A surreal day

Thank you to everyone for the kind calls, comments, emails and everything else yesterday. It was a surreal day, as you can imagine.

To have someone you know die suddenly is always difficult. When that person's death has national and international significance it is mind boggling. A friend who lost her brother in law on 9/11 likened our experience to hers and I said, respectfully, that that situation was even more horrific than this. She said simply, "Horrifc is horrific. there is no more or less." She's right.

I am happy that every single report on Ambassador Stevens mentioned what a personable guy he was and how delighted he was to be in Libya. Both the United States and Libya lost a great man. And I do believe that Libyans are genuinely sad as well. Chris Stevens was very well liked by the people there and this fringe element, or sect, of band of outlaws or whatever they are, did not act and do not speak for the Libyans that Chris loved.

But his family is suffering the worst loss.  We were Chris' friends, not family. He had many many friends and I know all of them feel as we do, shocked, sad and lost. I cannot begin to imagine what his family is going through. My heart breaks for them.

To add to the surreal nature of the day, I was fielding calls from reporters looking for Steve and watching Steve on various television stations, listening to him on the radio and reading about him on the internet. He expressed reluctance to be interviewed at first, it was difficult thing for him to to, but he thought it was important to honor his friend, and I thought he did a spectacular job. That too was bizarre, though. Steve was taken to the Moscone Center to be interviewed by NBC. They were already there covering the release of the new IPhone 5. He had to wait for his interview to begin and felt like he had been dropped in another planet as he waited to tell the national news about his friend Chris Stevens but had to listen to people prattering on about the newest gadget.

I promise to return to our regularly scheduled programming because even as I was dealing with all of this yesterday, I was dealing with issues in Maggie's world and using every ounce of my wavering composure to keep from blowing my stack. I survived, because it was all just so so stupid, especially in light of the days events.

I do want to share this picture, because it gave me hope in the midst of a very hopeless day.

Peace on earth. Goodwill to men

Chris Stevens

A day off from Maggie's world today to address issues in the real world.

Our good friend Chris Stevens was the Ambassador to Libya and we are devastated at the news of his death in yesterdays attack on the Consulate in Benghazi.

Chris and Steve go back 35 years to their days at Cal Berkeley. He was a bright light, an extraordinary man doing extraordinary work. He had been in various countries in the Middle East throughout his long diplomatic career, but came "home" frequently to see his family. We were lucky that he always included a dinner at our house on these trips home. Here are he and Steve in my living room after one of those dinners.

It is hard to believe those won't happen again.

We last saw him at a reception his parents hosted in May before he left to fill his post as the newly appointed ambassador. He was humble, as always, and spoke of Libya in the most positive terms. He loved his work and did it very well. As I hugged him goodbye after that reception I said, "Take care of yourself, Chris and please be safe."

Hard to be safe in such a dangerous situation.

Rest in Peace Chris. It was an honor to know you.

Addendum: My husband has been interviewed by several News outlets as they attempt to portray the kind of man we lost today. I am extremely proud of my husband's abiltiy to honor his friend in such an articulate way despite his overwhelming grief.  The first of these interviews aired on San Francisco CBS5 this afternoon which you can see here: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/7716769-bay-area-remembers-u-s-ambassador-killed-in-libya/  Another interview will air on NBC's today show in the morning. Other friends are being interviewed around the country as well and I'm certain the chorus will be the same. A wonderful man, a tremendous national and personal loss.