I cannot say for certain when she came into my life. I cannot even say whether I mean anything to her more than a dear friend. But her presence in my life has enriched me and made me a positive and committed human being. As I look back on the women in my life somehow my entire life seems to arranged such that our meeting was inevitable. The rough patches in my life, and there were several, all seemed stepping stones leading me to her. Like a breath of fresh mountain air, she cleansed my soul of many many horrible thoughts and she taught me the absolute virtue of leaving to God the judgement of our deeds and those who have tresspassed against me. By teaching me the simple but profound lesson of bhakthi she opened my mind to the endless vistas of spiritual awareness and I am richer for it. She taught me to take lefe as it came along and not demand of it what it cannot and will not offer. She taught me to accept the reality of my life with utter equanimity. And, yes, I am a better human being for that. She taught me the virtue of simplicity. To lead a life without rancour and self hatred. She taught me to forgive and move on because her presence in my life makes this life so beautiful. She brought healing when the wounds were raw and putrid. She taught me to hold on to the values that make life worthliving and she brought God back into my life. For this I remain eternally grateful to her. She keeps me in her life with grace and dignity and this very act make my life secure and keeps me from falling off the deep end. My heart is heavy when I think of her. But life goes on. Memory has built a shrine for her in my heart and there she resides in all her glory. She is mine in memory and will always be. I have not been a light presence in her life and yet not once has shown her impatience to me. She treated me with grace and I worship this goddess of truth, beauty and love. Sometimes I am angry at what has happened. But then I look back and grasp in my minds' eye the enormity of her presence in my life. And I think to myself that it was destiny that brought me to her and her to me and I cannot escape destiny. This is a wonderful world and on Woman's Day I thank the Almight for having made the paths of our life cross.