StoryPeople Forum - StoryPeople Forum

Debi · Messages: 74

My sister Ginny (also known to some as Cecily), was a warm, sensitive, strongly opinionated, funny, complicated, friendly, and very open-minded woman. She was above all else a mother to two children, a son and a daughter. She was a wife, a sister, and a daughter herself. She valued friendship above everything except her children, and was fiercely protective of both. Ginny had an almost supernatural affinity with nature and in particular, storms. She believed that everything on earth had it's own energy, and all forms of life were to be respected.

In 1998 Ginny was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and from that time on she went through many "phases", some of them positive, and some of them not so positive. She rediscovered her love for music and poetry, and subsequently found StoryPeople, which provided an outlet for the huge amount of emotion, turmoil, and energy flowing through her mind, body and soul. Some of her work is very personal, expressing her sadness at knowing she would never see her children grow up. Some of her work is very sensual; some of her work is absolutely hilarious. Ginny had so many wonderful, special experiences in the last years of her life, and many of them are represented in her poetry.

My sister passed away March 23, 2004 with her family by her side. I miss her every second of every day, but reading her poems is like hearing her speak again. I hope everyone who has the chance to read Ginny's work recognizes just how special a person she really was.

rich · Messages: 602 Location: Longmont, CO

Dearest Debi,

THANK YOU SO MUCH for providing this moving bio. It is perfect.

Love,

Rich

schatzi · 13/08/2005 13:32:53 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

Debi,
Thank you for being here and sharing part of your sister with us! She was much loved by her StoryFriends...and, as you can see, she still affects what we do here.
God bless you and your entire family!

Lori <><

There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge between them is love.
--Thornton Wilder

astrogidget · Messages: 14

Debi,

Kindred spirits never ever ever leave us....they just take up very special places in our hearts.

I'm so glad to have met her through your words!!!

~ kim

juicyjanet · Messages: 1 Location: California

Thank you so much for sharing your sister's expressions with us. I especially loved the one titled, Being a Book. And I loved another one where the line says she knows she shouldn't sleep with her child but can't help herself... I'm just glad she did anyway and I'm sure they are too.
I know you miss her terribly and the loss must seem overwhelming at times and I want to remind you that is is OK to hurt for those we love. It reminds us we are alive and feel deeply, just as she felt deeply and wrote about it.
JUICYJANET

Recovery is getting from where I am to where I want to be. Wellness is me, making my own informed life choices.

Allie · Messages: 83 Location: Scranton, PA

Debi,

I can't thank you enough for becoming involved with our Tribute to our Ginny. She was a great friend here at Storypeople. We loved reading her stories. Your Sister was a very warm and gentle spirit. She embraced the creativity that lives here. Her writing was loving, and light, and yes, even painful. Ginny really cared about others. Once, shortly after Sept 11th, I had not visited Storypeople for several days, Ginny and a few others led a Storypeople plight to find me. They were concerned because they knew I frequent NYC. They found me safe and sound.

Ginny and I responded to one another's Stories over a few years. It was special sharing my thoughts with her. I'm quite fond of several Storypeople here. Poetry is quite soul baring.

I'm rather sad that I didn't know Ginny more. I wish I could have been there, if nothing else, but to share a smile, or a tear... and hold her hand. I won't hold it as a regret however, because I feel she's still a part of me. Her Stories will never fade.

If you wouldn't mind, It would be great if you shared a few pictures of Ginny. She will always be one of my inspirations.

Thank you so much for sharing Ginny with us...

~Allie

...or wild, night sky
Unbounded stars
In Billions, Yet Alone!

Anonymous · 24/12/2005 09:04:05 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

Wow! I justfound this site and am blown away by the creative, kindred spirits here.
Deb, thank you very much for sharing. A group of us started "Wish I May, Wish I Might" ( www.wishimaywishimight.org )
a year ago because of a story about a little boy named Folden Lee who was 2 and had Leukemia. He lived in North Carolina and sadly never saw his third birthday.
We now help kids in need in our community and give generously in his memory.

My only wish this holiday season is that people stop for a moment and see how lucky they are and take a minute of their time to help someone in need. Or donate.
I use to teach environmental education and one of my quips was "If you can't plant a tree on arbor day...eat an apple on the way to work and toss the core out the window!" Helping is easy and there are MANY ways we can do it!

I am off to learn more about this site....MANY Thanks for people like you and your sister in this world!!!!!!

Anonymous · 24/12/2005 09:05:21 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

Wow! I just found this site and am blown away by the creative, kindred spirits here.
Deb, thank you very much for sharing. A group of us started "Wish I May, Wish I Might" ( www.wishimaywishimight.org )
a year ago because of a story about a little boy named Folden Lee who was 2 and had Leukemia. He lived in North Carolina and sadly never saw his third birthday.
We now help kids in need in our community and give generously in his memory.

My only wish this holiday season is that people stop for a moment and see how lucky they are and take a minute of their time to help someone in need. Or donate.
I use to teach environmental education and one of my quips was "If you can't plant a tree on arbor day...eat an apple on the way to work and toss the core out the window!" Helping is easy and there are MANY ways we can do it!

I am off to learn more about this site....MANY Thanks for people like you and your sister in this world!!!!!!
Ellen D.

Anonymous · 10/05/2006 13:44:58 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

Just found this site.Saw some of the artwork a couple of days ago and couldnt get it off my mind.Great site.I'm sorry for the loss of your sister.Blessings to you and your family.

Anonymous · 10/10/2006 05:21:24 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

I, also, just found this site and know that I will be back on it whenever my emotions get the better of me. Thank you for sharing about Ginny...I can tell that all is well with her because she had someone like you

Anonymous · 15/10/2006 10:37:40 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

for some reason, i can't log on, but this is Quichemarie.

I've been missing Ginny a lot this week. It helps to come back here and read her words.

I have a few pictures of her, but i hesitate to post them as she is so much bigger and more beautiful than a photo can capture (though this is not to imply that she wasn't beautiful in the flesh, she was indeed very beautiful).

To picture Ginny, think of your best friend, the one who is always there for you, the one with the wide shoulders so you always have a place to rest your head. Picture the mother who is in love with her children, the one who can't stop talking about every cute thing they say and do, because it bring her and others so much joy. Picture a woman who, though she was dying and in pain, was so much more worried about those who she was leaving behind and how her death would affect others...also a woman who set her own suffering aside to listen to the little aches and pains of her friends.

This was Ginny and I miss her.

~Q~

rich · Messages: 602 Location: Longmont, CO

Amen

Quichemarie · Messages: 42 Location: Michigan

I was the quote today (I might misquote it, but I'll try to remember):

Life isn't measured in the number of breaths you take, but the moments which take your breath away

Anyway, it reminded me of Ginny. She had a short life, but within those few decades, she found so many things that took her breath away. She noticed the little things that we tend to ignore. She loved to walk in the rain. She sat among the violets, and as I mentioned above, the small moments with her children were precious and breathtaking to her.

Ginny, you did good. You're one of my teachers,

still.

Q

"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."

E. E. Cummings

Quichemarie · Messages: 42 Location: Michigan

i meant, I read a quote today, but you knew that.

"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."

E. E. Cummings

Anonymous · 06/11/2006 15:31:26 Subject: Re: To Those of You Who Don't Know Ginny

Hello everyone. I'm Joey, Ginny's son. It really blows me away to see a whole forum dedicated to my mom, and it makes me happier than words can convey. My stepmom Jenny, a longtime friend of my mom's, feels the same. I just can't belive how broad an area of people my mother knew.