I think that her handwriting which always tilted upwards showed her spirit.
Ann Richards died this week. I wish I had Rita B's writing skills to do Ann justice. She was the first woman in 50 years to be elected the Governor of Texas. Unlike most politicians she said exactly what she thought and what she believed in. Mostly she believed in people.
Ann was a teacher and a Mother and finally a politican. She found her way to recovery after she began public life. When she was Governor she brought recovery programs and treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction to the Texas prison system where 80% of inmates suffer from the disease.
She was all about fiscal responsibility. She was completely dedicated to education and literacy. This was one woman that beat the "good old boys" at their own game. She used to have the tallest hair in Texas.
Her laughter started in her eyes and she laughed a lot. She was witty, and irreverent and often cussed like a sailor. She was funny and insightful and amazing. She had the kind of honesty that always looks you in the eyes. She changed this state for the better.
In her last days she was always active campaigning for other Democrats, and volunteering in the arts and writing. She announced in March that she had cancer.
At her last few public events she seemed smaller....but it could have been her hair. I am a little bit afraid that we will not see her like again. 
Ann Richards on How to Be a Good Republican:
1. You have to believe that the nation's current 8-year prosperity was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but yesterday's gasoline prices are all Clinton's fault.
2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.
3. You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time.
4. You have to believe that AIDS victims deserve their disease, but smokers with lung cancer and overweight individuals with heart disease don't deserve theirs.
5. You have to appreciate the power rush that comes with sporting a gun.
6. You have to believe...everything Rush Limbaugh says.
7. You have to believe that the agricultural, restaurant, housing and hotel industries can survive without immigrant labor.
8. You have to believe God hates homosexuality, but loves the death penalty.
9. You have to believe society is color-blind and growing up black in America doesn't diminish your opportunities, but you still won't vote for Alan Keyes.
10. You have to believe that pollution is OK as long as it makes a profit.
11. You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.
12. You have to believe Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde were really faithful husbands.
13. You have to believe speaking a few Spanish phrases makes you instantly popular in the barrio.
14. You have to believe that only your own teenagers are still virgins.
15. You have to be against government interference in business, until your oil company, corporation or Savings and Loan is about to go broke and you beg for a government bail out.
16. You love Jesus and Jesus loves you and, by the way, Jesus shares your hatred for AIDS victims, homosexuals, and President Clinton.
17. You have to believe government has nothing to do with providing police protection, national defense, and building roads.
18. You have to believe a poor, minority student with a disciplinary history and failing grades will be admitted into an elite private school with a $1,000 voucher.
