Got the news soon after it happened. Felt like a hard kick to the gut.
Helen was in my modern-day top ten most admired patriots.
And it wasn't just her great service to the republic, as awesome as that was. As a person, and as a Christian, she shone. She had an uncanny ability to make you her friend quicker than just about anybody I've ever met. And there was nothing contrived or phony about it at all. It was real. She was real.
In my mind, that could be her epitaph: "She was real."
She was a courageous lady who will be missed.
Prayers for her family.