On being responsive to truth

and the conserver of human values

A year ago, my workplace lost a colleague and a friend. Her death was senseless and violent. Looking back now, it feels like it was also the gateway event to a lot of hurt, fear and more violence to come for an entire year. I am tired. I was hoping I would wake up today and see the sun shining brightly. But here it is again, bare branches a stark relief against a grey white sky. Silent snowflakes are floating down, dusting the ground and powder coating the trees. Spring has not yet arrived, but it will come.

Last night all of us, who were privileged to work with Gisel, spent an hour in a zoom room sharing stories and long uncomfortable moments of silence where we just looked into each others’ faces. Some of us had to shut off the camera from time to time and take little breaks. But all of us were there to pay tribute and be together.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Gisel. It was taken during some silly team building exercise we all had to do one summer. When I look at it now, I see Gisel’s smiling face. But I also see the words on the wall. Sensitive to beauty. That was Gisel for sure. This picture of my colleagues and Gisel standing in front of these lofty words at MIT, the place where she worked for over 20 years, seems oddly prescient right now. Nobody planned this. But here are some of us, performing the instructions for capturing the next clue in our scavenger hunt, circling around the word Friend.

We miss you, Gisel.