Innsbruck - here despite it never being on my to-see list

Continuing on the theme of friends and good times, I'd like to share a memory from the past. This picture is from 1978 and was taken at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The person on my left is Jean, my friend that I have known my entire life. On the right is her cousin Crystal, who I first met at the age of 7 or 8. Jean and I grew up across the street from each other. We're only 2 months apart in age (yes, I'm older) and someday we will be on Oprah for a life-long friends episode. As small children, we both idolized Crystal, who we considered to be beautiful, smart, glamourous and the personification of all that little girls want to be when they grow up. Crystal was a product of the 60's and all the flower-power idealism of that generation. Many teens of that generation went on to conform to consumerism lifestyles but Crystal stayed true to her love of nature and animals.

I always wanted to be a marine biologist. It turns out that I hate to study and get seasick. I also have trouble equalizing the pressure in my ears so that ended a scuba-diving hobby. I was not meant to join the ranks of whale savers at sea. Crystal was that person. At a young age she lead whale watching expeditions to Mexico and took tallies of the number of gray whale calves born each year. I thought it would be so cool to vacation on one of those trips but my stomach kept me away. Later, Crystal returned to school and became a zoologist. I took one half-semester of zoology in high school and had to drop out because Latin names and my brain don't mix. I might love animals but I was not destined to become the next great researcher. Crystal could and did work with the Latin names and she became a keeper at the Wild Animal Park where she found her passion for working with the gorilla troop and their babies. She used to tell me that she had trouble remembering people's names. While that may have been true, she could pick out each animal that she worked with and remember their names and birthdays in great detail.

Over the years, Jean and I would visit Crystal at work and enjoy the rare behind the scenes look at the baby animals in the nursery. The secret tour was always fun but visiting Crystal and hearing her enthusiasm for the animals and was the best part of the visit. I have never seen someone who at 50, still could be taken for a teenager, maybe not up close but at 20 feet, no one could tell her age.

Today, friends and family have a gap in their hearts. We received the news that Crystal had died of liver cancer. The diagnosis came late in the illness and by the time the doctors realized that cancer, not arthritis was the source of her pain, there was no time for treatment. The person who was full of life and joy, was gone. Crystal inspired two small girls to dream to do more. Today, we celebrate the our memories of her and send our thoughts and prayers to Craig, the love of her life and husband of many years. I think of Crystal looking down at all of us and I am sure that while she would understand the sorrow, the practical part of her is saying "make sure the horses are fed, and the hummingbird feeders filled. Don't neglect the animals."

With humor, practicality, and a love for animals, Crystal came and left her mark on the world. The world was lucky to have her in it.