Dear Rose,

Thank you so much for starting us all off on getting to know each other “online”

I already know you for so many incredible things, your passion re: end of life issues, every platform you have stood for on ESWOW – you met Cindy Sheehan? I have benefitted so much just from knowing you through this site.
Then I read everyone else’s posts and though I only know the tiniest snippets about all of you I already feel a great sense of personal connection with every one of you –

Walt, Meghan, Victoria, Juliana, David, Ronald, Randy, Lynn and Glenn (though I did not see anything re: four things about you Glenn?)

What do I know about each of you? Off the top of my head to start?

Walt is active with the Democratic Party as a precinct captain (go Walt go!) and makes mean bread out of his bread machine;

Meghan lives only a few miles away, loves to knit, plays piano and works with computers and is devoted to her work for the Arthritis Foundation;

Victoria from Vermont who is a public defender – I have recently become passionate about the state of our present legal system, and cannot wait to hear more from your perspective.

Juliana, you have nurturing in your soul and you do it through your incredible talents as a chef and cook and a zookeeper(?) And yes, I absolutely agree that we should start something new, right here on ESWOW regarding Valentine’s Day ;

David, a humbly, gregarious fellow who works with the Red Cross (and has for years) with a penchant for anything sweet. Oh dear, a partner in crime!

Ronald – another computer geek like me who has linked me to a couple of “out’a’sight” websites already…tell me more!

Randy – took me a while to put 2 and two together when I realized who you were – another key ESWOW figure – I have the benefit of having shared some of your great platform discussions – am still going back to the one about “Obligations to Others” (important part of my journey right now). Thank you so much for recording them to MP3’s, I can listen to them during those times it’s not practical for me to read I have read all of them, both yours and Rose’s (Rose, I hope you can hook up more of your platforms to MP3’s too – very powerful communication tool). Randy, your work and efforts to make this site happen with Rose and Ivo are very much noticed!!!

Lynn – sounds like you may be a matriarch of sorts – such a big family! Though my experience in Missouri was brief, it was an amazing one when it came to the incredible people I met there…

Glenn, tell me more about you!

Has anyone been posting elsewhere on the site other than the Newcomers forums and the blogs that I may have missed? I am sincerely interested in reading anything anyone has posted in on any ESWOW discussion. Please let me know if you are posting in any one of the other learning center discussions, so far I think all I have found are Susan's, Randy's and Ivo's posts so far.

I am now continuing with part 2 of Rose's, getting to know you…

Four more things about me:

A) Four pets you've had:
I’ve had dozens, can’t begin to count – right now two cats and two dogs (the maximum I’m allowed) all rescues that were on their way to the gallows. I can’t believe my luck that everyone else passed these little gurus up because I have gained million fold from what they have to share with me. I give safe haven to every living creature that is Lon my property, including spiders, centipedes, mice etc though occasionally I need to displace them from inside to outside my house.

B) Four people who are/have been important in your life:
My mother and my father – “I yam who I yam” in huge part because of them…Mr. Carlson, my sixth grade teacher (It’s corny, sure - but he taught me the joy of learning), Mahatma Gandhi. These are just four of hundreds. I believe every person I have had contact with, has been important in my life in some way, good or bad, no less, no more.

C) Four people you would like to meet (can be real or fictional, alive or dead):

1 - The next four that I get to meet! (May be here on the ESWOW site!)

2 - If this were Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Ho Chi Minh, Bertrand Russell….

3- If this were one of Oprah’s “Wishes” shows - 2 uncles and 1 aunt I have not yet met that live in Vietnam, Howard Dean, Cesar Millan

D) Four places you'd like to go on vacation:
1. Macchu Picchu
2. The Grand Canyon
3. North Vietnam
4. Alaska
I just turned 50 on the 28th of Jan (can’t believe it still!). I am getting ready to start on a new career phase, and will be going to law school in the fall, hope to pass the CA state bar after that so I can spend my remaining full-time working years giving back as an elder attorney, pro-bono attorney and affordable to the middle class attorney while simultaneously working for reform of our current legal system. I do not see myself ever retiring, and plan to work at something I love that benefits others until I drop dead!!