This is a horrible Sunday. I know God has a plan, but I am bereft in seeking logic upon hearing that she is gone. That she leaves behind one of the best friends I have in the world brings a sorrow that I wish I could help him with.
Paula was a smart, very smart, no BS professional who also was a funny, fun and an incredibly interesting person. We used to in quiet moments discuss political biographies we had both read and were immensely amused and interested in the minutiae of particular works. Needless to say I was incredibly impressed with the width and depth of her intelligence and knowledge. In a selfish way it was so gratifying to have such conservations, but never more so than when she agreed with my summations. When she disagreed, I listened carefully because I knew I was in for a lesson which never failed or disappointed me. Dear Lord, she was only 46 years old. Why?
She was Cong. John Boehner's right arm and was damned good at it. Boehner made her better, but she made Boehner better. Paula did the work required by Boehner's office, but she not only improved it, she found solutions, never for expediency, but for principle that made it work and work correctly.
Besides her political work she and Michael Smith helped put together one of the great oddities in DC, the Kennedy Boehner Dinner for the parochial schools in and around our nations capitol. Over the years the dinner raised millions.
To sit and have a cocktail and a chat with the pair was one of the most enjoyable evenings we could look forward to. The year the new stadium was built in Cleveland we went to a Brown's game when the temperature was hot, the Dog Pound was panting and we laughed and cheered before going to a dinner in a little Italian restaurant. Michael and I went next door to a "gift shop" and found toy cell phones that made incredibly obnoxious ring tones which we rang over and over chatting to imagined world leaders telling them what smucks they were. Paula laughed so hard she almost had tears coming down her face.
Work loads got in the way of Michael and Paula coming to Columbus to meet us for a Red Wings /Blue Jackets game. Hockey, especially the Red Wings was a passion for Paula. I wish we had been able to make a game.
I am praying for Paula and for the good man left alone.
May the good Lord cradle this incredible woman close to his heart. She loved Him and Miss Paula loved His work. She also loved a drink and a good joke which allows me to believe the Lord has a sense of humor.
Michael, I love you and I cannot express the sorrow and sadness that I feel. Man, I am at a loss.
