More on Charisse

From my friend N, who knew Charisse when she was Rabbi Kranes at Seattle's Temple de Hirsch Sinai:

I think I told you this before...but I don't know if I told you this part....that I am recalling more clearly.

When C. was rabbi at De Hirsch and she was ill, I decided to help her at her home, which is something that felt like a big step for me because I did not know her and had never met a female rabbi. I was so sad that I would be losing a role model just as she was getting her stride at the temple.

When I got to her house, she was on the phone. She said she was on the phone with her best friend named Jill. I wondered who that was and I remember the feeling of wanting a close friend just like what I saw. She was on the phone the whole time I was at her house. I don't think she and I said anything more...I just did what I came to do, which was a chore or something like that. I was a bit disappointed that my new role model was on the phone, but as she was sick, I did my mitzvah and left.

Now all these years later I feel connected to her and deeply connected to you, as I was a kind of a witness to your friendship and to how much you meant to her.
I remember her sitting on her sofa and talking on the phone, deeply engaged. I am sure it was you, because I remembered the name Jill and the fact she was on the phone with you for probably one hour.

Thanks you N for recalling this memory of Charisse for me.