For My Friend Maria McGowen

My Facebook friend, Maria McGowen, died yesterday. She was only forty-three, a kind, good and intelligeng Southern lady from Charleston, South Carolina.

Although a decade separated our ages, we resonated with each other - having been brought up Southern and Democratic by liberal parents.

Maria was a staunch supporter of the President, who understood why he did the things he did and for what reason he did them. We were united in our outlook and in the fact that we knew that many in the Democratic party found it impossible to believe and even implausible that anyone from the South could be either Democratic or even liberal.

I learned so much from the brief time that I knew Maria. I can't put into words how much I'll miss her. She was a believer, and I am not; so I have to comfort myself with the idea that she is with her Lord and God. I know that if there be a heaven, she is in it tonight and with the angels.

This is for Maria. Rest in peace.