Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Nancy Floreen on Jean Cryor

Council Member Nancy Floreen sent us these comments about former Delegate Jean Cryor, who passed away yesterday.

The thing about Jean Cryor. She twinkled. She epitomized Maya Angelou’s memorable observation “ I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Jean Cryor made people feel good about themselves. Who cared what party Jean belonged to - with the possible exception of Craig Rice? Buoyed by her years as a reporter, and as a member of the General Assembly, Jean knew how to really listen. And she had the rare skill of conveying to others that she valued what they had to say. She could sense the tension in a room and break it with a smile and a thoughtful question. She could look you in your eye, pleasantly explain why you why you were wrong, and you didn’t mind. She conveyed an inner strength, an absence of ego, a genuine interest, a spirit of problem solving that was infectious. Was it that smile? The lilt in her voice? Her grasp of information and issues that she didn’t let intrude on her tremendous ability to truly connect? Jean was the sum of her wonderful parts and I am so sorry I didn’t tell her this myself. Sleep well, my friend. And let us all remember to tell our friends why we love them. Before they die.