This legislative session has gone into overtime and at times emotions have run high. But on Wednesday, all of that didn’t seem to matter. Something beyond partisanship, votes and politics hit many of us hard. We lost one of our own.

Representative Patsy Terrell passed away unexpectedly and although she served only a few short months she made an impact on many of us. Patsy’s enthusiasm and willingness to learn was always on display and she was a fierce defender of her constituents and the things she believed in. I experienced it first hand while serving with her on the Water & Environment Committee.

Our politics were different, but this is not about R’s and D’s, votes or policy. It’s about a woman who lived a life to make other lives better. Patsy for Kansas (Photo credit: Shelee Brim Photography)