A person whose spirit Judy saved left a touching and honest account of how she met Judy in my Guestbook. When Toni Smith first e-mailed me to tell me how Judy had made a difference in her life and perspective on life, I had thought it was after Judy had gone home and had successfully learned to live on Home TPN. But her guestbook entry tells me differently. Judy saved Toni’s spirit while she still did not know if she’d ever live long enough to return to her home and her family.
That really astounded me.
In the midst of her own angst, her own battle for life, Judy was able to reach out and lift someone up and out of their own little pit of hell. That is why I wrote Lifeliner. It isn’t a medical story; it’s more about bringing Judy’s own brand of inspiration and soul-saving back to life. For me, listening to Judy’s friends and neighbours telling her story didn’t become inspirational until I learned about her flaws, her own struggles, and most particularly her anger at her situation. It was her ability to reach out despite her own pain, her own anger, her own fears and failures, particularly with trying to hide her troubles from her daughters, that she became truly inspirational.
It’s all very well for a perfect person to model good behaviour, but a flawed and suffering person inspiring others with her courage, her zest, her humour, now that’s amazing.
I invite you to read Toni’s guestbook entry (it’s dated 2 April 2008) and get another glimpse of the person that was Judy Taylor. And to those whose own spirits were saved by Judy I invite you to share your stories about Judy and you on the Guestbook page.
