Dear
Family and Friends,
In
July, I got a message from a Dr. Lisa Belisle asking if I would be willing to
be interviewed for her Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. She had picked
up my first book from our local bookstore, Longfellow Books – Sing to Me and
I Will Hear You – The Poems. I immediately said yes because I was just
completing Sing to Me and I Will Hear You – The Love Story (which is now
at my publisher’s) and such an interview would serve to promote both books, I
told her, and the CD of my reading the poems. The radio interview took place in
August, but was aired yesterday. Here is the link for this 34 minute radio
interview called “Love, Spirituality & Self”: http://chirb.it/NHJpIC
Shortly
after this interview, I was asked by Sophie Nelson, Assistant Editor of Maine
magazine, if I would be willing to be interviewed for that magazine’s
“Wellness” column. That’s when I realized that Dr. Lisa’s partner, Kevin
Thomas, is publisher of Maine magazine. So I agreed again, for the same
reason.
The
online copy here -- http://themainemag.com/play/wellness/2354-elaine-g-mcgillicuddy.html
-- has more photos in it than the actual magazine has (November 2013
issue). The photos were taken by the gifted photographer, Patryce Bok.
Lee Slater, my goddaughter, Rowan’s
father, said about Sophie’s “Wellness” profile, “. . . the house of our Love”:
“The article captures the essence of you, and your relationship with Francis,
perfectly.”
You can imagine how grateful I am for
these unlooked-for developments. They will, I hope, incline people to read Sing
to Me and I Will Hear You – The Love Story when it comes out early in 2014.
It’s not only a love story whose blessing is too rich for me to keep to myself,
but there is much in the book about Francis’ last 100 days. I had to tell that
story too, to celebrate Francis’ extraordinary patience and inspiring courage
in facing his death.
I
was very interested to learn more about Dr. Lisa Belisle. She is doing great work in Maine and beyond. Here are two links that lead to information
about her -- when she became a doctor: http://www.drlisabelisle.com/1995/10/road-to-md.html
. . . . and when she started her radio hour podcast: http://collegenews.org/faculty-focus/2011/lisa-belisle-%E2%80%9992-hosts-new-%E2%80%98dr-lisa-radio-hour-podcast%E2%80%99.html
It
was gratifying to learn that the late Hanley Denning of Yarmouth, the founder
of “Safe Passage” in Guatemala http://www.safepassage.org/history was
Dr. Lisa Belisle’s classmate.
Thank
you all for your kindness towards me, and for supporting me and my call to keep
writing. I’m now working on the second half of Sing to Me and I Will Hear
You – The Unpublished Poems and Journals.
It’s
only six weeks away, now, from the fourth anniversary of Francis’ death on January
3, 2010. Writing has been a healing channel for my grief, but remembering what
it was like accompanying him as he embarked on that greatest of journeys, I ask
you to pray for Francis’ and my longtime friend, Joe Brannigan, and his wife,
Claire, who is a nurse. Claire told me that the fast onset leukemia that
surprised Joe is “not amenable to treatment.” I brought them a spiral-bound
copy of Sing to Me and I Will Hear You – The Love Story with the numbers
of pages listed where they were mentioned, so they could read what I wrote
about them, especially Joe, in the first and second chapters. I met Joe when,
as a nun, I met Francis, a priest. Francis and I were both newly
assigned to Waterville, Maine that same year, that same month. That’s where the
love story started, and where the book starts. There's clearly more than coincidence or
chance at work here; I call it Providence. Because of it, it’s Thanksgiving for me every
day.
You
can be sure I also give thanks for the inestimable gift of family and friends
whom Francis and I appreciated, and I continue to value - each one of you.
Joyous
Thanksgiving to all!
Elaine
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