I met Sal when I was at Oberlin College, when we were all supposed to live on campus and few people had cars. Sal, of course, drove an old red pick up truck which took us to yard sales and old diners all over northern Ohio. She opened the door for all kinds of ways we could create the lives we wanted and when she left for Virginia to work on a farm before she finished school, all of the other possible lives I could live became possible too. Nothing was better than the long winding conversations with Sal as we walked or drove or picked vegetables; that was my college. She was in heaven when driving a tractor (that grin!), and such a patient teacher, and the vegetables we picked together were miraculous and the most delicious meals I've ever eaten. Everything was infused with love and glowed like a Renaissance painting when I spent time with Sal (and her beloved dogs) and anything could, and did, happen. Her long illustrated handwritten letters and the pre-dawn good-bye notes left on my kitchen counters were as full of love and brilliance as her amazing hugs. Sal was like a planet or a gravitational pull that invisibly changed the whole world, and I still feel it.

April 7, 2016 ( day after her 61st birthday ), Lincoln Center Plaza. New York Philharmonic.

April 7, 2016 ( day after her 61st birthday ) Thursday, 9:45 AM Beethoven - Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, R. Strauss - Oboe Concerto, Liang Wang - Oboe
Sally's wish for her birthday via email : “they're playing Beethoven's Sixth Symphony - the Symphonie Pastorale, one of my favorites, and a Strauss Oboe concerto.

She was so generous, smart, wonderful. We meet in 91. She always made me feel loved. She fought to save my life - and she did as she did for so many. I love she was an avid farmer. Loyal friend. A social justice fighter. I love and adore this wonderful person. She taught me to challenge everything. She is one of the most important soul I have been blessed to share in this lifetime. Love Sally Cooper - so very much. Te adoro y te agradezco por tanto mas.