Amanda Kendal.

.....I'm a little dismayed at the e-mail traffic concerning Her Excellency Amanda on the e-lists. Someone mistakenly pronounced her as having passed on. E-mails start flying in condolence. Then when it is announced that it was a premature announcement, people start sending out nasty e-mails of incrimination of sensationalism or of relaying news they ought not to be revealing. I rather wish they would all be quiet. There is a Facebook page being constantly updated by Countess Melissa with the latest information. Let that be the source and respectful SILENCE be what is seen on the e-lists.

.....I was lucky enough to have had the chance to interact with Her Excellency on several occasions. She is a remarkable woman. Your first impressions of her are of an kindly elderly grandmother. And she does have that quality. But it never took long to realize that she was far more than that front cover.

.....I first met her in person at 3YC. I was the copy editor of The Daily Progress, the newsletter of the event. I worked alongside Countess Melissa in the main administrative area, which happened to be a barn. :-) One day things were extraordinarily hectic and I was pulling my hair out in frustration, when she stepped into the office. She stood there for a moment and assessed what was happening, then walked over to me. She took both of my hands into her own and looked up at me. She has this personality to where, no matter who you are and what the subject is, you are the center of the universe at that particular moment. It is a glorious attribute!

.....She looked up into my eyes and told me that she thought The Daily Progress was marvelous and thanked me for all of my efforts to make it so. If she had asked me to fly to the moon and pick her up a moon rock at that moment, I would have found a way to do so. It was that magical a moment for me.

.....Her eyes have this piercing look to them, the kind that you are sure can read your soul. There is a vastness there as well, like looking into a well spring of stars that are twinkling brightly. You may not necessarily believe in reincarnation, but you will think twice when you look into those eyes and see all the lifetimes reflected in those stars. It is very indescribable how deep of an experience it is.

.....Just that one encounter changed everything for me in how I approached that whole week, and the whole SCA thereafter. I was much more determined, and much more in love with the SCA than I had been before that day.

.....It's hard to believe that something so simple could be so profound, but it was just that for me. It was repeated several times over the years since then. And it was just as magical each and every time I spoke with her.

.....She is one of my heros, and always will be.

.....Aaron / Arontius.