PROF. EILEEN NICKERSON—1991
Boston University
Every time I think of Aureet, I see her bright, smiling face and the twinkle in her eyes. Aureet radiated caring and warmth. There was a lilt to her voice and a gentle firmness about her. You knew that she knew what she was talking about, but you also knew that she was genuinely interested in your observations and reactions. Interaction with Aureet was considered, concerned and respectful - one which engaged, challenged and warmed you!
She was such a wonderful gift to us all … I shall never forget her!
DR. JUDY STONE—1991
Newton Psychologist
Aureet, …I think of you in your intensity and warmth and anger, in your feistiness and vulnerability. A believer in justice and compassion, you were sensitive to injury — your own and that of others….I remember the times we saw each other outside work — a walk with Flame in a sunny field, lunches, a dance.
I learned much more about you since your death — about your large imagination and powerful impact on so many. …Your capacity for feeling was palpable, and whether in joy or suffering, you were an energetic presence. I am sorry that you can no longer be in that presence, or feel and be part of the support and struggle of human connection. There is a terrible irony in a note you left for me one day over a year ago, after some difficulty that I was having that I'd shared with you, a note I've carried in my purse ever since:
Judy, dear --
(Thought for the day)
Behave like a duck -
Stay calm on the surface
And paddle like Hell underneath
VIRGINIA THOMPSON—1991
Principal of Michael Driscoll School—Aureet's Elementary school
The butterfly counts not months,
but
moments,
and has time enough.*
Aureet Bar-Yam
— She was not a
butterfly
given
her intelligence
— She was not a
butterfly
given
her devotion to others
— She was not a
butterfly
given
her sense of justice
— She was a
butterfly
in
her beauty
— She was a
butterfly
in
her independence
— She was a
butterfly
>in her early death
May all who knew her accept her so brief presence as a gift she shared with each of us. "She had time enough."
* Tagore
