It was good to listen to Mr Hodge's touching tribute to Suzanne this morning. It rang true in every detail, especially those regarding her dedication to her students. I was reminded of my last conversation with her in which I told her to forget about work, and specifically her concerns about the students she was supervising for their extended essays, as we would take care of everything. Of course, she wouldn't do so and we went through the status of each one together. That was the last thing I wanted to do at that dark point in time, but I think it made her feel better in some way to have done so. I didn't learn much about her dedication on that occasion, simply because I already knew plenty about that, but I did learn something about courage.
This morning's tribute began by the Principal talking of a lovely lady, and I was struck by how absolutely right that was. Funnily enough Noi had used a similar phrase talking to Suzanne's husband at her wake, and to me a day earlier when I told her about Suzanne passing away. Noi called her a nice lady, with a rich emphasis on nice, a simple word that was absolutely fitting and true. Actually my wife had only got to know Suzanne in a few brief encounters over the last couple of years, but she instinctively caught the genuine, simple, direct warmth of personality that I'm going to miss very much, but am grateful for having encountered.
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