128 Comments

I love this. Hope is my favorite word, last beloved furry friend's name and part of my email (always hope here). Thanks for all of the hope you provide!

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Just revisiting this essay as you linked it in today’s. Thank you, Connie, for blessing us with your hope.

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Dear Connie - I just saw you on the Rachel Maddow show, and as you were saying the name of your substack, I was signing up. I am so delighted to have found you! I've just read an article or two, and you have such a voice! A voice I've been looking for since the wise dames of writing - that I knew - are now gone. Molly Ivins was my hero!!! I have a feeling I will always look forward to what you have to say. I feel like we are good friends already. Thank you! 😊❤️

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Hope sells in a hopeless situation.

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Yes, those of us who are 'still alive' and 'fluid', are saturated with hope. Hope is what we cling to, reaching for the next protruding stone which slices our palms as we pull ourselves up this sheer cliff called life. You are not just a survivor; you are an inspirational thriver. Keep looking up!

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Your thoughtful words make my day! I look forward to everything you share. Is there anyway to pay for a subscription with PayPal? I avoid providing credit card numbers online.

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Thank you. Although you had me in tears, I’m glad to have subscribed. Happy Birthday.

My mom passed away in December and she is missed every day. I was so fortunate to have her for a long time - she was 97. She was always hopeful.

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Happy Birthday! I read everything I see with your name on it!

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Happy Birthday! Please keep sharing stories of hope with us. I look forward to this new adventure.

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I’m so looking forward to reading Hopefully Yours. May even become a paying subscriber. I’ve been trying to decide who’d get my money first, and I’m pretty sure I know now!

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Happy birthday! I’ve been reading you for longer than I can remember. I’ve got you and Heather Cox Richardson on Substack--a perfect combo. This is a great forum for you!

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Welcome Connie Schultz! I was proud to have her as a colleague at USA Today and quite happy to share a platform with her again!

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James! So great to find you here.

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Anything I can do to help let me know!

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Ditto! You're going to be a smash success on here!

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Have followed your path since your Plain Dealer days. Your work remains a lamp unto our feet. Thank you. And happy birthday!

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After reading this piece, I scrolled back up and clicked on the About link. Such a pleasure to read how you describe yourself. Thank you for being you.

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Thank you, Mary Ann. I struggled mightily with that, a (good) consequence of my upbringing.

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Thank you for sharing the little things, which are actually the big things of life. Happy belated and wife on!

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Happy birthday and congratulations on your new endeavor. I, too, loved The Finishing School, but I'd forgotten that passage. Your piece and your new adventure have reminded me, as I enter my 70th year, not to congeal but to continue to reinvent myself.

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