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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 29, 2005 Remembering Joanie for her joie de vivre I first took note of Joanie McGowan at one of the many meetings she attended, her advocacy in full flower. At subsequent gatherings I was so impressed by her candor, her openness and honesty that I became determined to meet this refreshingly amiable free spirit, and to talk with her. A determination that turned out to be an exceedingly easy thing to do as Joanie was willing to communicate with anyone and everyone, even with those who were not particularly enamored of her political views, for instance a someone such as me, a "Bushie" person if ever there was one. But, being Joanie, she forgave me for what she considered to be a grievously gross indiscretion. So began a relationship that lasted, unfortunately, only the last two months of Joanie's life. We knew practically nothing of each other's past. She knew naught of mine, thank goodness, and I was lead to believe that she had something to do with the theater, but was under the impression that her involvement had only to do with the financial end of things. Not until I read the stunning and well-deserved editorial in the Tidings accompanied by letter after letter after letter did I realize what a magnificent force she was in Ashland and how much she was truly loved by so many people. What a woman! And all along a true lady at the same time. The mutual lack of knowledge of our pasts empowered our conversations to separate the chaff from the wheat rather quickly, discarding the chaff, the temporal things in life, and allowing ourselves to center only on the wheat, our existence. We talked of our ambitions, our goals and objectives and what path to take to achieve them. Joanie chose not to take an easier, softer path, but to take Frost's "the path less traveled by," a hard and bumpy path, a path that takes an enormous amount of courage to even begin. It is only unfortunate that she was unable to complete her journey. But, at the very least, she had the courage to try. Not many of us do. Had Joanie been able to complete her adventure she would have come back, I truly believe this, on a different level, a different plane, her advocacy of the things she loved at double the force it was. Joanie McGowan personified to me what Robert Browning wrote, that "a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what is heaven for?" Thank you for the conversations, Joanie. And thank you for the courage, too. Frank Dennen Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams