By Deborah Wilbrink
Love takes many
forms.
“My book has turned into a
mission,” Gigi calmly states. “It is
finding its way into the right hands, and I am being asked to speak at churches
and women’s groups. They listen and their hearts are touched. This feels
right.” If you hear Barbara “Gigi” Goodall speak, you’ll meet a self-assured,
tall woman in her seventies, accompanied by her amiable husband, Newell. She
radiates peace. It comes with telling her heartrending true story.
“This is a true story
of four adults who abandoned me, twice. Once as a five year-old to the state’s
foster care system; and then again when a teenager, as I was left with
strangers or even to fend on my own. I was born in 1940 and my memories begin
at five years of age. . . My parents and grandparents, a couple of four, were
always together – but there was no room for me.”
The “couple of four” once left their child alone on a
sidewalk, and drove away “to see my reaction.” Later, they repeatedly placed
the young teen in boarding situations where she lived without family or friends
while her family, unbeknownst to her, collected her wages. It was only when she
became seventeen and married that the young woman escaped emotional abuse and
opportunism, and began to experience love.
A natural writer, Gigi laments the lack of books, reading
aloud, and story-telling in her childhood. Perhaps it was the great stories
within the Bible, her one readily available book, which instilled her skills
with prose. Maybe it was the guardian angel she believes guided her life.
Gigi began with the intent of saving her story for her four
children and their children. Her daughter, Tami, knew about Writers in the Sky
and put her mother in touch with an editor there, starting with a gift
certificate. It quickly became evident her story was an inspirational memoir
that many would enjoy. Her message of love is especially motivating for foster
children and foster alumni, restoring faith in their own abilities to succeed.
Gigi Goodall completed high school when she was thirty-two, successfully raised
four children, and provided a temporary home for twenty-five foster kids. She
played a leadership role assisting the poor on both an administrative and
highly personal level for her Tennessee county. Gigi’s answer to her own
question, Do You Love Me? is simple. It’s
never too late for love to change lives. The book sold well at Gigi’s book
signing, and is available on Amazon.com.
Deborah Wilbrink is a
personal historian, editor, and proprietor of PerfectMemoirs.com and is also affiliated with Writers in the
Sky. Reprinted with permission from Mature Lifestyles of Tennessee magazine.
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