You know how Loni truly listened and also how she loved to talk (ha ha) so it probably wouldn't surprise you to know that she was taking Spanish language lessons to increase her conversational Spanish skills. This would allow her to educate many more communities in the area about the Rhode Island Food Bank programs that she was such an integral part of developing.
     She also spoke French and was the first one at the door to visit when Jean-Marc's parents were in town. We sat around the kitchen island and she used her French to tell them stories about pet mishaps that had us all in tears laughing. She knew how to tell a funny story that's for sure! In many languages...she could also throw around a few phrases in Japanese or Arabic.
     A wonderful listener and a true communicator she kept her voice heard as an activist for conservation in Norton. She was too unassuming to ever mention it but she marched into the state house and she stood before town selectmen and gave them a lesson or two about values and vision, I bet she wasn't laughing then. I wish I could have seen her in action! 
     She also stayed involved as a member of the Historic and Audubon Societies. As a matter of fact she played an integral role in getting local trails created at La Salette; another thing she didn't bother to talk about. She may have had several languages to draw on but she wasn't just a talker, she was a doer.
      I still have her wonderful voice in my head and I hope it stays there for a long, long time.