I met Machteld on a retreat at Fintry, in 2013, and we wrote to each other regularly , meeting again, by arrangement, on several other Fintry retreats. From the first I loved her gentle but strong energy, her humour, and her sparkly eyed seriousness. ....we always spoke of visiting each other but it sadly never happened - it was all arranged that I should come, last March, but then of course I couldn't because of the pandemic, and then Isobel wrote to tell me of Machteld's illness. Thankyou Isobel for your care of, and love for, your dear friend, and for keeping me so well informed of how Machteld was, as she slipped away into the freedom of life no longer enclosed within a body. I will miss her presence in my life, on retreat, and in the gentle exchange of emails.