Author Archive

9/14/21, Old Friends, New Friends

Posted on September 14, 2021

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you’re doing well, the Fall is off to a good start, that the summer brought you some fun and relaxation, time to just forget all your problems and do things you enjoy, and now the kids are back in school, you’re back at work, and I hope you’re busy with some exciting projects and plans. And in many places, countries and cities, the acute phase of the Covid crisis is easing a little, due to vaccines, masks, and sensible practices that have become routine for us, and are easy to maintain.

 

In many, many cases, these long Covid months have separated us from people we love, and want to spend time with. I was separated from my children by an ocean and a continent, and the fallout and dangers of Covid 19 for fifteen very long months. With restrictions, curfews (at 6pm in Paris for a while), and lockdowns, my world and my social life dwindled to nothing, and is still very limited, in terms of who I see, and how much I go out, and only outdoor dining. Many people are still not back in their offices, and are working remotely, people have moved away from the cities where they lived and worked before the pandemic, so there seem to be fewer people in our lives. There are also fewer social activities and opportunities to meet new people with reduced social lives, but in spite of that I have been struck by renewed contracts with people I haven’t heard from in a long time, who suddenly surfaced to inquire how I am. And by sheer happenstance, I have connected with new friends who are a real gift in my life, and were totally unexpected. Unexpected romances and relationships have started in the same way too for many people. Life does go on, even if temporarily on hold and different than it was before.

 

Work, professional activities and our jobs still bring us into contact with new people, even if only on line. Particularly in the creative fields, we are all starving for contact with other humans and experiences, which we need to fuel our inspiration to create, whether it be music, art, design, or literary. Every artist, designer, or writer I have spoken to is suffering from their diminished opportunities for inspiration from a broader world. I struggle with it myself, my life is much quieter and more isolated than it was before Covid. We are all anxious for that to improve, whether creative or not, but I think people in the arts are really feeling the lack of daily stimuli.

 

The flip side of that quiet coin is that we are doing less in the world, in order to be careful and mindful of Covid. Every day requires decisions from us of what is worth the risk, and how much. It’s a movable marker that changes day by day. And I certainly see fewer people, and do fewer things outside my home now, in order to be responsible. With fewer activities, I have written more, but I also have more time to reach out to people I know, on line, or respond to people who’ve reached out to me, whom I might not have taken the time to correspond with before. But with a little more time, and hungry for that human contact, I’ve been more open to new connections, which in some cases have turned out to be a real blessing in my life, and enrich it immeasurably. It’s particularly fun to ‘meet’ other creatives, in a variety of fields. And I’ve met all of them by accident because of Covid, so the experience hasn’t been all bad, and some of my already existing friendships have deepened in the stressful war-time atmosphere that has impacted us all.

 

At the beginning of the pandemic, a museum in another country contacted me, with time on their hands too, they had gone through their archives to ‘clean house” and discovered that my grandfather had loaned them a small painting for an exhibit many years ago, which somehow got forgotten, never got returned, and was still at the museum. My grandfather had died shortly after, no one knew about the loaned painting, and they never claimed it. It wasn’t valuable, but it belonged to his heirs, which was me. They contacted me and offered to return it to me. I didn’t fall in love with the painting when they sent me a photo of it, and decided to donate it to the museum since it had already been there for years. They were very pleased and the curator who had made contact is a lovely woman, and we’ve had a wonderful correspondence that has gone on for a year. In non-covid times, I would never have taken the time to get to know her. Buried under mountains of work, meeting deadlines, travelling constantly to see my kids, I would have made a fast decision about the painting and let it go at that. Working from home, the curator had time too that she wouldn’t have had otherwise. It has been a lovely exchange now for a year, and we hope to meet one day.

 

And I did a crazy thing, during one of the lonely lockdowns in France. My favorite series cheered me late at night when I was anxious and lonely. One of them is a British show that I have loved for years. The sound of the actors’ familiar voices was comforting, alone in my apartment for 77 days. I did something I’ve never done before. I researched the woman who created it and writes the show, got her address from a friend who works in TV in London, and wrote the first fan letter I have ever written, to tell the writer how much the show has meant to me. I would NEVER have done that in normal times. But suddenly, living daily with a lot of anxiety and fear, we are more open and more vulnerable, more emotional, and aware of things we paid no attention to before. It had never occurred to me before to write to the creator of that show, although I’ve loved it for a decade and watch it faithfully. But suddenly, in the craziness of the pandemic, it seemed okay to reach out, so I did on a sudden impulse one night. Much to my astonishment, she answered me the next day, and she had been reading my books since her teens. We had a powerful mutual admiration for each other, had a million things in common, and she has become a fantastic friend, although we still haven’t met. Our birthdays are even one day apart. She writes me hysterically funny letters, and our shared view of the literary world and the world of TV has given us a lot of laughs. She is a kindred spirit, and I adore her. Wow!!! Imagine if I had never written to her. She is a huge gift in my life!!

 

And along the way, I did a collaboration with a young Irish fashion designer, whom I’ve admired for years, and presto magic a new mutual admiration was born, across miles and generations. We did a podcast together, and the collaboration was a wonderful experience!!! Right there, I had three new friends, without ever leaving my house or meeting them. And then a fourth, an artist in Germany sent me a pastel portrait of my late son Nick as a gift (because she had spare time too), which really touched my heart, and we have corresponded too. She is incredibly talented and a lovely person, and she is currently working on a project for me, that I plan to give my children at Christmas.

 

And in addition to that, an artist in San Francisco whom I have admired for years, but haven’t seen in a long time, reached out to me. I have many many of his paintings in my home, but we had lost touch. He wrote to me out of the blue, and said what a hard time he was having painting in the pandemic, and what a challenge it was to create in a vacuum, isolated from people and the world as we know it. I answered immediately and shared that it was hard for me too. (All the people in the arts who have written to me have said the same). I shared my own experiences with him by email, and the exchange helped both of us, and inspired us. I was SO happy to have heard from him, and so grateful that he’d written to me.

 

So even though we are alone more, and spend more time at home, and the pandemic has been isolating for many people, even most people,—-flowers pop up through the snow and ice, and bring spring back into our lives in the frozen winter we have lived for eighteen months. Email has certainly helped us reach out to others, this would all be a lot worse without it. (I accidentally spilled a glass of water into my computer a week ago, and I panicked at the loss of contact for 3 days. The internet is a huge blessing right now, and keeps us connected to others and the broader world.)

 

I am so grateful for these friendships that have appeared, flourished, and the old ones that have survived or been reborn. we are social animals and need other humans, but in the midst of the silence, the darkness and at times the loneliness, some wonderful friendships (and even romances) are born. And I am SOOOO grateful for that, and for the old and new friends in my life.  And I am certain that these friendships will last much longer than Covid, and be stronger than they would have been, because of it. So some good has come of the challenges of the Covid crisis after all!!!Have a wonderful week!!!

 

love, Danielle

 

9/5/21, A helping hand

Posted on September 5, 2021

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you’ve had a great week. I had a really fun week last week with three of my daughters in New York. They worked hard on their professional prep for Fashion Week, for their jobs, and saw me in the little spare time they had (which I am ALWAYS grateful for!!), and I worked a little in the daytime, and shopped and had fun, and met up with my daughters at night, after their work. I didn’t go to the big stores I love, because I’m trying to be careful, and stuck to small shops that weren’t crowded, and when we ate in restaurants we only ate outdoors. And I wore a mask everywhere, though many people around me didn’t. I wore mine indoors and outdoors to be safer.

 

I thought of something while in New York, and when I was travelling. I had a little spare time, and always try to read something inspirational and uplifting when I do, sometimes daily or several times a week. And every time I do, I am always amazed at how much it helps me. We all have our own ways of coping with stress that works for us, exercise, or reading, meditation, praying, talking to a friend, or a glass of wine at the end of the day. There is built in stress in my work, with constant deadlines. My job is like being in school forever, with exams to prepare for. Every time I write a book, it’s a challenge, and every time a book is published, it feels like a pass or fail exam—-and how will I be graded. And having many children is a great joy, but fraught with anxiety too, worrying about them. We all have stresses in our lives, whatever they are.

 

I try to read from the Bible once a week, and read religious articles when I can, and the writings of Joel Osteen ALWAYS inspire and comfort me. On a stressful day, when I read his work, even a page of it, or a few lines, it suddenly brings peace and sanity into my life, and hope, and I feel ready to cope with the day. And the writings of Mary Baker Eddy help me too, but require more concentration. And when I’m rushed and stressed, with pressure coming from all directions, a quick hit/a few lines of something inspirational, like Joel, works wonders!!! I was thinking today of how much it does help to have some source of comfort to turn to, a helping hand in the darkness, while you struggle with a decision, face a dilemma or a heartbreak—sometimes something even as simple as a flat tire or a broken refrigerator, or much bigger issues. the little things can get you down too, if there are enough of them. And the fallout from these weird times of Covid have been challenging for many of us, worrying about health, money, jobs, loved ones.

 

I’m so grateful every time I find a resource to sustain me. I am the official Head of my family, and have been for a long time. My children’s father passed away ten years ago, so I am their only parent, and we were divorced long before that, although we remained close and good friends. I have no siblings or parents, no senior relatives, and am the only child of only children, so for me, “The buck stops here,” as they say. I am the only major decision maker, and the responsible person. My only family are my children, and the big decisions affecting us all are mine. It’s an awesome responsibility at times. And at every age and stage of life, there are hard things we have to face. One of my daughters just had to postpone her wedding for the fourth time, due to Covid. It just wasn’t safe to hold a big gathering, with the current variant on the loose. And it was a huge disappointment for her. Big or small, we all have our problems. And on a tough day, with enough balls coming at you fast enough, even small problems can seem overwhelming, if there are enough of them.

 

I think it’s really important for our own health and sense of wellbeing, to have outlets that help us, or people who are a great support system in our lives, or some form of activity that gives us a sense of peace, that we can face another day, and another avalanche of problems. Sometimes it feels like a hail storm raining down on us, and it can make us feel hopeless. A little break, and a helping hand in the dark can make all the difference, and put some bounce back in our step, and make us feel strong again.

 

Whatever it is that gives you peace and encouragement, embrace it. Whatever it is, whether it’s a game of golf, or a hot bath, or a long walk, or something religious, talking to a friend, or just a cup of coffee with them, or playing with your dog. Be good to yourself, and grab that helping hand wherever you find it. We all need that, especially now, with the daily challenges and the uncertainties we are facing with Covid.  And as frivolous as it sounds, when I have the time, and my budget isn’t too stretched already, I love to go shopping. it always cheers me up and relaxes me. Whatever it is that you enjoy and can find time for, go for it!!! It really will make a difference in your day and your outlook!!!

 

Have a great week, hopefully with some moments to yourself when you can take care of YOU!!!  Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Things will look better when you do!!!

 

love, Danielle

 

8/30/21, Ho Ho Ho

Posted on August 31, 2021

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you’ve had a good week. I’ve had a busy one, the summer is definitely slipping rapidly behind me, and my September foot on the gas, getting busy, is beginning to happen. And the very good news that my newest book Complications, which came out a week ago is #3 on the bestseller lists. So, thank you for that, and my new paperback Royal is #1 on many lists. I hope you’ll enjoy both books.

 

And I am running true to form for August. One of my more irritating traits is that I start my Christmas shopping in August every year. And in spite of Covid, wearing a mask everywhere, and being cautious about what I do and where I go—-it’s happening. I started my Christmas shopping last week, and I just love it. It’s an early reminder of my favorite time of year.

 

The first list I look at every year are the gingerbread houses I send to children on my Christmas list. Then there are people I send a small gift to, just to let them know I’m thinking of them, and something to people who’ve been especially nice to me this year, or helped me in some way, and people who work for me. And the list of my family and close friends. Christmas shopping puts me in a good mood. I try to finish most of it by October, so I don’t have to push my way through crowded stores, which seems more sensible than ever now, during Covid. It is so fun looking at things for the home, at toys, at pretty clothes, at practical things, unusual items, and silly fanciful ones. Sometimes I send chocolates or a Christmas candle. I used to bake brownies with the children to give to people. I love to Needlepoint, and when I have time, I make a needlepoint cushion for special friends. So, I’m off and running. This is just the beginning. I don’t know why, but I always start thinking about Christmas in August….so here I am…. Ho Ho Ho!!!

 

Have a great week, and I hope that as the summer draws to a close, it has been a good one for you!!!

 

love, Danielle

8/23/21, “A call to Victory!”

Posted on August 23, 2021

 

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’ve had a good week, and are enjoying the last of the summer. The weather has been chilly in Europe this summer, and on the East Coast of the US, where I just spent some time with my kids, and San Francisco is gray and enveloped in smoke again, fighting fires again. And the East Coast is braced for a hurricane. So, we haven’t been spoiled with the weather. But it’s still great to have some down time!!! And kids are already going back to school in some areas, so this is the last of summer. And it’s been a challenging one, still battling Covid. We’re discovering that even vaccinated people can catch it, less severely, and the vaccinations supposedly prevent death and severe cases that wind up in the ICU, which is a big plus, but people are getting sick nonetheless and can be carriers, so we ALL have to be careful, and all of those who aren’t vaccinated are at high risk, and have to be doubly careful.

And cities and governments are taking a firm stand. In Paris, you have to show official proof of vaccination to get into stores, restaurants, or anything public. They will accept a negative PCR Covid test if you’re not vaccinated. San Francisco (being the other city I know best) will only accept proof of vaccination, and not a PCR test. So, if you’re not vaccinated, you’re pretty well stuck in San Francisco. And increasingly, masks are being required, even outdoors. We’re all trying to do everything we can to beat Covid, especially faced with the highly contagious Delta variant, which cancelled rapidly many of our new found freedoms, and made daily life and any semblance of normalcy more dangerous again.

I have on my desk, a stacked filing box, which I refer to as my Outbox, where I pile things that are important to keep where they can be easily found, or things that I particularly love, letters, poems, a few photographs. It is usually a towering stack of papers, which threatens to cause an avalanche of papers onto my desk if someone bumps it. In order to avoid the avalanche, I woke up early last weekend, and decide to go through it, which I do from time to time, and I’m always surprised to find what I’ve buried there. There are some buried treasures there, and I found a copy of a poster that I always keep and really love. It dates back to June 18th, 1940, the day after the Germans occupied Paris during the last war. I wasn’t born then, but it’s a letter that is dear to most French people’s hearts, and has survived for more than eighty years. When the Germans occupied France, a French general, General Charles de Gaulle was the head of the Free French Forces and the Resistance, fighting to free France again from the occupying enemy forces. The day after the Occupation by German troops, that poster appeared all over France, to encourage people to hang on, not to give up, and to do all they could to regain their freedom and save their country. (It always makes me cry when I read it). You can imagine how people must have felt to have their cities and country taken, and being subjected to their enemy governing their country.  When I came across it, I read it and thought that it applies to our battle against Covid too. Our fight against Covid is like a war against an unseen enemy, which has taken over our lives, robbed us of our freedom in so many ways, and puts us in danger every hour of the day. And so much of General de Gaulle’s poster to rally the French seemed to apply to us now. These are the parts that made me think of our ongoing battle for health, safety and freedom from Covid:

It is written to the citizens of France at the time, but applies to all citizens of the world now.

 

“We have lost a battle!! But we have not lost the war!!!

Opportunistic rulers have taken over, giving way to panic, delivering us to slavery. Yet nothing is lost!  Nothing is lost because this is a world war. In the free universe, immense forces have not yet been brought into play. Some day we will crush the enemy. On that day, we must be present at the Victory. We will then regain our freedom and our greatness.

That is my goal, my only goal!!

That is why I ask all citizens, wherever they may be, to unite in action, in sacrifice, and in hope.

Our world is in danger of death. Let us fight to save it!”.   It’s signed General de Gaulle.

 

It is a rousing call to freedom, a branch to hang onto and not give up hope. So often those words have encouraged me to hang on in threatening situations, and it did so again when I read it.

Covid won’t win in the end. We WILL regain our freedom. We have to hang on and do all we can to reach the end of this rocky road, together, and each of us has to do all that we can to beat this enemy. I hope these words help you feel stronger, and give you hope.

 

Have a great week, and stay safe.

 

with all my love, Danielle

 

8/18/21, “Back at Work”

Posted on August 18, 2021

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you’re enjoying these last days of August, before the summer ends. It always goes too fast. I had ten wonderful days with four of my children on vacation, our first one in two years!!! Yes!!! And it was soooo nice to be together. One of the things I enjoyed most was walking on the beach, on an endless long stretch of white sand, wading in the water as I walked along. The Ocean always restores me and makes me feel peaceful. And now I’m back at my desk, back at work. I hope you’re having a good summer!!! This is a vast improvement for me over last year, when I was totally alone.

 

I’ve been in two places this week, and there is such an odd discrepancy between seeing people having fun, playing on the beaches, enjoying restaurants, talking in groups. On the one hand, everything looks so normal. People weren’t even wearing masks in the stores I walked into, which worried me. And then you read the numbers on the Internet and see how serious the situation is, but it seems unreal when you look around.  I long for the day when Covid will no longer be an issue, and just a dim memory.

 

I read a wonderful interview about a 101 year old woman, fully active and still working as a commercial lobster fisherman, with her own boat and crew. She works every day and apparently reads my books. I think work keeps one grounded, engaged, and involved in the world. I would be lost without it. And being a commercial fisherman can’t be easy at her age. Remarkable.

 

Well, I’m back at work on new books. The vacation went too quickly, but I’m grateful to have had the time with my children.

 

Take care and stay safe!!! Have a great week, love, Danielle

 

8/10/21, On vacation!

Posted on August 10, 2021

Hi Everyone,

I am having a much needed break this week on a family vacation, I hope you have a great week!

love, Danielle

Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments

8/2/21, Enough already!!!

Posted on August 2, 2021

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Boy, I’m sure tired of Covid, and I’ll bet you are too. Up and down, first wave, second wave, third wave…arrghk!!! The vaccine seemed like an easy solution when it appeared. And it certainly appears to be an improvement, if it prevents cases requiring hospitalization, or fatalities. But there are hitches to that deal that require reason, caution, discipline and good judgement. You have to read the owner’s manual before you can just zip off into the sunset in a new car. In most cases, they tell even vaccinated people to wear a mask now, with cases surging everywhere Although the mask rules were lifted weeks ago.

 

For a minute there, everyone celebrated!! Yippeee!!! It felt like it was over, but it was not. What we are coming to understand is that even vaccinated people can catch Covid, they will just get a milder case, AND they can carry and transmit Covid- to others, whether vaccinated or not–if they give it to a vaccinated person, they will have a mild case, but if they infect a non-vaccinated person, they can do them some serious damage. Non vaccinated people remain vulnerable and have to be reasonable about how they move around in the world. In the past few weeks, some vaccinated people are getting sick, and in many places mask mandates have been reinstated.  My personal view is that some vaccinated people celebrated a little too exuberantly socially, and put themselves at risk again. And the large group of unvaccinated people are keeping us as a whole from achieving herd immunity.  I am not saying you should get vaccinated, or not, only you and your doctor know that. And we are all learning as we go, about the disease itself, and how to live comfortably around it. Wearing a mask seems like a small price to pay, for greater freedom. And I think people will adapt to it. For me, politics just don’t enter into it. Just safety, and protecting myself and my loved ones.

 

So be smart, be safe, let’s get rid of this anxiety and move on. Onward and Upward!!! have a great week,

 

love, Danielle

 

7/26/21, A prayer for the world

Posted on July 26, 2021

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope that all is well with you, and that you’re getting some relaxing down time. It’s a little shocking that the summer is already half over, it has flown by. I’m looking forward to some time with my kids soon, and my first vacation in 2 years!!!

 

What is grabbing my thoughts these days are the rapidly climbing, exponentially multiplying Covid numbers, heading for the sky again. It’s discouraging, with so many people vaccinated. But restrictions were lifted around the world in June, and I think many people are so tired of 16 months of restrictions that in many cases, they threw caution to the winds. And in many places, they were told “the coast is clear”, with the lifting of rules and restrictions. Some states are backtracking now, and parts of California are urging masks indoors and out. In fact, we have nothing to lose, if masks do make a difference. I don’t care about the look, my ‘freedoms’ or anyone’s politics. Whatever will get us out of this black hole of Covid is fine with me, the sooner the better.

 

Vaccines seem to be the fastest way out, and millions have been vaccinated in all countries—but apparently not enough to achieve herd immunity anywhere. So we are ‘vaxed’ even double vaxed, but not enough people are, due to fear, politics, or their own personal reasons. And we are now being told that even vaxed people can get Covid, just to a lesser degree and they don’t die. But they get it, they can even get it twice, and they can transmit it to others. So, it is not the perfect solution that we hoped, but it seems to be the most effective one we have for now. They make not being vaxed sound like an automatic death sentence, and I hope that’s not true. Covid has wreaked havoc with our lives for almost two years now.  And we are all in need of psychological and physical relief from the stress and the risk.

 

What distresses me, and others, is that in the past 3 or 4 weeks, due to the Delta variant, and others, the numbers are shooting sky high again. Countries that were heavily vaccinated (the US, UK, Israel, Australia) are now in trouble again, with the US in the lead with the highest number of new cases daily, and we are back in the same soup we were in a year ago, although the death rate is lower due to the vaccines. But Covid is still out there raising hell with our lives and peace of mind.

 

I can only hope that the numbers will come down soon, that people will be truly careful, and observe whatever rules seem necessary. We have to beat this. The situation is worldwide, every country is affected, and our lives along with it.

 

May somehow this terrible plague leave us in peace at last, and may we be strong and wise in the meantime. Every aspect of our lives is threatened until it’s gone, our loved ones, ourselves, our down time, our jobs, our wellbeing, our health, our incomes. May the pain, danger, and anxiety end soon for us all. And in the meantime, I hold you close in my heart and my prayers.

 

Have a peaceful, careful, healthy week!!!

 

with much love, Danielle

 

7/19/21, Storm Warning

Posted on July 19, 2021

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope all is well with you, and you are enjoying the summer and getting some time off to relax.

 

I’m in both France and the US this summer, and I am growing concerned. When recently in New York in June, there was a vast fiesta atmosphere, with everyone immensely relieved that the restrictions were literally gone, and due to vaccines, the Covid numbers were lower. I found myself in stores, outdoor restaurants, and elevators, in huge crowds, body to body, people shouting, talking, drinking, no masks, no distancing as though Covid had never existed. It made me nervous.

 

When I got back to France, the numbers were greatly improved from before, although the vaccine rate was low, and people were still being careful. Outdoor dining, masks, there was an atmosphere of cautious enthusiasm, but still awareness. And among young people, total freedom and no caution at all, crowded restaurants and bars, lots of kissing and hugging, a party atmosphere in the streets. Last year, before the vaccine, the complete disregard of rules caused a huge surge of the Covid numbers and landed us back in Confinement, with high numbers and a lot of people sick, which was definitely not fun.

 

In the last week, due to the Delta variant, the numbers are sharply on the rise in every country globally. The UK which was the most vaccinated now has a huge surge and the worst numbers in Europe. Spain and Portugal are right behind them. Israel who vaccinated everyone has high numbers again. Australia. The numbers in the US have gone up, and in France, Italy, Germany. It is discouraging without question. We thought we were well out of it, and it turns out that we aren’t. Medical advice is that even vaccinated people need to be careful, even if the risk of death is lower for them. Even vaccinated people can still get Covid, though hopefully less severely. And neither the US nor France have achieved herd immunity, although heavily vaxed.

 

The French president, Emanuel Macron made a televised plea to citizens this week, to be more careful, to still follow rules, wear masks, distance. It is not over yet. The medical experts in the US have said the same. The numbers in Europe have doubled daily for the past week. The Delta variant is said to be 3 to 6 times more contagious. The President said that if we don’t stop this sudden surge by our behaviours, we are going to be in a worse place a month from now than in the entire pandemic. It’s a wake up call, for all of us. To be careful. We are not out of the woods yet. We still have to walk before we can run, and be careful.

 

I know that in the US, the wearing of masks has strong political connotations, which doesn’t make sense to me.

 

Whether or not people get vaccinated is a personal decision, dependent on their health, their pathologies, or even allergies. But whether or not people are vaccinated, we can all be careful, and mindful that Covid is not gone yet, in fact is getting stronger again with this variant.

 

The very simple bottom line for me is that I don’t want to get sick, I don’t want my kids to get sick. I don’t want YOU to get sick. And I would like all of us to reach a point of health and safety, where going to the grocery store, or a restaurant, or walking down the street is no longer a life-threatening risk. It may mean not being as close to others on the beach this summer, or not being in a crowded bar, or not going to a nightclub. But I would love all of us to be careful enough, and sensible enough that in time, we can do whatever we want, and live normally again without risk.   And I really don’t want to spend another year in and out of lockdown.

 

I just hope we will all be safe and sensible this summer, for just a little longer.  Have a great week!!!

 

love, Danielle

 

7/12/21, Lost and Found

Posted on July 12, 2021

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you’re having a relaxing time somewhere, and taking time off for a real vacation this summer. I hope everything is going well for you.

 

We’ve had three remarkable incidents in recent months of valued objects lost, and found in nearly miraculous circumstances, which I thought I’d share in case you’ve lost anything lately too. It’s amazing how things turn up sometimes. When I was a child, my mother was always hiding valuable objects, and then losing them, or forgetting where she put them, and she prayed to Saint Anthony. I don’t know if he is still the appropriate saint for lost and found. And so often what we lose is not necessarily of great monetary value, but something we really cherish, or need. All three of these incidents were unusual enough that I wanted to share them with you, in case you’ve recently lost something too. And they really were amazing events!!.

 

1) As I shared with you on Instagram, for the first time in my life, I had a handbag stolen right from under the table while I was having lunch at a very nice restaurant with my family. I never felt it go, and as it turned out it was stolen by a real pro. It was a beautiful black leather Hermes handbag that I really love, quite large, with red leather lining, and I wear it a lot. I bought it second hand at a vintage store in New York about 10 years ago. it was very expensive originally, and I paid a fairly high price for it. it was one of a kind and it had been made to order. The bag was under the table, next to my feet, it was stolen while I had lunch, by a well-dressed man who dropped his raincoat near my table, scooped it up, and my bag with it, and I discovered it with dismay at the end of lunch. I never noticed the man who took it. Fortunately, the police have cameras strategically placed around Paris, and they got the whole thing on film. I spent the afternoon at the police station to file a report, and was told that valuable bags like that are resold very quickly in other foreign markets, and it was ‘certain’, I would never see my bag again, which would be on its way to Africa, Asia, or another European country within a day. I was really sad. Even though it was just an ‘object’, I really loved it, and was sad to lose it. Because it was a custom order, and worth some money, I knew I couldn’t replace it. A few days later, an enterprising police detective called me, and had seen the report of my stolen bag. They had recognized the thief on their video, and he’d been in prison before for stealing items of high value. The detective promised to do his best. Paris went into their second lockdown two days after my bag was stolen, so travel was limited, but the bag could still have been shipped out of the country to be sold. Less than two weeks later, I got an early morning call from the same detective. They had been able to track down the thief, surprised him at his home, and the bag was sitting in his bedroom, since he couldn’t travel to sell it. In less than 2 weeks they returned my bag which they told me I would never see again!! It seemed like a miracle to me, and I am grateful all over again every time I wear the bag, and now I love it even more!! And the thief is back in prison serving a 2 year sentence as a recidivist. He threw away all the contents of the bag, my phone, my address book, favorite vintage sunglasses, regular glasses, tried to use my credit cards and failed. And I am SOOO HAPPY to have my bag back. It still feels like a miracle that they found it and gave it back to me. The detective who tracked it down was amazing!!

 

2) My assistant in Paris is Italian, has an Italian passport, and a 10 year visa to enter the US when he accompanies me when I travel to the States. Those visas are very hard to get, are not being renewed during the pandemic, and can’t be replaced if you lose them, they are put into the passport of the person who has the visa. And my assistant needs it to do his job for me, to accompany me back to the States (with a heavy briefcase, a mountain of suitcases and 3 dogs). He works for me in Paris, not the States. On his day off, he drove about an hour outside Paris on his Vespa, and had his passport in his jeans pocket. When he got back that night, he discovered that he had lost his passport, somewhere during the day, no idea where. He called all the places where he’d been, no one had found it, it was gone. Those visas can’t be replaced, and if you lose them, you have to reapply, and they aren’t being replaced or renewed right now in the pandemic. The next day, he decided to retrace his route of the day, on his Vespa, and see if he found it on a street or in a ditch or a gutter somewhere, he didn’t find it where he’d been, and would have to report it lost, and the visa would be cancelled once he did. he was dejected and upset on his way home, his passport and visa were gone. Halfway back to Paris, he saw a truck drive over something small and red. It was a main freeway, with heavy traffic, and it seemed impossible that it could be his passport, on the on the highway he’d travelled the day before, with traffic rolling over it. He pulled off the road, just in case, waited for traffic to slow down, dashed into the middle of the highway, narrowly escaping being hit by several cars, grabbed the small red object and ran back to the side of the road. It was his passport, with the visa, he had found it and it had survived 24 hours of heavy traffic rolling over it. He was beaming when he got back!!! And it seemed like a miracle!!!

 

3) My daughter wears several bracelets on her arm (like I do!!), all of them sentimental to her. One of them is a special bracelet that you put on with a little screwdriver and 2 screws and you can’t take off, except with the special screwdriver. She loves that bracelet. We met in New York for lunch, and her sister commented on it. After that, my daughter travelled to San Francisco, and then to Colorado, and two weeks after that lunch, my daughter looked at her arm and saw that it was gone. Normally it can’t fall off, except if for some reason both screws had failed and fallen out and the bracelet fell off. She had no idea when it had fallen off in the past two weeks, or where. New York? San Francisco? Colorado? She made a list of everywhere she’d been, restaurants, airplanes, everyplace she could think of. The likelihood of finding it seemed nil. To make matters worse, the bracelet is made in two separate parts, so if the screws had failed, the bracelet would be in two parts, and even harder to find them both. She was really sad about it, and I suggested she call hotels, restaurants, airlines in all 3 cities, asked her neighbors. She had gone biking and had hiked up a mountain in Colorado. It was hard to imagine she’d ever find it. She asked a neighbor in Colorado, who was stunned. Several days before, his teen age son had found half a bracelet on a bridge with a bike path she had travelled on. She ran to his house to see it, and there it was: half a miracle, half her lost bracelet was in his hand, and she was thrilled to find at least half of it. A few minutes later, the son who had found it came home, and she thanked him, and he held the bracelet in his hand for a minute, and commented that it was heavy, so it might get lodged somewhere. They went back to the bridge where he’d found it, with a river flowing below it, and he went down to the riverbank, which was edged in mud along the shores, and he dug for a few minutes in the mud—-and the rest of the miracle appeared, the other half of her bracelet was lodged in the mud, covered by a thin layer of mud. The miracle was complete!!! She has her bracelet back and is thrilled!!!

 

All three of these instances seemed miraculous and so unlikely. What were the odds in each case of ever seeing the lost object again? A bag stolen by a practiced professional to sell on a foreign market anywhere in the world? a passport lost along fifty miles of highway in a high traffic area 24 hours later, so small you could barely see it under the speeding wheels of cars and trucks? a bracelet broken in two parts, lost on a mountain road over a swiftly moving river lined with mud—to find both parts days later, in the mud on the riverbank?   These incidents reminded me that miracles do happen, against the fiercest odds. Some things are in fact lost forever, but others turn up in the most mysterious ways, with the help of strangers, sometimes by prayer—-but sometimes you really do find what you lost, even when it seems impossible. So, if you’re looking for something you lost or misplaced, do your best to find it, don’t give up, and it may come back to you!!! If you’ve lost some treasured sentimental object, I hope you find it!!! Have a great week!!! full of good surprises!!!

 

love, Danielle

 

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