Audrey and I were together for over 30 years and she was the absolute love of my life. Her outer beauty and inner strength were unmatched. She had a sharp, dry wit that belied her soft spoken manner. There was nothing more important to her than her family and she is missed tremendously. I’d like to share a brief anecdote that gives a glimpse into her character. Audrey would love this story.

This photo was taken on our last day of a one week all inclusive vacation to Punta Cana.  One of our off-resort excursions earlier that week was a deep sea fishing trip. Audrey had a fear of open water but she was ok with boats, just not with being responsible for keeping herself afloat.  The fishing was a bit slow at first and Audrey started to get a little seasick.  She quickly forgot about her distress when one of the lines bent over and all hell broke loose in the boat. It was a bit of a false alarm, just a small barracuda. She thought it was the coolest thing ever but the deckhand called it ‘la basura” (trash) and chucked it unceremoniously into the bait bin.  Audrey was horrified. She nearly organized a mutiny. Things were getting tense at the back of the boat when fortunately the captain suddenly yelled out ‘aves!!’ (birds!) and turned hard toward a massive churning on the surface of the ocean a few hundred yards away, with gannets and gulls wheeling overhead diving into the water in a feeding frenzy. A school of mahi mahi had pushed a baitfish ball to the surface and before it was all over we had caught four huge ones. On the way back in to the dock everybody was happy, Audrey was chattering away in Spanish with the crew and the poor barracuda was forgotten, unavenged, to be chopped up later for chum.

Patience, mutual respect, loyalty, humility, unconditional love and yes, a little bit of humour, got Audrey and I through some pretty tough times.  Her legacy will continue through all the people she touched along the way. Siempre te amare sweetheart.

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