From stories told by my mother, or by her siblings and friends, and what I have read from her diary, my mother was what some would call a free spirit.  Others would call her wild. My mother, Ruthanna Keffaber, was born on July 7, 1924.  Ruthanna, commonly known as Corki, a nickname she picked up in her childhood, had two older brothers and she was the second of the three sisters.    She was intelligent, graduating from college the first time with a teacher’s certificate; much later she would receive a degree in counseling and would have completed a PhD, except she chose not to write the dissertation. She became a singer with a band, wife, mother of seven, teacher, counselor and city court judge.   Corki was a voracious reader.  She loved politics.  She played a mean game of bridge.  For that matter, she was merciless at most games.