The
Notebook Project Update
April 2008
Happy Spring!
As I reflect back on 2007, I find myself a bit overwhelmed with all that transpired. It was a year filled with many of life’s realities, both the known and the unknown. It started out in February, with me having gallbladder surgery, then, onto the United Nations to attend the Commission on the Status of Women. In March, my life partner of 17 years, Marlen, went into the hospital for what we thought was going to be a simple angioplasty, only to find out that he had three blocked arteries and a defective valve. At the same time, a publisher who wanted to convert my Wisdom Box project into a book approached me. In April, my four-year-old granddaughter and her mother both had surgery. In September, it became clear that Margaret, the 92-year-old matriarch of the family, would need to be moved to an assisted living facility.
In October, I attended the “California Governor and First Lady’s Women’s Conference,” an extremely rewarding experience, where I had the opportunity to meet and speak to Elizabeth Edwards. In November, our 23-year-old grandson was found dead, with no explanation. In December, Marlen retired after a 37-year career. As I sit here writing this, we are experience the circle of life…the birth of a new grandson two weeks ago and Margaret's passing away at the end of February.
As you can see, my life mirrors the day-to-day challenges that women all over the world experience, in one way or another. It’s another connection that we share. We make plans, set goals, take action, all the while life continues. What is that John Lennon line? “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”
While I had planned to spend more time on The Notebook Project, it didn’t unfold that way. But this past year reminds me of what’s going on in the lives of most women who receive this notebook or encounter it online. So it deepened my appreciation of what it can be like to stop and make an entry in the notebook while life is hurtling past full speed. But your entry in the notebook doesn’t have to be grand or appear brilliant. It can be as simple and short as the above three paragraphs that I wrote. Those “aha” moments have a way of sneaking up on us. And mine snuck up on me when I realized that I could sum up the theme of an entire year in four words – you plan, God laughs.
Blessings,
Judy Ranieri
Project Director