by Sally Quinn
My support system at home has been invaluable. Jody Evans, my personal assistant, has been with us since before Ben began his downward spiral. Jody remains unruffled during even the greatest crises, always taking things in hand and making sure it goes well. She helped organize the events around the funeral with total calm and patience when it looked as if things were really going to fall apart. Jody was an early reader of the manuscript, and when I asked her if there was anything in it she found over the top, she laughed and said, “That’s just you!” Jody also has enormous patience with the fact that my computer and my cell phone hate me and are always malfunctioning. It seems her main job is to keep me from smashing them in frustration.
Sally Thacher runs the finances. Poor Sally! She has the worst job in the world, which she carries out with good humor and affection, especially when she says we need more money. Sally has been handling this for years, and Ben and Quinn and I could not function without her running our lives.
Aaron and Jenny Meisinger run the farm at Porto Bello, and they are rocks. Aaron loved to work out in the woods with Ben and Quinn, and later, when Ben was no longer able, Aaron would stand around with Ben and Quinn while Ben burned brush, his favorite thing. They have been fabulous with Quinn, who loves to go there for solace and peace, especially now that his dad is gone.
Yolanda Arispe has been a quiet and constant support in the house, always volunteering to help out or stay late when we need her, especially during the time Ben was sick and afterward when Quinn needed her.
And speaking of Quinn, I never knew one could feel such love for another human being until he was born. It continues to amaze me that I could love him more each day. As they say, it’s as if my heart were running around in someone else’s body. He is my life. He has overcome more than most people, and his resilience in the face of illness and disabilities is extraordinary. Ben always said he admired Quinn more than anyone he knew, and he meant it. So do I. Quinn is funny and smart and kind and loving, and he never gives up. He often quotes his father when he’s discouraged. “Nose down, ass up, push forward.” That he has done all his life. When Ben died, Quinn promised in his eulogy at the funeral that he would always take care of me, and he has. Hardly a day goes by that he doesn’t call or come see me just to make sure I am fine. He astounds me every day with his wisdom, his accomplishments, and his determination. Now he is engaged to the fabulous Fabiola, and with her beautiful daughter, Khloe, and their dog, Teddy Roosevelt, he will start his own family. I am so proud of him and who he has become.
About the Author
SALLY QUINN is a longtime Washington Post journalist, columnist, television commentator, Washington insider, one of the capital’s legendary social hostesses, and founder of the religious website On Faith from The Washington Post. She writes for various publications and is the author of The Party and We’re Going to Make You a Star, a memoir based on her experience as the first female network anchor in the United States. She lives in Washington, DC.
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Copyright
“The Summer Day” from House of Light by Mary Oliver, published by Beacon Press Boston. Copyright © 1990 by Mary Oliver. Reprinted by permission of The Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency Inc.
“Funeral Blues,” copyright © 1940 and renewed 1968 by W. H. Auden; from W. H. Auden Collected Poems, by W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
“Here’s to Life,” Phyllis Molinary (lyrics), Dominant Jeans Music/BMI, and Artie Butler (music), Artie Butler Music/ASCAP, copyright 1984.
Every effort has been made to obtain permissions for pieces quoted or adapted in this work. If any required acknowledgments have been omitted, or any rights overlooked, it is unintentional. Please notify the publishers of any omission, and it will be rectified in future editions.
FINDING MAGIC. Copyright © 2017 by Sally Quinn. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST HARPERCOLLINS PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED IN 2018
Cover design: © HarperCollins
Cover image: courtesy of the author
All photographs courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
Digital Edition JUNE 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-231552-6
Version 04252018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-231551-9
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