Bernadette, you space monkey! You were a Taurus, so it had to be of the earth or it was not for you. But also you were always of outer space. Everyone else was in the mundanity and you were, I remember, recruiting my help on how to design a thin, impermeable yet breathable (preferably metallic) jumpsuit to shield you from the newly invaded ticks (because you did not want Lyme disease) so you could still hike Poetry State Forest. These were the important questions.

You were always saying, “Did you ever think of that?” and you would smile and laugh at the absurdity of what you were saying, because of course, none of us had thought of it. Because it was from outer space.

And you would tell a little story and then lean in, give the punchline, smile and say, “Don’t you think that’s weird!?” followed by just the appropriate amount of earth-witch cackle. If others got to laughing, you would laugh more, just to keep us at it until our sides ached from giggles and bliss.

Your endless joy at the absurdity of the world around us, boundless curiosity, and eternal childish awe—alongside a ruthless intellect—made you a space monkey. I will forever be grateful to have enjoyed your interstellar with you. Some of us have days, have moments of space monkey; you made it a constant, everyday jubilee, and goddess bless, shared it with us. You made it an art. Thank you, forever.