LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT!

It's the home stretch of summer, fellow alums!  I hope this newsletter finds you soaking up this last month of beautiful Minnesota summer and looking ahead to fall and all it brings.

 A summer highlight for me, since having the privilege to serve on IUAA's Executive Council for two terms, is heading back to Indiana for our summer Alumni Leaders Conference. Reuniting with an IU family I've built post-graduation has become a unique gift.

 I was fortunate to add Patti Theil to my IU Alumni family a few years ago while both serving on Executive Council, and we became fast friends.  When I met Patti, she had just lost her husband—the love of her life.

What was striking to me about Patti, aside from her welcoming nature and the ability to make anyone feel like an old friend, was how positive she was about life, while dealing with a level of grief that I cannot fathom.

 If you have the privilege of knowing Patti and the bright light of positivity that she is, it's no surprise that she turned her tragedy into an opportunity to share her story and help others.  Enter "Losing my Widow Virginity," her newly-published book. 

 I got to read it before it hit bookstores and Amazon...what a unique perspective on love, loss, lessons and getting back in the game of dating.  It's as much about grief as it is about the life lessons that come after and the (gasp!) spicy moments that follow when it's time to move on and dive into the dating scene.  I cried, I laughed out loud and I covered my eyes at times, as Patti brutally and honestly shares her journey of sorting her way through dating in her 60s.

 And don't be fooled friends, you don't have to be married, widowed or in your 60s to enjoy this book...I couldn't put it down, and tucked away so many morsels of life lesson wisdom.  Not to mention, there are plenty of Indiana University mentions throughout the book that made me love it even more!

I'm so excited to welcome Patti to the Twin Cities to join us for an evening of sips, small bites and mingling. She'll share about her experience of putting a pen to paper and letting us into her life.  She'll answer questions and read her favorite excerpts from her book.

For the Glory of IU,

Stacie Richter, President, IUAA - Twin Cities Chapter