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 I want to pay tribute to my wonderful mother, Ethel Crook. If I had 200,000 words I couldn't say enough good things about her. Oh, sure, she's human, and has her ways. Don't we all? But I've watched her through the years and she always rises to meet a crisis or tragedy with grace. Amazing grace.
 And on my last visit, I learned a lot about her mother-in-law, Maude Burlingame Crook. I'd had many misconceptions, and Mom opened my eyes to the strength and courage of this dear woman. I remember her only as an older woman with green-tinted glasses who was always emotionally "delicate." There was so much more. She was married to Grandpa Newton Crook, had five sons, later divorced, then even later went back to live with Grandpa Newt. Or something like that.
I only wish that when I was younger, I'd really gotten to know my grandmother. But like most kids, I was too self-centered to bother. My loss. Here's a photo I just scanned.
This was the month we discontinued my moderating of I-Customer, a list dedicated to looking at all aspects of customer delight and how to achieve it. Interest had never been high, but the people who posted always had something important to say. But things got way too slow, so I got together with the adventive.com people and we agreed to stop publication. No interest, no advertisers! Do I feel a failure. Not at all. I know others who could have done far better than I, but it was a good time. I made lots of friends and am carrying some of those friendships on into the future.
Cactus are still blooming, as are many flowers and trees. I'm getting out more to local meetings, and enjoying it immensely.
I've gotten excited about trying to make my business ezine the best one possible. I try to find resources that will help today's small business person become a better communicator. It's simply delightful to spot websites that I know will help these hard-working people.
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