Several weeks ago, on a beautiful sunny day, I represented the Broadhurst family at a little event officially "unveiling" new bricks in the NCC memory wall. The family had gotten a brick in our beloved Denise's memory, which now will be a permanent fixture of the campus she loved so much. I took great pride in being able to say that she was not only a respected colleague of mine but also a very dear friend.
One nice moment came after the "ceremony" (such as it was) came to a close: a woman rushed up to me to let me know that she worked with Denise on several campus committees and had loved her (of course). I'm afraid her name and department didn't register with me: I apologize to her for not being more careful to make note of both. In any event, this woman said that her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at about the same time Denise was, so she had taken it as a mission to e-mail Denise regularly with supportive and encouraging messages. Clearly, she wanted to do something, anything, to help Denise in any way that she could. Didn't we all.
I'm not often on that side of campus, but now, every time I am, I will stop by to touch Denise's brick, just to say hello, and to let her know she is missed.
