.188 Claudia Zaugg

If my math is correct, Claudia and I have known each other for over 20 years. Growing up, she was my neighbor at the end of the block who graciously dealt with me whenever I wanted to talk or play basketball. As I have gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate more and more her patience with me and her natural ability to treat people, no matter what, with respect and unassuming empathy.

The respect and kindness that Claudia constantly showed me really hit me most, and has continued to in hindsight, when I first came out as gay in high school. Claudia treated me with the same compassion as she always had, and it didn’t change anything when I would see her on the street or even at school. She so clearly leads her life with this true integrity and she matches it with her impressive intelligence and fabulous sense of humor. To put it simply, Claudia has always been an example in my eyes of what it means to be a good human being. She’s just a great, genuine, fun, and lovely person to be around and I’m lucky to have grown up with her and be friends to this day.

Claudia, thank you for being such a wonderful woman who is most certainly a role model for myself and so many. Thank you for your strength and that kindness that I always see with you. Thank you for always making me laugh, feel better, and for always being up for any Plummer Court game of tag, spud, basketball, you name it. I’m so grateful to have had you in my life as I grew up and figured myself out - I had you to look to when it came to modeling how to treat people. Thank you, Claudia, for being you.

-BD