New Isabella

New Isabella is one of the kindest, most gracious and gentle souls I know on this site. She is supportive, strong, loving, and never has a bad word to say about anyone. She’s interesting, and a sweetheart.

If only I lived closer to Georgia. (:

I’ve admired him since reading an article about him in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. The article was in WebMD magazine and you can find it here if you’d like to read it too. It talks about how he coped with the long-suppressed grief of losing his father and his brother at an early age. I identified with him because I lost my mother and my brother at an early age.

It turns out that as he was covering Hurricane Katrina, he found himself overwhelmed with memories of visits to New Orleans with his father. After coming back to New York, he spent the next five months writing his memoir “Dispatches From the Edge.” It was published in May 2006, 18 years after his brother’s death from suicide, and 28 years after his father’s death.

I suppose I should read his book in case I really do meet him. I would like to ask him how writing that book has helped him. I think maybe it would help me to write more about the losses in my life.

One day a little while ago, while I was posting a comment under the entry of another 43-T friend, I noticed that someone called FinallyWilling had already posted an incredibly loving and supportive comment of her own under the same entry. I also noticed that FinallyWilling lives in Augusta too. So, we’ve been cheering and commenting on each other’s goals and entries ever since, and we just met for coffee yesterday. We had met previously, but now I know so much more about her, thanks to 43-T. (And vice versa, I’m sure.) I really like and admire the new things that I’ve learned about her, and her incredible openness and honesty. I hope we can continue to learn more about each other and support each other, both on 43-T and through personal contact. What a wonderful thing to have a local 43-T friend! :)

Thank you, Cherise.

It is so funny I know New Isabella knew that she knew me. :) When she emailed me with her real name I was pretty sure too! lol It was so nice to have coffee this morning.

I have known New Isabella for several years and love her dearly. We just have never really been able to sit down and talk to each other one on one. It was really really nice to talk with you today! I hope we can get together often!

Love you,
Cherise

I want to meet Isabella because she has a round tuit! Really we live so close that we just have to!

Because, because, because, because, because,

because of the wonderful things he does!

I met John Rigas many years ago. My brother-in-law lived in Coudersport and was a member of the same country club as John, who joined us for dinner one night. He was trying to persuade my husband and me to move to Coudersport. At the time I did not know how I could possibly survive living in such a place…my life would probably have been very different if we had decided to move there!

I met him through his writing. Several of his books have inspired me including “The Prodigal Son,” “The Wounded Healer,” and especially “Life of the Beloved.”

I have really identified with a number of her writings, including “Go to the Places that Scare You”, (lots of places scare me), and her description of how the breakup of her marriage changed her life for the better, and how failing at her big new job opportunity changed her life for the better, in “When Things Fall Apart.”