Bringing you news once a week on the ongoing 60 Postcards journey (you can read a summary of the story in Glamour Magazine, here).
It continues to be a very busy time at the moment – rushing around for meetings, doing research, filling the diary with events around Christmas (which I still can’t believe is almost here). I have also been enjoying my notifications from the Timehop app, which reminds me that at exactly this time last year, I was finishing the first draft of the book (and having several panic attacks in the process!).
So, today’s post is about another wonderful NYC postcard from my stateside mission (you can catch up on the plan here).
Over to Pauline…..
“We always knew Jo would go before us. She’d been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 14 but ‘made it’ to 45 so we sort of thought she was invincible.
Jo had been my best friend since we had a fight over a boy in the playground in the 80’s. That boy (& many others) went by but we remained the best of friends even though I moved 200 miles away. Her legacy lives on through her beautiful daughter who through the grief aced her A Levels & this month starts uni.
Jo would have been so proud and I’m so proud to have had such an amazing best friend,
Pauline.”
The friendship between these two ladies shines through in both the postcard and letter. As I have said to Pauline, I have no doubt that the fantastic support of her friends and family were the reason that Jo beat the odds and kept fighting. I know that this is very raw for Jo’s loved ones, as it was only last February that she passed – I am just so pleased that this note was packed safely into my bag for the journey to New York City.
The scattering….
It felt like I had walked to every corner of Manhattan and back on the day I left this message. I had worked up quite the appetite and as the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts was on my way back to the Upper West Side where I was staying, I decided to find somewhere to grab a bite. The Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Centre was the chosen location – a perfect people watching spot in the window of the Indie Food and Wine restaurant.
The NY Film Festival was on while I was visiting, so there were lots of industry folk and film lovers floating about. I ate my food very slowly as I watched the passers-by and I was beginning to daydream (as I do so well) when I felt a tap on my shoulder. A lady smiled at me warmly and asked if she could put her coat with mine on the seat in between us. ‘Of course!’
I slipped back into my daydream but couldn’t help but notice that the lady and her friend next to me were totally engrossed in a wonderful interaction. Chatting and laughing – as if they were the only people in the room – it made me smile. I was thinking about friendship and suddenly realised that this would be the perfect place to leave Pauline’s postcard. I psyched myself up, got into ninja mode, grabbed my coat (being as quiet as possible) and snuck the postcard onto the seat. I walked out quickly and calmly (and with a grin from ear to ear). I had to take a diversion so that I didn’t walk past the window in full view of the ladies, who may or may not have noticed the handwritten note that was hiding right next to them.
When I sent Pauline an email with info and photos showing where her words had been scattered, the last thing she wrote in her reply was, ‘Nice touch with the cinema. So thought through’. This left me a little confuzzled to say the least. The link I had picked up on was one of friendship. It was when I had a look at Pauline’s twitter account that I realised she works for BAFTA. Serendipity has surrounded this project from the very beginning until this very day.
I would like to send my love to Pauline and to Jo’s family. What an incredibly strong woman Jo was, and she now lives on through her daughter and all of the people she touched in her life.
I look forward to sharing more of these notes with you very soon.
Have a lovely week,
Rachael x
60 POSTCARDS MEET UP – JANUARY 2015
I am very keen to arrange a meet up for blog/book readers on a weeknight in the last 2 weeks of January (in London).
It will be an informal eve of chats, drinks, NYC tales and also an opportunity for me to let you know the ideas I am working on behind the scenes for the next stage of the 60 Postcards project. I would really appreciate some group feedback from those who know the story so far!
Just so that I have an idea of numbers, please may you register your interest by voting below. Thank you!
60 POSTCARDS 