In Memory of Loretta Swit (and George Wendt)

The soul was relieved; they did not play the theme song, did not call it by the character's name with a wink and a giggle, did not forget who it was elsewhere and fully. It was all so quiet and congenial; walks with mentors and others it had admired, long conversations about everything that interested it. In the middle of a particularly rich exchange about animal rescue, Peter excused himself and said he'd be right back. "Oh, don't go!" the soul clung very gently and sweetly. "We're just getting started, and this is marvelous!" "I promise that I'll return just as soon as I can," he assured it. "You know how it is ... we have ... incoming." One of the other souls touched its heart and raised its beer glass, knowing all too well that it takes a hot minute to feel welcome and then another to feel healed.