View topic - [EMAIL] Sarah July 24 - Getting back on her feet

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Forum index » Archive » Archive: Catching the Wish (CTW2) » CTW2: Interactions

[EMAIL] Sarah July 24 - Getting back on her feet

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RedHatty
Unfictologist

Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 1428
Location: x��Jy��VJvk

[EMAIL] Sarah July 24 - Getting back on her feet

Quote:

Dear Carol,

You are so sweet to offer up books from your own collection. I never
imagined that the people in the world were just so fundamentally kind.
Thank you so much for your offer. Right now, I'm unsure what is going to
happen. The rebuilding of the Library will ultimately be up to Mayor
Dobbs and the city council, although I can already see that there's some
renewed campaigning for digitization. Too bad there's no law on double
jeopardy which covers libraries. Anyway, my days are kept busy by
cataloguing and cleaning what's left, and although I hate the task itself,
I am grateful that it keeps me busy.

I have not spoken much to anyone lately, not just Dale. I don't even talk
to myself much.

Sincerely,
Sarah Wyatt

What I had sent

Quote:

Oh Sarah,

What can I possibly say? To have worked so hard to keep the library & now to lose it in that awful fire.

My heart goes out to you.

No matter what, I promise, your online friends will NEVER allow the library to become cmputers in the park. I hope we all can convince the council to rebuild.

I know that you have your own sorrows, and I don't want to add to them, but I need to ask you,

Have you heard from Dale lately? The last time I heard from him he was taking off - at night - to go into the barrens & I haven't heard back from him since. I am worried about him - the barrens are not a place to go hiking through in the dark.

If we can get the library rebuilt, I have an extensive collection of hardback books in all genres, I would be happy to donate some of my collection to help fill your shelves again.

Don't lose hope.

Carol

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:27 am

Mountain Girl
Unfettered

Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 650

Quote:

Dear Jessica,

You know what? I love that Groucho quote also. It's so absurdly
humorous. Thank you for that. I sure could use the smiles.

I've been spending the last couple of weeks in a daze, feeling like a
robot,
going through the motions. It's taken me a while to, as you say, pull
from my
inner goddess and find the strength to be human again. It's a scary
thing,
since to be human is to feel, and I didn't want to feel that much pain
anymore.
I think it's down to a tolerable level now, so I'm shaking myself off
like a
dog and trying to move forward (although, forward to where is another
question!).

Anyway, thank you for your kind letter. Knowing I have friends out
there means
the world to me.

Yours,
Sarah Wyatt

What I sent:

Quote:

Subject: Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog...

> it's too dark to read."
>
>
> I love that Groucho Marx quote.
>
> The library was a friend that will be desperately missed. We're all
> mourning the loss, and I wager none-so-much as you. Materials can
> be replaced, however, people can not. I and many others are
> comforted by the fact you were not injured. Your love of knowledge is
> infectious. Your abilities a global necessity. Sarah, you must
> never give up hope. At times like these, we must pull from our inner
> goddess, muster our strength, and press ever forward.
>
> Please take comfort in knowing there are people helping to uncover
> the truths surrounding the fires and other strange happenings in
> Aglaura.
>
> I am hoping for you to find peace with this, and somwhere in the
> rubble, discover inspiration.
>
> Blessings Abound,
> Jessica xxxxxx a.k.a. Mountain Girl
>
>
>

_________________
Bound Pages Not Webpages
[Waiting for The Mask of Man]

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:14 am

kimer
Unfettered

Joined: 01 Mar 2003
Posts: 400
Location: South of Oz

I sent her...

Quote:

Sweet Sarah,

I just want to sweep you up in a big hug!!! Please remember to take care of yourself and, as always, if there is any way I can be of support you know I am here for you!

her reply....

Quote:

I shall consider myself well-hugged, then.

Thank you so much for your note. It took me a while to remember I had some friends out there, but I think I've finally gotten it through my thick skull. It means a lot to me.

it looks like she is 'coming out' of her 'stooper' at least

_________________
Success is a Journey NOT a Destination!

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:04 pm

drizjr
Unfictologist

Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Posts: 1700

Sarah answers ALL my emails in one fell swoop

I'm not sure how to post this interaction because Sarah's email answers at least five emails that I sent her. So I've just summarize most of what I sent to her after her letter, for those that may be interested. Smile

Quote:

Date: Jul 24, 2006 2:38 AM
Subject: Cabbages and Kings
Dear Drizabella,

I have so much to catch up with you! Can you believe that after the city
council vote I pretty much went into a daze? All I did was sleep and word. I
don't think I had slept well for weeks beforehand. I didn't even check my
email for a couple of weeks, and it was awful of me to do, especially after you
and everyone else saved the Library for me. Will you please accept my most
abject apology?

So to go back and answer some of your old (old old old) mail:

I am so sorry about your own bad dreams. I know how disconcerting they can be;
believe me, I know. I'd rather not even talk about my own nightmares lately.
For a funny reason I feel like to acknowledge them is to give them power over
me, so maybe if I ignore them, they'll go away. I'll let you know how that's
working out for me.

The lily was actually from Phyllis's house. She has a lovely garden on the
store side. When I was growing up there, we never had anything like that. Did
I ever mention that her house was my childhood home? Anyway, I love what she's
done with the house since then.

Caution, yes. People who were not as happy as we were about the vote,
absolutely. Sarah burying her head in the sand, of course. You were so very
right about that, and although I don't know if I could have made a difference,
at least I could have accepted the fact that not everyone in Aglaura was
content with the decision to save the Library. I never would have dreamed that
anyone would go so far as to burn it down, though. Who would ever expect
something so dreadful?

Mystes.com - no, I haven't really looked at it much more. Do you think it's
really important? Or just one of Dale's "Series of Unfortunate Coincidences"?

Your beautiful letter of condolence lit a pilot light in me that allowed me to
percolate for a bit on the nature of optimism. It started me thinking about
what we did together as a group; how virtual strangers, in the span of just a
few weeks' time, became friends and banded together to save the Library from
certain destruction. That's really something, isn't it? And maybe everyone
who participated or watched it happen will remember it in the future, during
bleak times, and think, "I was part of something extraordinary."

When I was a child, I used to think that the word "extraordinary" just meant
_really_ ordinary. Incredibly plain. Super-normal. But now, I know the true
meaning of the word, and my own mental dictionary will always have a notation
by the word: "See: Sarah's friends in the summer of 2006; CR: Save the Library
Campaign." You are extraordinary, and there's nothing plain or dull about you.

I've still got quite a bit of work to do, although I'm still feeling like I'm
hunting for dead bodies, even if they are made of paper. You know how, when
someone is lost at sea or something, the news reporters say, "The officials
have changed the status of this mission from 'Rescue' to 'Recovery'"? And how
everyone watching sort of slumps over because they know that there's no hope
anyone's left alive? I've been slumped over for quite a while now. At least I
know one of my masks is alive and well, although I can't seem to get in touch
with the person who wrote me about it. Sad

I will try not to be such a stranger, my good friend, Drizabella. Thank you for
being there for me.

Yours,
Sarah

These are, in part, the emails I sent her:

Date: Jun 22, 2006 1:31 AM
Subject: Tragedy and Nightmares
About the death in AGP, my nightmare, and words of encouragement prior to the library vote.
I'll include this bit because it really happened...

Quote:

<snip>.I'm sorry if this message is not very coherent. As you can see from the timestamp, I haven't been getting much sleep lately myself. The events in Aglaura and Dale's vivid graphics in his comic book, are seeping into my dreams and scaring the bejeebus out of me.
I dreamed I was in a head on car collision...so vivid as though it was real. My last thoughts were." *this* is it! This is how I die.This is _exactly_ as I dreamed it would be! " So, in the dream; a dream was coming true. I awoke in a start, just before the impact. It's terrifying! <snip>

Date: Jun 23, 2006 6:12 PM
Subject: Congratulations!

Quote:

Marvelous!
YES!
Super Librarian foils evil plans.
Thrilling!
Ecstatic.
Sarah,<snip>

When the redevelopement plan was voted down.
(We were stuck on the mystes trail and, at the time, thought the lily may have been a clue, so I asked her about the picture.)

Date: Jun 28, 2006 10:10 PM
Subject: Caution, Please
Where I let Sarah know about the common fire dreams that Dale and Bruce were also having. And to safeguard the library.

Date: Jul 6, 2006 8:01 PM
Subject: Help a friend
Is when I suggested that Sarah get together with Dale.
And I talked about Mystes, again.

And, finally, the email I sent Sarah after the library fire.

Quote:

Date: Jul 15, 2006 2:44 PM
Subject: Let Myth Become Reality
Dearest Sarah,
How can one begin to express the compassion for another in such great
sorrow?
No platitudinous words could express it fully.

How can one instill hope where hopelessness resides ?
Perhaps through the teachings of others one could find some answers.

A very wise teacher, ms_gywn; recently reminded me of the story of
Prometheus and Pandora, and myth as allegory.
After Prometheus gave fire to man, Pandora was sent to Earth. When she
opened the infamous box which released all the terrible things that afflict
humanity, there was left a sweet little voice from within the box. It was
good that Pandora opened the box a second time, "for the gods, with a sudden
impulse of compassion, had concealed among the evil spirits one kindly
creature, Hope, whose mission was to heal the wounds inflicted by her fellow
prisoners".

I realize the difficulty in achieving a greater perspective when you're
smack dab in the middle of it. The loss of the library, it's contents, and
it's impact on you and the community; are immeasurable. But Sarah, there
must be more. Find the sweet little voice of hope among the ashes. Don't let
this fire extinguish hope, but rather allow it to be released. Let myth
become reality.

Please find some small degree of comfort in knowing that others are thinking
of you with empathetic hearts.

Your friend,
Drizabella

Pixie: Does Sarah have your email address?

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:37 pm

Citizen Kane
Unfettered

Joined: 29 May 2006
Posts: 486
Location: Aglaura, NJ

Got one too, not sure if it'd be a real help or not, but here it is:

Quote:

Dear James,

Isn't it funny? Through all this, I guess I haven't moved on to the
"angry" stage of grief yet. I think I skipped straight to "Depression"
and lived there for quite a while. It is good to know that people are
willing to be angry on my behalf. Thank you so much for your message.

Sincerely,
Sarah Wyatt

> Dear Sarah,
>
> I would like to extend my sympathies to the loss of that magnificent
> building. I know how you must be feeling right now, especially after you
> had just saved it.
> As you may know, I was in most of the others internet benefactors pushing
> to help you along that front. In that regard, I'd like to offer any and
> all help you may need in restoring it to it's previous state. Already,
> various colleagues of mine are looking into the cause and the reasoning
> behind such an attrocious act. Please take comfort in knowing that it
> will not go unpunished. We shall find our perpetrator. I wish there was
> more I could do to help. Please, feel free to reply and I shall do what I
> can.
>
> James Steele

_________________
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
--Mark Twain

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:17 pm

Killalaz
Decorated

Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Quote:

Dear Dan,

"Pain shared is pain lessened." That's one of the best things I've heard.
You are so right, of course. I spent a couple of weeks trying not to let
myself feel anything at all, but now I realize that, being human, it is in
my nature not only to feel pain, but to feel joy as well. You cannot feel
great joy without having experienced great pain, right? Now I know that,
in the future, my capacity for happiness will be that much larger.

Thank you for your kind note, and for giving me the opportunity for
reflection.

Sincerely,
Sarah Wyatt

I didn't know I had such a positive impact on people! Wow this email really made me happy to know that I could help someone out with my "words of wisdom"

_________________
"Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, small people talk about people."

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:35 pm

Shad0
I Have No Life

Joined: 20 Jun 2004
Posts: 2180
Location: Southern California, USA

Killalaz wrote:

Quote:

"Pain shared is pain lessened." That's one of the best things I've heard.

I didn't know I had such a positive impact on people! Wow this email really made me happy to know that I could help someone out with my "words of wisdom"

Didja credit Spider Robinson? Mr. Green

Great job on the in-person meet with Keith!

_________________
These were the puzzles that would take a day, these were puzzles that would take a week, and these puzzles they'd probably never figure out until we broke down and gave them the answers. ... The Cloudmakers solved all of these puzzles on the first day.

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:57 pm

Killalaz
Decorated

Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Shad0 wrote:

Killalaz wrote:

Quote:

"Pain shared is pain lessened." That's one of the best things I've heard.

I didn't know I had such a positive impact on people! Wow this email really made me happy to know that I could help someone out with my "words of wisdom"

Didja credit Spider Robinson? Mr. Green

Great job on the in-person meet with Keith!

I never even heard of Spider Robinson. So no I didn't but I just looked him up and considering he was only born in 1948 I don't think he made it up. This is a saying that has been said for hundreds of years maybe longer. It is not a quote from anyone it is just a philosophy to live by.

_________________
"Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, small people talk about people."

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:45 pm

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