that was quintessential vera cass. in my town halls at home, we often speak of the oregon way, just finding the best ideas, looking for solutions, not standoffs, and she lived and breathed that oregon way ethos every day of her life. and i'm going to miss her, and i'm especially going to miss some moments that will never be forgotten. when we were working in the early 1970's and i had gotten involved with the elderly, and back then the senator from north dakota i think probably remembers these days, that was a time when if the town had a lunch program for senior citizens, that was a big deal. nobody was aware that we might have all the services that we now have. in-home services, variety of transportation services. back then, if a town had a lunch program for older people, that was a big deal. and vera cass was then in the legislature, and i had been running the legal aid office for the elderly and was codirector of the gray panthers, and all the citizens wanted to really -- senior citizens wanted to really focus on ho