolutely amazing! A crowd gathered and started to put money in his jar as she just played and played. You could see her agile fingers fly across the keys. The player just sat and let her play on, enjoying his break and loving what was happening. After about 15 minutes she was done and everyone applauded. So life, through a chance encounter, produced for all a moment of mystery and magic. Clearly a visit by an angel! Grace & Peace, Jack