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IN MEMORIAM Lynda Ann Brugge April 3, 1952 to February 1, 2002 Nancy A. Murdock Muse reader Lynda Brugge was a good friend and an enthusiastic organizer of good times. She was extremely intelligent and a formidable challenge at a game of Trivial Pursuit, with her steel-trap memory. She could put together a whole segment of a jigsaw puzzle while I was still getting the rest out of the box. At the celebration of her life, her Maryland friends and colleagues told of many ways in which she had made life more pleasant and more interesting for us. She remembered everything each of us had an interest in and let us know when something related to our pet topics was upcoming. She was a great phone buddy, keeping up regularly with many friends and her extended family, most of whom live in CA. I met Lynda in 1974 when we were both claims representative trainees for Social Security in Huntington Park, CA. She was more valuable than I, because she was bilingual. In an office with a clientele heavily weighted toward Spanish-speaking, she could interview without tying up a translator. Even though we worked mandatory overtime of 2 hours a day and a minimum of 5 on Saturday, she managed to get us out to do fun stuff. She took Bob and me to a coffee house featuring folk music. She and I went several times to Hermosa Beach where we could browse in a great bookstore, sample foods at a large natural foods store, and buy a little fabric at Rainbow Resources quilt shop. And just as was true later in Baltimore, she was familiar with every restaurant worth a try. She went on to various other offices, and eventually we lost touch when both of us moved. But then we connected again when I came to Central Office for a one year special assignment. That was 15 years ago, and we have enjoyed many things together in those years. She came to our house for Christmas and celebrated her birthday with us on Easter. She took us out each year for our birthdays. She even took Bob to an Indian restaurant the Thanksgiving I was in Japan! We shared a love of craft shows and quilt shows. Lynda bought even more quilt fabric than I did, but she was really what she termed a "virtual quilter." She made a few quilt blocks for special gifts made by Sew & Tell, the group she organized over 10 years ago as a lunch meeting of crafting friends. But she never finished a quilt herself. It was enough to collect fabric, organize fabric buying trips with friends, and encourage us all to keep quilting. It was because she kept telling me I needed to be in a quilt guild that I finally connected with Faithful Circle Quilters. By the year 2000, I was the president, and six of us Sew & Tell participants were also FCQ members, including Lynda. I almost gave up my dream of a big celebration for our 50th anniversary, but Lynda calmly led me through an exercise that helped us decide what was important to us and what we could logically accomplish. For my 65th birthday, which I approached with ambivalence, she took me to a quilt display she had asked to be specially opened for us, a museum show of visionary art, a wonderful vegetarian lunch at the museum, an African American art show, and a high tea to which she invited Bob and about 20 of my friends from work, church, Bible study, and quilting. She also masterminded a "Nancy" quilt for me by Sew & Tell, with dozens of items beginning with the letters of my name. Lynda's life came to an abrupt end when she was found to have metastasized cancer. We miss her, but we have many wonderful memories of this friend who was like a beloved member of our family. Rest in peace, Lynda. We're still celebrating your remarkable life. |
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