ABOUT THE BOOK
The making of our book began with an email Jane sent in hopes of reconnecting with her friend, Nancy. We had met and quickly formed a close bond at college in 1962, and though going our separate ways the next year, we kept in touch for a while. Eventually, we lost track of each other, as will happen in busy lives, and hence, Nancy’s surprise at finding a message from Jane in her inbox in 2007! We were both delighted and excited to fill each other in on the previous thirty-some years, as well as share stories of our youth.
Email exchanges continued with stories tumbling out randomly as memories came flooding in. To create this book, we have placed the stories in chronological order to reveal the unfolding of our lives, beginning with our childhoods in the 1940s and continuing right up to the early years of the 21st century. Except for the initial emails by which we found each other that are included at the end of the book, we have omitted the email format but kept the back-and-forth movement of correspondence by letter.
We’ve been fascinated by the colorful contrast between us, both in our beginnings and our life trajectories while appreciating in each other the same courage and determination to invite new adventures and meet new challenges, to accomplish, to dream, and to recognize our steadfast desires to contribute something of value to this beautiful, complex world.
Telling stories has long been the traditional way of relaying meaning, of connecting us to our human family’s past and our planet’s future. Our stories offer fantastic roller-coaster rides, and we invite you to hop on and ride with us from the beginning. Our hope is that, when you get off, you’ll be inspired to write the stories of your own journeys through life for the benefit of future generations.
