I remember driving home with you after seeing Pulp Fiction in ninety-three
Discussing the movie’s meaning, you said something important to me
You said that it meant that it takes strength to be good
I knew you were correct then, but now, three decades later, your point is truly understood
You, the life long Republican, taught me a litany of progressive values
You taught me that circumspection was at the heart of all human virtues
You taught me tolerance and celebration of diversity by your commitment to the civil rights movement
From your work in child protective services, you taught me that championing the weak was more important than self-improvement
You taught me many great things from your passion for human psychology
Not the least of which is that psychology is at the heart of all theology and philosophy
More than anyone else, you taught me the meaning of human devotion
You radiated it as if it were cast upon you by a magic spell, as if you’d drunk some magic potion
At my lowest, you always managed to find the good in me
During the days run lost, when my goodness nobody else would ever see
You’d find some way to get me out of every jam without judging, supportively
This is how you taught me what it means to treat somebody lovingly