hanti was such an important part of our lives. We met at a Shanti training in July of 1988 and we will be celebrating our 15th anniversary this year. Both of us facilitated many volunteer trainings and each one was rewarding. In many ways, we both got more out of facilitating those trainings than we gave to the new volunteers.   Both of us had strong relationships with our clients. Lee with Jonathan and Randy with Michael. Both of us felt that being a Shanti volunteer was simply holding someone's hand as they walked through some of the most profound moments of life. As facilitators of volunteer support groups—we laughed and cried and hugged our fellow volunteers and created bonds that have lasted years. Also, for Randy the experience of facilitating a Friend, Family and Lover (FFL) group for a few years was both some of the most difficult work and most rewarding work of my life—being there through the time when someone says goodbye was intimate, heart wrenching, and some of the most important experiences of one's life.   For both of us—Shanti taught us a great deal about love, listening and emotional connection. Randy was honored to serve on Shanti's board from 1994-1996 and to co-chair the 20th anniversary dinner. For Randy—Shanti started many years of AIDS work both volunteer and professionally.   Shanti is inexorably tied to our lives. As volunteers during some of the bleakest moments in the AIDS epidemic—it was difficult, painful, rewarding, intimate and spiritual. The last 15 years of our lives together are a direct result of the synergy that Shanti created—love, intimacy, timing and trust.   —Randy Allgaier and Lee Hawn (pictured above with Darwin)       CONTACT THIS CONTRIBUTOR