Susan notes: AWR member Mary Wagner was the second amazing woman to contribute to AWR way back in the autumn, shortly after it first launched. She told the story behind the creation of her blog and the publication of her book. Since then, she's been rather busy, as you will see from the email below. Makes some of my challenges look like a cakewalk.

Hi Susan, how are things on the far (and warm) side of the world?
 
Been having an amazingly horrific time over here for the past few months, juggling multiple and simultaneous family disasters 120 miles away in my home town of Chicago.

At the moment all is finally quiet, but my wheelchair-bound mother is still recovering from the broken leg, my father was hospitalized and seemed near death on Christmas, but has bounced back as much as Parkinsons and dementia will allow...

Susan notes: A week after Judy O’Sullivan died of cancer in January 2005 at the age of 56, her youngest sister Wanda Sommerfeld wrote a letter to Judy’s wide circle of friends to explain how and why Judy had died. It’s a wonderfully loving letter that is at once sad and celebratory. (Wanda also wrote a story about Judy's life to mark the anniversary of her passing, and gave AWR the eulogy delivered at her funeral by one of Judy's colleagues.)

Although I didn’t know Judy, I felt touched by her after I read Wanda’s letter, and it struck me that it might serve as an example to others, and perhaps might even help someone somewhere to cope a little more easily with the death of a loved one. So, here it is in its original form, word for word as Wanda wrote it.

January 30th, 2005

Dear Special Friend,

I was entrusted to share some very sad news with you.  My name is Wanda Sommerfeld, and I am Judy O’Sullivan’s littlest sister and friend.  Judy passed away one week ago today – Sunday January 23, 2005, at approximately 7:30am. 

The very first thing I want you to know is that she died without physical pain.  I was with her in hospital her last night and I am absolutely sure that she was comfortable, because right up until about 4 hours before she passed away, she was awake, and I was with her. So I’m not saying that she didn’t have pain because somebody in the health care profession told us.  I asked and she answered a number of times.

Susan notes: This is an open letter from Zimbabwean girls' and women's rights activist Betty Makoni to American women congratulating them on the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Betty Makoni is a rape survivor and a champion of girls’ and women’s rights in Southern Africa. I have created links in the letter to items that I thought might be of interest to you.

Dear Sisters in USA,
 
Warm greetings !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Yesterday we were all glued to Botswana television, as we watched USA make history on the Inauguration of its first young, energetic, intelligent, black president.

It has been customary for me now to follow every story of the Obama girls when they take to the world stage with their dad, and that marks also a new beginning for all girls in the world - that yes we can do it, and what our fathers do we can do also!!!!!!!!!!