Remembering Michele
I met Mark when I began working at USDA in July of 2004. Since then, Mark and I have become good friends. Earlier this year, my wife and I invited Mark and Michele to dinner way, way up in the Northland and to our house afterward for some dessert. Prior to our visit together, Mark had spoken often and very highly of his wife, Michele, so I felt like I knew her before I even met her. With some people, it takes years and years of conversation and getting to know them before you figure out who they are, what they are really about, and who and what matters most to them. It takes this long because many of our day-to-day conversations are about things like the weather or how this or that sports team is doing – we rarely get to talk about the true, meaningful things in our lives. That wasn’t the case with our visit with Mark and Michele. Suffice it to say that my wife and I felt comfortable with them from the very start, and the topics we discussed and the conversation we had flowed with honesty and openness that you usually only encounter with someone you’ve known for a long time.
Although I personally only met Michele face-to-face this one time, I can tell you from that one experience that a few things meant the world to Michele: Her marriage to Mark and the love they shared; open, candid, and honest conversation with good friends about a multitude of topics; and a respect and appreciation for the simple things that matter most in life. I got this out of that one evening we spent with Mark and Michele as our guests. Like Michele, if we can all focus on the few things in life that really matter the most, we’ll all live richer, fuller lives with whatever time we have here on this earth.
Keith Bennett