Anne has a glower than can freeze water instantly, she is well known for it in our town. She is our friend, our bookkeeper, and also has a particular distinction: in a very literal way, she saved my life.

When my life fell apart in 2208, and my ex-wife happily turned over the finances to me, I went to pieces and was drowning in bills, accounts, receipts and tax forms. Anne sensed that I was in trouble – she was rebuilding the old flower garden at the first Bedlam Farm – and offered to help.

I was terrified of Anne for years, her gloomy and sometimes withering stare caused consternation and panic in me, she didn’t mess around when it came to the books, and I had messed around for decades when it came to money and the books.

If I knew she was in the house, I’d drive around until she was gone. “It’s time to panic,” she told me one night when she first went over the books. I can’t imagine why she didn’t flee.

Miraculously, we hung in there together, and under Anne’s sometimes fierce stare, I am learning to manage money, am debt-free and thoughtful about what I buy, and keep meticulous account of my money. I pay my bills on time and even pre-pay my taxes. I owe nothing.

Anne can even read my handwriting sometimes.

And beneath the glower is a pure and loving heart, Anne is all good, to people and especially to cats. This morning, she startled me – okay, she scared me –  by popping up in the bookstore right across from me, and I asked her if I could buy her a book for Christmas (we have a special present in mind for her) and she looked at me evenly, and said “no.”

I love Anne.

I am especially grateful to her. She is one of the very few people still in my life from those tumultuous and painful  days. I know my money-handling and record-keeping drove her mad at times, but she stuck with me, and I stuck with her. I suspect it was because she really likes Maria.

Anne has also helped Maria figure out her taxes and receipts and helped her to understand how to run a small business. It is, to me, amazing to think about how far I come, every morning, I browse through all of my financial apps and make sure things are in order.

Sometimes, she comes over with her laptop and we sit down face to face and go over the books. It is fun, now, Anne is an enormous help to me.

Anne gave me a great compliment earlier this year and if Anne is generous of heart, she is chintzy with compliments. She said this was the sanest year that I had been since she met me a decade ago.

It’s not saying much, but it is saying something. I’ll take it.

Merry Christmas, Anne.

There are some people you just can’t let get away.