We were living at Lake Como, Florida in the late 1990's when one of our neighbors asked if we would be willing to rent our guest house to one of their friends from Michigan.  The friend was Charlotte Finkbeiner and we immediately connected with her because we were close to the same age and temperment.  Charlotte was a "snowbird" and would stay in our guest house from about early December until late May or early April.  She stayed with us for about ten winters and we grew to love Chalotte and thought of her as family, and looked forward to her visits each year.  The first crisis arose  within days after she moved into the cottage.  There was a small green frog about four or five inches tall which was made of plaster or some other composite material.  This frog had been sitting on a ledge in the shower stall when we bought the property and we never thought to remove it.  Charlotte mentioned she did not like the frog grinning at her as she showered and asked if she could move it to another location.  We naturally consented and she removed the impish-looking frog.  On another occasion, Chalotte was going for a walk to visit some neighbors, probably Dave and Lorraine Otto, who lived only a couple houses away.  Since she was not going to be gone long and was not going to secure the cottage, she placed her purse and cell phone inside the clothes washer.  When she returned to the cottage she was preparing a wash and forgot about her purse.  It was after the washer filled with water that she remembered.  She was able to dry off most of the contents of her purse, but wasn't sure about the phone.  We removed the battery from the phone, dabbed the phone with tissue and used a blow dryer.  If I recall correctly, we were able to get her phone to work again.  On another occasion, we took Chalotte to a restaurant for dinner on her birthday, also St. Patrick's Day, to indulge in corned beef and cabbage and green beer.  Charlotte commented to a young man sitting at an adjacent table about how well he looked in green with his hat, tie and jacket for St. Patrick's Day.  The young man replied that he really admired the socks (probably green with a suspicious-looking Lepracahun) that Charlotte was wearing; at which time, she immediately removed her socks and gave them to the young man.  He went along with the gesture and put them on his feet.  Everyone at nearby tables roared with laughter.  Charlotte insisted the young man keep the socks.  On another visit, several of us drove to Jacksonville, Florida to attend a muscial production of "Phantom" at The Alhambra, a dinner theater.  Charlotte had recently received a request from a grandson to take "Flat Stanley" around with her and take some pictures of him in Florida.  Needless to say, Charlotte affixed "Flat Stanley" to a life-sized poster of The Phantom and eventually returned the pictures and "Flat Stanley" to her grandson.  There were other stories and laughs with Charlotte.  Our condolences go out to her family.  As before, we loved Charlotte as a member of the family and will never forget her.  Goodbye, dear friend.