remembering Alge

To Alge's family-- I am a very infrequent contributor to the GPDD, though I feel like I know everyone as I've read it daily for almost five years now. I prefer to post personally to members when I feel that I have something I want to share. When I first joined the GPDD, Alge asked about an uncommon occurrence with guinea pigs, but one that I've had experience with. We had an interesting email correspondence concerning this issue, and it was then that I began to form a picture in my mind of what Alge was like. She mentioned her daughter and grandchildren, so I imagined her as an thin elderly lady, gray-haired and spectacled. I knew that she had health issues concerning her lungs and was bedridden at times, so I suppose that contributed to my thinking she must be an elderly grandma. My husband and I loved that she called her piggies the "Jolly Rodents," and I think it was that nickname as well as her droll sense of humor that made me think she MUST be British--until I learned that she lived in Ohio. Still, I thought perhaps she was British by birth--there was something about her wit and "voice" that made me think so (perhaps she was?). Anyways, I enjoyed seeing her photo and the slideshow of her life--my imaginary Alge was so different from the real person in looks, though the warmth, compassion, intelligence, and wit that shone through her writings reflected that real person in spirit, I'm very sure. I hope that Alge's family reads this post. I've been wanting to write since I heard that she had passed on. The sadness that Alge's Digest friends are expressing is also very real--she was a friend to all and very beloved in return. She will be remembered with fondness and love. With sincerest sympathy to Alge's family, Ann and piggies Gizmo, Dart, Feather & Tessie