I have just found this group, and definitely a little late. I am enjoying combing through everyone's wonderful memories of this incandescent and unique little angel that graced us with her presence. So many of you she would reference in our talks, so it is nice to be able to hear your stories and connections.

Rita had this remarkable ability to make you feel like you were the most important person in her life. You were her "star". She also framed things in such a way, that I would never be able to construct myself, because her brain just operated on a much higher plane. I found myself often saying..."what do you mean by that?" I miss her every day, but always feel her with me. Guiding me, pushing me....encouraging me. I don't think I have ever mourned her loss, either because it was too painful, or I just am…

I met Rita in Ojai when she walked into the Bank of America branch that I was managing. She had this warmth about her,  and I knew I could trust whatever she needed. She instantly became a sister that I knew was to be a very special person in my life. I can feel her wrap her arms around me and tell me how special I was, but I knew that SHE was that special person in my life that taught me lessons that would last a lifetime.  She taught me how to live my life for me, and to not let others control me. The word, "boundaries" are a trigger  for wonderful memories and lessons I learned from her that taught me how and when I needed to use those lessons as well. I didn't know what a boundary was until she helped me to see how much I…

I met Rita in Ojai when she walked into the Bank of America branch that I was managing. She had this warmth about her,  and I knew I could trust whatever she needed. She instantly became a sister that I knew was to be a very special person in my life. I can feel her wrap her arms around me and tell me how special I was, but I knew that SHE was that special person in my life that taught me lessons that would last a lifetime.  She taught me how to live my life for me, and to not let others control me. The word, "boundaries" are a trigger  for wonderful memories and lessons I learned from her that taught me how and when I needed to use those lessons as well. I didn't know what a boundary was until she helped me to see how much I…

I met Rita in Ojai when she walked into the Bank of America branch that I was managing. She had this warmth about her,  and I knew I could trust whatever she needed. She instantly became a sister that I knew was to be a very special person in my life. I can feel her wrap her arms around me and tell me how special I was, but I knew that SHE was that special person in my life that taught me lessons that would last a lifetime.  She taught me how to live my life for me, and to not let others control me. The word, "boundaries" are a trigger  for wonderful memories and lessons I learned from her that taught me how and when I needed to use those lessons as well. I didn't know what a boundary was until she helped me to see how much I…

I met Rita back in the early 90s. She was teaching an exercise class in a private home in Westchester County, NY, and I was invited to be one of the participants. I was, at that time, 50, overweight, overworked, tense, mid-divorce, and running a huge company. I could hardly breathe and there was something about Rita that made me think she might save my life. I signed her up for weekly private lessons at my home.

Of course, within a few months, she was my best friend.

I visited Sage Hill many times and when my mother passed away in 2001, I stayed with Rita for a few weeks just to heal. We hiked together, of course, she much faster and stronger than I, and she reshaped my eating habits, my hormone regimen (I had been taken off pills; she put me back on), and tried (unsuccessfully) to get…

Rita was a dear friend who touched my heart and soul with her wisdom, wit and generosity of spirit, I especially loved the poems and quotes she would often share to beautifully illuminate whatever subject we were discussing at the time. I will so miss those wonderful exchanges. I recently read, however, the following quote from Marcel Proust which made me smile and softened the loss:

"People do not die for us completely, but remain bathed in some sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality, but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive. It is as though they were traveling abroad."

     The pictures of Rita stunned me. Though we spoke at least weekly by phone for the last two years, Rita requested that I not visit for fear of exposing her vulnerable immune system to Covid or flu. Between the lockdown and her illness, I hadn’t seen her for at least two years when she died. Occasionally, she sent a photo of herself, always looking chic, even with her shorn head or dramatic weight loss. When I told her how beautiful she looked, she said, “I dress every morning, even if I’m not going to see anyone,” which expressed to me one of the many ways how Rita never stopped being fully alive.

    Despite her suffering, she spoke eloquently, sometimes for more than an hour, about the meaning of her experience with cancer, her relationship with her doctors, whom she delighted in (and, it seemed, cared deeply for her),…

I was fortunate to spend a weekend, along with a couple of friends, at Rita's roost near Ojai many years ago. It was memorable for the location,for the activities she led, and for the feelings of peace I had coming down that mountain. Funny thing. It was Rita's only "men's retreat" I was told later. I would have recommended being in her presence to everyone I know, male or female or whatever; old, young, weary, jumpy; satisfied, longing, healthy, ill. She had a recipe to help you fly right for yourself, and it was a different formula for each person. I'm sad to lose her and wish I had said all of this to her before she left us.