yours, collin. when i replied, i signed my note of thanks, forcefully yours, madeleine. in time, we really did become the closest of friends. traveling together for speeches, trading frequent phone calls, and having lunch at his beloved cafe og. we talked a lot about our gratitude to the country. our pride and our families and our dis- taste aging. he offered me plenty of advice. the last time i saw him, he instructed me to count each step in order to avoid tripping or falling down the stairs. i now do that, several times a day and each time i think of him. this morning, my heart aches because we have lost a friend and our nation, one of its finest and most loyal soldiers. yet even as we contemplate the magnitude of our loss, we can