O nobly born Sally, our friend, our mother, our comfort.

Hear that we are all here in spirit, in mind, and in heart.

Know that we love you dearly.

Know that we all share those precious few moments of life, of love, of happiness, and of measured tribulation.

We are here to feel you close again, and to know you as forever. Those moments we shared are also moments we discovered together.

This, then, is the moment of truth. That liberation arrives for once and for once arrives for all.

Go forward in strength and remember that there is no need for fear.

Remember that we are with you as always, and as always we are with you become.

Thank you, Jack McGarvey, dear friend,  for writing these words and sharing:

"Sally’s passing saddens me more than I can ever express.  But it also brings back so many wonderful memories.   The first time I met Sally happened shortly after I’d emigrated from Connecticut to Rio Rico. I’d become a bit lonely after settling in, and I printed up a flyer to invite neighbors to my home for a potluck supper.     I then took a very long hike to distribute the flyers to about 30 or so homes in this sparsely populated town.  Mostly, I just laid the flyers on porches underneath a good-sized rock.to  then sort of slink away.   But when I reached Sally’s house, I heard a Mozart concerto blasting out from its open windows.  I remember thinking that someone who’s also a fan of my favorite composer is someone I’d really like to meet. And so, I decided to open her front gate to knock at her door.   As I did, a very large, fiercely tail-wagging German Shepherd came tearing around from a corner of her house to put its paws up on the gate.  I backed off, while managing, miraculously, to attach the flyer to Sally’s gate.   The potluck supper was a success, especially because the first guest to appear was Sally. She came in, grasped my hand, to say, “So sorry that my silly Max scared you off the other day.”   And so, that was the beginning of a deep friendship that lasted almost two decades.   My memories include those sunny mornings when I’d stop by Sally’s house for an early morning cup of coffee, when we’d talk about nearly everything under the sun.   What I soon discovered was a wonderful, compassionte, and idealistic woman.   But Sally, maybe because she had 13 years on me, also became my mentor.   She told me that the best way to live in Rio Rico was to brush up on my high school Spanish.  Which she emphasized by speaking to me during some of those morning visits only in her flawless Spanish.     She also approved of my feeble attempts to help migrants who kept appearing in the Santa Cruz River valley below our homes: “We’re all migrants here, aren't we?”   Indeed we are, Sally, and I will forever be grateful for your reminding me of this.   To me, Sally Ayala will forever remain as the most loving ,cosmopolitan, most open-minded woman I have ever met."