Our Lives Out Loud by Ann Louise Gilligan

Author:Ann Louise Gilligan [Ann Louise Gilligan and Katherine Zappone]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847174352
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

See ourselves within a circle of light. Our thoughts are seeds of action. Our words become reality. Speak of peace and love. Free from illusion, realise that our thoughts create. Free from illusion, let us not hesitate. Turn the anger into love. Transform the doubt into wisdom.

Let us live in peace.

From Crystal Visions

Ann Louise’s birthday present from Katherine was a gold ring with the three jewels; we called it her ‘healing ring’. It was to remind her that she was embraced by love as she used her own powers to imagine full health. She still wears it today.

Katherine resumed her MBA study in autumn 1994, pleased – even happy – to be back. She belonged to a new group of students, her former class having completed their degree the previous summer. This turned out to be a high-powered, yet gratifying year, thanks especially to her study group: Conleth O’Reilly, Gerard Moore and Brendan Healy. What she didn’t know in finance or marketing, they did; what they didn’t know in political economy or organisational psychology, she did. Following the Harvard-type groupwork model of business study, they spent endless hours together writing up collective assignments and case studies. These men were mighty; she learned so much from them. They approached – and crossed – the finish line together, and this time she decided to attend graduation, held in the grand O’Reilly Hall on the Belfield campus of University College Dublin. Her father’s pride in her achievement considerably influenced this decision, and both her father and mother took the long journey from Seattle to Dublin to be there. There were now two MBAs in the family!

Katherine’s mother – with an Irish-born grandmother – had something else to celebrate too. Katherine’s application for Irish citizenship had finally been approved by the Minister for Justice, Nora Owens, and her mother stood proudly by her side as Katherine solemnly declared her fidelity to the Irish nation and her loyalty to the State in a courtroom of the Irish Four Courts. They held a great party after the court ceremony, taking over the Westbury Hotel’s lobby for music and drinks, Katherine having sent an invitation to family and friends that quoted a famous line from Mary Robinson’s inaugural presidential speech: ‘I am of Ireland, come dance with me!’

We celebrated until early morning, filled with massive relief as well as joy. We had lived with enormous insecurity since Katherine left Trinity because she did not have permission to stay in Ireland indefinitely. She was terrified that if she travelled out of the country the authorities might not let her back in. We faced the genuine possibility of being separated, not being able to live together for the rest of our lives. No words can be found to describe the fear and anger we felt.

Of course, had we been a married couple, acquiring citizenship would have been a matter of simply filling in a few forms. Katherine’s route was filled with uncertainty and a deep sense of powerlessness. After

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