I stared at the email in disbelief. “I’m out of the country with limited Internet access until June.” This from my website manager in reply to my cry for help after I discovered fatal errors on my website. I panicked. Then I got angry. What kind of Web manager goes hiking in the Himalayas (or so I imagined) without Internet access? For three freaking months. I felt stranded. Worse, abandoned.
Desperate, I reached out to my friend Deborah Kunzie. I call her my Web genie, but she’s so much more: a gifted wildlife photographer, author, and musician who composes her own Native American flute music. Talk about someone with a full command of both their right and left brains! Seriously, I’m in awe.
Deb came to my rescue, out of the goodness of her heart. She saw instantly what was needed. Starting with ditching my custom-built Website, which had left me in the precarious position I was in, a version of the what-if-he-gets-hit-by-a bus scenario in which the “he” lives. She urged me to give WordPress another chance. I’d abandoned WordPress years ago because of its then limited selection of templates. But WordPress had come a long way since then and Deb found a template that suited my needs.
Deb got to work. Not only did she spend hours, days, weeks building my new website, which I would eventually manage, she gave my SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a much-needed boost with her metadata wizardry. Thanks to Deb, traffic flow to www.eileengoudge.com has increased exponentially.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” as the saying goes. Deb is such a friend. Having known her for years, I find it incredible that we have yet to meet face to face, living on opposite coasts as we do. One day we’ll rectify that. In the meantime, I felt compelled to shine a spotlight on this amazing person in my life.
Think about it. If you had to name one person besides a family member as your emergency contact, who would it be? If it’s more than one person, you can count the names on the hand if you’re like me.
Not only did Deb come to my rescue, but I also have the pleasure of listening to her music when I’m doing my morning yoga. If you download this single of her Healing Circle flute music, you’ll see what I mean. I also find inspiration in her amazing bird photos of birds, which you can see here.
There’s another saying, an old Chinese proverb, which I often quote: “Friends are like evergreens. You know them when winter comes.” Deb is an “evergreen” friend. When I was snowed under, she was there for me.
What a beautiful observation of an incredible human being. Thank you so much for sharing your stories and your insight into Deborah Kunzie. She has come to my rescue more than once as well, so I know from where you speak. And, thank you, Eileen, for being YOU and having the courage and fortitude to write what you feel and believe.
Deborah is one of those people you encounter who make you believe in serendipity. It was a lucky day indeed when she came into my life. #SheGoesTheExtraMile