“That’s good.” Henny stepped forward. She set a black cardboard poster in the center of the table. A white sheet was pasted in the center of the poster. Henny read aloud: HONORED SPIRIT Iris Tilford Iris was slender with soft brown hair and brown eyes. She was kind and gentle. Iris struggled in school and was grouped with the slower students, the yellow birds. One day she astounded everyone when she sang, her voice beautiful and clear, sweet as a canary’s song. From then on, she was proud to be a yellow bird. Her dream was to travel someday to the far reaches of the earth. Her spirit reeled when her mother died. Her journey became one of misery and pain and she sought oblivion in alcohol and drugs. She fought through the agony of withdrawal from drugs to sobriety. When she died, she was a proud member of AA and NA. She met death when she tried to make amends for her past. Her life was short but she lived and died with courage. Henny admired the illustrations. Iris’s high school yearbook picture was above her name.
