COUNTRY ROADS
By Kay MacDuffee
Annapolis Valley’s own- Author Carol Ann Cole is coming to Greenwood!
The Midweek Caledon Enterprise, February 26, 2003-5
The Aurora
Newspaper - November 19th,
2001
By: Veronica Cole
She is a Member of the
Order of Canada. She has received the Terry fox Award, the Jewish Women
International Woman of the Year Award, Canadian Auto Workers Woman of the Year
Award, YWCA Recognition Award, and has been named to MacLean’s Honour Role to
name just a few of her accomplishments since she graduated from MRHS in June of
1964. Yet, I bet if you asked my niece what she is most proud of she would tell
you that when she was introduced as the guest speaker for the MRHS graduation
ceremonies on June 25, 1998 that ranks among her fondest memories. As she left
the auditorium that evening one local resident quietly said “We are very proud
of you here in Middleton dear. You can go anywhere you want, but you belong to
us.”
Carol Ann has authored her
first book, Comfort Heart - A Personal Memoir, and will be at the Inside Story
in the Greenwood Mall on Saturday November 24th at 1 pm to meet you
and autograph your copy of her book.
The story of the founder
of the Comfort Heart Initiative is as inspiring as the power of the Comfort
Hearts themselves. Carol Ann left Wilmot at the age of 18 to find a career in
the ‘big city’ of North Bay, eventually landing a job at Bell Canada. As she
began to climb the ranks of the company in the early 1970's, she discovered the
obstacles that faced a single mother in the corporate world. But she continued
to persevere and became one of the first female vice presidents of one of the
country's biggest corporations.
And then, her world came
crashing down.
Within days both Carol Ann
and her mother, Mary Cole were diagnosed with breast cancer. While Carol Ann was
able to beat it, the loss of her mother later that same year had a monumental
impact on her life. When she walked into OceanArt Pewter and discovered the
Worry Hearts, small hearts that you would rub in times of stress, she knew she
had found the way to give back to the cancer community. She walked away from her
six-figure salary and devoted her time exclusively as volunteer working on the
Comfort Heart Initiative. To date she has raised over one million dollars for
cancer research. You will find a comfort Heart in the hands of over 170,000
Canadians to date.
Comfort Heart - A
Personal Memoir is a story of determination and courage, and how you can
accomplish all your goals if you put your mind - and heart - to it.
She's 'back-from-away'
living now in Halifax. I guarantee you will love her book and you may even see
parts of your own life in her memoir. (And, I'm not just a proud Aunt - this
really is a wonderful book. Trust me!)
Carol Ann tells me she is
bringing a gift for the first 100 people who purchase her book on November 24th.
Please come and make her feel welcome. Let's show her how proud we are of our
own “valley girl”.
