Shortly after losing her first husband, Sally published Find the Love of Your Life to share how she and Dave found each other. “We’d both been hurt, and were nearly ready to give up on love. And then we both gave it one more shot. Lucky, lucky us!” That last shot at love involved a strategy Sally had never tried before. “I stopped looking for the perfect guy – and instead got really clear about what I wanted in a relationship. I set a goal for that amazing relationship – and 3 weeks later, I met Dave. He came with lots of complications, including being blind. But in my goal, I never said my partner had to be able to see! My goal kept me honest and gave me the guts to give love with Dave a try. Thank all the stars I did!”
Writing about Dave and the love story he and Sally created helped her heal after his death. “We held workshops and started the book before Dave died,” says Sally. “Writing Find the Love of Your Life helped keep Dave with me – and eventually helped me see that I’d learned too much about loving from him not to use what I learned. So I re-assessed my goal and only made one tweak that I knew Dave would want for me too. I asked for my partner to be healthy next time.” It took a little longer than three weeks the second time. “I started looking before I was really ready, is what I think,” Sally says. “But after so much grief, I did need to have fun again. I never expected dating to be fun – but it was! Maybe I just wasn’t old enough before.” Several years after Dave died, Sally met Ray. “Our relationship is different than what I had with Dave. We’re both different people. But the essential components – what I really need – those are present in my relationship with Ray. I’d say lucky, lucky us – but it took and continues to take a lot of work to be so lucky!”
In between times, Sally wrote another book that honors Dave. “I think of My Uncle Dave as a children’s book with an adult message,” says Sally. “It’s an almost true story about when Dave, the blind guy falls into the swimming pool. And not just once. Twice in a week’s time! No kidding.” The first time, it scared Dave a lot even though he was able to catch himself before he fell all the way in. “He was so angry – because he was so afraid. I had to tiptoe around him for about three hours! But then a week later, he plunged headlong into the pool – and thought it was the funniest thing in the world!” Sally laughs. “As he says in the story, it’s now what happens to us, it’s how we react that makes all the difference.” Ted Williams’ illustrations bring the story to life. “I told Ted I didn’t care what anybody looked like – as long as Dave looked like Dave. And Ted captured him perfectly. When I look at some of the pictures, I can almost hear Dave cackle!”
In 2002, Sally teamed up with Dr. Sidney B. Simon of Values Clarification and Realization fame to co-author Love Builders: Tools to Enhance Any Relationship. She has also co-authored numerous health and youth development curricula as a consultant for Cornell University, including: Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness (2015), Choose Health in 4-H Clubs (2012), Youth Development Foundations for 4-H Camp Staff (2003), Growing Healthy Girls (2002), and more.
Sally lives in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York where she loves being in and on the water, creating wearable art, and savoring fine red wines from sunnier climes. In addition to writing, she teaches health, play, and after-school programming for Empire State College and the Network for Youth Success.
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