As with any friendship, each partner fulfills a certain need. Whether she is the one to make you laugh or maybe during the hard times, the one who enables you to see the light at the end of the tunnel, no two friends are the same. For these four strangers, their need to be together goes way beyond just girlfriends grabbing a quick drink after work. All four have lost their beloved in the September 11th tragedy and are left to pick up the pieces of what could-have-been had the unthinkable never happened.
Claudia Gerbasi, the driving force behind this unlikely union, uses her wisdom and determination to overcome what fate has dealt and gracefully guides the ladies along a journey of acceptance and healing. As each woman tells her tale, the others find solace in the fact that they, too, are struggling with the same demons. As the country came under attack, these terrified women were forced into a war zone like no other; an emotional nightmare. Each with circumstances more devastating than the next, the support they ultimately provide for one another becomes the catalyst enabling them to move forward and learn how to love again.
LOVE YOU, MEAN IT is a powerful non-fictional account written by four courageous women who watched in horror as their husbands' lives were tragically ended in the rubble of the Twin Towers. As the reader relives that day and the few years that follow through their eyes, the magnitude of their loss is at times heartbreaking. Eloquently written, the women leave no stone unturned. As they literally scrape themselves off the floor and try to live a normal life again, the reader becomes so engrossed in their stories desperately hoping that each woman will eventually find the inner strength to survive. Poignant, well-written, and inspirational! This novel will be talked about for years to come.
At a time of great loss, nothing heals like the power of friendship
Time heals all wounds, they say. But when your husband dies suddenly, on a glorious sunny day when all he did was go to work, it takes more than the passage of time to get you through. It takes the love and support of women who are exactly where you are -- and when youβre lucky enough to find them, you cling to each other until youβre strong enough to stand on your own. The truths you discover in the process are universal, compelling, and altogether inspiring.
That was the lesson learned by Pattie Carrington, Julia Collins, Claudia Gerbasi, and Ann Haynes, four thirty-something women whose husbands worked at the World Trade Center. Before September 11, 2001, they didnβt know each other, but in the months following that horrible day they came together, drawn as much by their diverse backgrounds as their shared tragedy. At their very first meeting, the foursome realized their bond was too special to ignore, and in no time their Widowsβ Club had cemented into a source of hope and, soon, love that saw them through their darkest hours, and forward. They took to signing off emails and phone conversations with a lighthearted phrase: Love You, Mean It. "Feeling this love for one another meant our hearts were beginning to open again. It was a risk -- love brought with it the ever-present possibility of loss. But this was a risk worth taking. More than ever, we understood how important it was to put love at the center of our lives."
A celebration of friendship, optimism, and empathy, Love You, Mean It is a shared memoir of rebuilt lives. It will offer hope to anyone who has suffered a loss, and exhilarate readers from coast to coast.
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