Penny for your Shots

Donna Jewett, Nutritional Educator and Activist

March 07, 2024 Penny Fitzgerald
Donna Jewett, Nutritional Educator and Activist
Penny for your Shots
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Penny for your Shots
Donna Jewett, Nutritional Educator and Activist
Mar 07, 2024
Penny Fitzgerald

Donna Jewett is determined to leave a legacy and continue to make a difference in others' lives. And she's leading by example. Throughout her life, she has taught people how to care for themselves and for the earth. She and her husband lived "off the grid" in their home on Cape Cod, utilizing solar, geothermal, hydroponics, and organic gardening... to power their home and grow their own vegetables. 

She lost her husband a couple of years ago and is continuing the mission they shared by building community in their condo association and church in Florida    and teaching people organic gardening techniques, as well as nutritional guidance through her education, experience, and Shaklee business.

I met Donna through Sassy Sisters... a women's networking group in SW Florida. At the age of 80, she lights up a room when she enters it. She's always kind, fun, and supportive... She's bright and bubbly! And, best of all, she has no regrets and is living her best life!  

You'll enjoy hearing about her family Happy Hour Tradition. It's one I'm going to incorporate into our Fitzgerald Family routine. Get ready to be inspired by... Donna Jewett.

To connect with Donna:
https://us.shaklee.com/site/d-d-healthysolutions

Thula Thula Private Game Reserve: https://thulathula.com/
https://www.thulathula.org/

Kiss the Ground. Available on Netflix. https://kissthegroundmovie.com/


Wine Camp! It's a THING! Don't miss your opportunity to experience this Texas Hill Country retreat with your besties! To learn more and reserve your spot: https://pennyforyourshots.com/wine-camp
Stay up-to-date on details: wine-camp.pennyforyourshots.com

To connect with Penny or learn more, check out www.pennyforyourshots.com

Never miss an episode (and grab Penny's free Silky Harvest Soup recipe as a bonus): subscribepage.io/Silky-Harvest-Soup-Recipe

- Follow Penny on Instagram: @penny4yourshots
- Or Facebook: Penny (Kuhlers) Fitzgerald

Show Notes Transcript

Donna Jewett is determined to leave a legacy and continue to make a difference in others' lives. And she's leading by example. Throughout her life, she has taught people how to care for themselves and for the earth. She and her husband lived "off the grid" in their home on Cape Cod, utilizing solar, geothermal, hydroponics, and organic gardening... to power their home and grow their own vegetables. 

She lost her husband a couple of years ago and is continuing the mission they shared by building community in their condo association and church in Florida    and teaching people organic gardening techniques, as well as nutritional guidance through her education, experience, and Shaklee business.

I met Donna through Sassy Sisters... a women's networking group in SW Florida. At the age of 80, she lights up a room when she enters it. She's always kind, fun, and supportive... She's bright and bubbly! And, best of all, she has no regrets and is living her best life!  

You'll enjoy hearing about her family Happy Hour Tradition. It's one I'm going to incorporate into our Fitzgerald Family routine. Get ready to be inspired by... Donna Jewett.

To connect with Donna:
https://us.shaklee.com/site/d-d-healthysolutions

Thula Thula Private Game Reserve: https://thulathula.com/
https://www.thulathula.org/

Kiss the Ground. Available on Netflix. https://kissthegroundmovie.com/


Wine Camp! It's a THING! Don't miss your opportunity to experience this Texas Hill Country retreat with your besties! To learn more and reserve your spot: https://pennyforyourshots.com/wine-camp
Stay up-to-date on details: wine-camp.pennyforyourshots.com

To connect with Penny or learn more, check out www.pennyforyourshots.com

Never miss an episode (and grab Penny's free Silky Harvest Soup recipe as a bonus): subscribepage.io/Silky-Harvest-Soup-Recipe

- Follow Penny on Instagram: @penny4yourshots
- Or Facebook: Penny (Kuhlers) Fitzgerald

Transcript:
[00:00:00] Donna Jewett is determined to leave a legacy and to continue to make a difference in others lives. And she's leading by example. Throughout her life, she has taught people how to care for themselves and for the earth. She and her husband lived off the grid in their home on Cape Cod, utilizing solar, geothermal, hydroponics, and organic gardening to power their home and to grow their own vegetables.

She lost her husband a couple of years ago and is continuing the mission they shared by building community in their condo association and church in Florida, and teaching people organic gardening techniques, as well as nutritional guidance through her education, experience, and Shaklee business.

I met Donna through Sassy Sisters, a women's networking group here in Southwest Florida. At 80, she lights up a room when she enters it. She's always kind, fun, and supportive. She's bright and bubbly. And best of all, she has no regrets and is living her best life. You'll enjoy hearing about her family happy hour tradition.

It's one I'm going to incorporate into our Fitzgerald family routine. Get ready to be inspired by Donna Jewett. 

[00:01:47] Donna Jewett: Hello. How are 

[00:01:48] Penny Fitzgerald: you? I'm 

[00:01:49] Donna Jewett: good. How are you? Good. 

[00:01:51] Oh good. So this is fun and I, I think, I thank you for inviting me to do this because I think it's, it's a good way to kind of, uh, you know, get to know you better at the same time and, and, and I just finished a, a consultation with, uh, Sheriff Finnelli who's going on her own and to do, uh, financial planning.

[00:02:10] Oh, nice. And she's asking me a lot of deep questions about my goals in life and what I, you know, and it's like, so this is like, okay, I'm continuing on with my life, one day or the 

[00:02:23] Penny Fitzgerald: other here. Got you really thinking. Yes, yes. 

[00:02:26] Donna Jewett: And actually, you know, it's a significant year because I'm turning 80 and all of a sudden I'm looking at life differently.

[00:02:32] I really am. Really? I turned 70, I said I would never want to look back and say I wish I had. Right. Yeah. That was my mantra. And I said, you know, at the age of 70, I started doing things that I never would have done. And I said, okay, at the age of 80, I even, even more so now, I got to keep, keep it moving.

[00:02:51] Yeah. Well, great. 

[00:02:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. In what, in what way, what are you looking at doing differently? 

[00:02:57] Donna Jewett: So, I'm doing more traveling, and I'm, two weeks I'll be heading to Africa, South Africa. Wow. Nice. And I'm going with just a couple of friends, and I've always wanted to see the animals and be in, go on a safari, and so this is a great way to, to do this.

[00:03:12] And I said, you know, what am I waiting for? If I don't do it now, I may not be able to, you know. Right. Right. 20 hour flights. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So that takes a lot out of you. How 

[00:03:24] Penny Fitzgerald: did you, how did you plan that? Did you work with somebody that has 

[00:03:28] Donna Jewett: been actually, our sassy sister. Kari has gone twice. And she started telling me the stories about what she saw and what she did there and how she fell in love with the animals and fell in love with the people. And what a wonderful opportunity it was to kind of get back to conservation because you're helping the, this preserve and they're, they're raising elephants and rhinos and all that stuff.

[00:03:51] And I said, you know what? I'm going. Nice. That was all I needed. Wow. And so she, she's actually spent a lot of time with us and showing us her pictures of stuff that she's done. And so we're flying into Cape Town and then we're going from there up and that's what she suggested to go. And I said, okay, this sounds great.

[00:04:07] Sign me up. Yeah, exactly. Very nice. 

[00:04:12] Penny Fitzgerald: So you'll, you'll be at the same preserve or 

[00:04:15] Donna Jewett: same area. It's called Thula Thula. So go on to ThulaThula. org and you will see an amazing place that it is. And they have a They're very large and they have tents and they gourmet food and so it's a lot of good stuff. Yeah. 

[00:04:30] Penny Fitzgerald: I'll, um, I'll include links to that in our show notes and share that with my people too.

[00:04:34] So 

[00:04:35] Donna Jewett: yeah. Nice. Great. 

[00:04:37] Penny Fitzgerald: So, so tell us a little bit about, about you.

[00:04:39] What, um, what you do for a living and what you, what you love to do. 

[00:04:44] Donna Jewett: Okay. So I consider myself a nutritional educator. Um, I actually was a home ec teacher when they had home economics way back when, and that was sort of by default. I went, when I studied at the university of Vermont, I went into home ec and I expected I was going to be an interior decorator or fashion designer or something like that.

[00:05:04] But it turned out that education was the best option for me. And to be able to be a teacher really opened a lot more doors. And then I could have a family, which I ended up adopting my daughter at the age of six weeks when she, when I adopted her. So I have, um, I've, I've enjoyed teaching.

[00:05:21] I think it's been a wonderful way to help kids and give them hands on things that, you know, life skills that they wouldn't get otherwise. But what happened was they decided they didn't need it anymore. And so this is after I had been there for 16 years, I was the head of the department. I did. Personal and family living, consumer education.

[00:05:42] I did, um, child development, uh, food, nutrition, clothing, and textiles. I did all that kind of stuff. And they said, we're putting computers in instead. And I said, okay, I thought I had job security. I had tenure. I had a master's degree, all this stuff. And I was blown away. So I didn't expect that at all. And in the meantime, I had met one of the moms there and she had introduced me to Shaklee.

[00:06:08] And this is a company that's been around for 67 years now. And I was looking for environmentally friendly products at that point. And I just wanted something that I could, you know, switch over and be doing good for the earth. And when I did, my daughter's, uh, when I switched just, just the, you know, the cleaning products and the household products, you know, the laundry and stuff like that.

[00:06:29] Her allergies and asthma went away. I said, wow, I said this, tell me more about this stuff. And I, you know, I was using armor and hammer and I was doing the, you know, the, the vinegar and all that stuff, the natural things. And I thought, really? And so it made a huge difference in her health. And I thought, well.

[00:06:47] Tell me more. And she said, well, are you taking any vitamins? And I said, Oh no, I don't. I don't take vitamins because I, I, you know, I grow my own food. I, I eat organically and I, you know, I, I know how to cook and all that. So what do I need vitamins for? And she said, well, just try these vitamins for 30 days.

[00:07:02] And if you don't feel better, you get your money back. And I said, Oh, okay. You know, I'll get my money back, but I'll try them anyway. So after, after, uh, two weeks, she calls me, how are you doing? I said, yeah, I'm a little better, but she said, all right. take more of those B's. That's the happy vitamin. I said, Oh, I need more happiness.

[00:07:21] That time I was a single mom working on my master's degree, trying to make ends meet and trying to have a, you know, a love life at the same time because I, you know, socializing and all that stuff. And I, I, I didn't realize how stressed I was and I was depleting my B's and C's like every 15 minutes. When you're under stress, you lose them.

[00:07:41] There's a water soluble vitamin goes right out. And it, you don't really, you know, unless you're eating tons of brown rice and all kinds of stuff, you don't get those back. So, anyway, uh, I took some more of the Bs, I took some more of the Multi, and in a month, I said, Oh my God, what is in this stuff? Is this a drug?

[00:08:01] And I said, no, no, it's all natural. And I felt so much better and I could deal with the kids in the classroom. I could deal with my stress at home and I could, I just felt so much better. Wow. And, uh, I said, okay, well, it's, you know, this is worth looking into. So I ended up trying some of the other products and then I ended up sharing with other people because I said, Hey, if I feel this good, you ought to try these.

[00:08:25] Cause you know, you see a good movie, you're going to tell all the people that goes, I started sharing with other people. And as I did, you know, I started getting a check in the mail just because I've been helping and I've been sharing. And when they decided to close the whole department, I said, okay. Now tell me a little bit more about this business because I think I need to have a have another way to make an income and sure enough I went into the Shaklee business and I was making almost as much as I was making teaching and I said this is and I'm having a lot more fun because I was having you know home parties and I was You know, going to a place like networking, like the Sassy Sisters and meeting a lot more people.

[00:09:05] And, and I felt really good about myself and I felt good that I was helping other people and helping the environment as well. And I think, you know, what, what happened when I looked at my own home, you know, I, I felt like I, I was walking the talk because I, you know, I had all the Shaklee products. I converted all my.

[00:09:24] My skin care and all my supplements and all my home care stuff to just to Shaklee and it made a huge difference in in how I was feeling about myself and how I could help other people at the same time. So that's what I like about this. I've been doing this for 40 something years, Penny. 

[00:09:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. I was going to ask you that.

[00:09:46] How long has it 

[00:09:46] Donna Jewett: been? 1995. I officially went in as a leader position. Okay. But I've been with Shaklee since 1981. So that's Oh, wow. Yeah. Um, so here we are. Yeah. This is, this company has continued to, to give me my bonus check every month. I never missed a beat. We took trips, exotic trips and they, you know, paid our way and we did all these things.

[00:10:12] And I said, what other company does this for you? And I said, this is, you know, it's really, it's a worthwhile sharing with other people. And so that's what I've been doing. And even when my husband got sick, which was a couple of years ago, he had renal failure. By the way, he is, he's the one who convinced me.

[00:10:29] I said, you know, when I wanted to go into this business, he said, I want to see all their peer reviewed journals. Because he was, um, he, he went to Harvard and he could read all the clinical studies and all the peer reviewed stuff and he, uh, was a scientist and so he read them, oh, they've done their homework.

[00:10:45] I said, well, now Dave, why don't you just try a couple of supplements you might find that's, that's probably the best testimony right there. So, oh yeah, I'll try some. So he, and actually he had arthritis and he had, he couldn't even turn his neck when, you know, he had it in his neck and doctors kept saying, well, there's nothing we can do.

[00:11:01] Maybe we'll just, you know, take some more Aleve or something. He started doing some of the, uh, Joint Health Complex and he realized after a while he was turning his neck and he wasn't feeling any pain. And he went out and he was playing tennis and he was playing pickleball and he had more energy and it's just like, okay, Dave, it's working and he said, yeah.

[00:11:22] And I'll even help you with this business. I said, Oh, 

[00:11:25] Penny Fitzgerald: you had a, you had a convert. He believed 

[00:11:28] Donna Jewett: it and he was so great. And he, his, his passion was in solar energy and he actually consulted with the Japanese and he got the price of LEDs and solar down. So have you seen the LEDs? Remember how expensive they used to be?

[00:11:44] Yeah. Because he could grow sapphire crystals at a higher rate and a bigger, they're, they're actually a crystal that grows in a high temperature furnace and you take the substrates of that and you put it to make, to make a solar panels and to make the LEDs and he was able to do that, so I give him a lot of credit.

[00:12:04] Wow. He really, you know, he figured that out and he was consulting with them for over 20 years. So that was nice. We got to travel and go to Japan and do something like that. And when we moved down to Cape Cod, that's where our summer home was, um, we converted our home to, it was 95 percent off the grid. So we had only photovoltaics, which is for electricity.

[00:12:27] We had solar. thermal for the hot water. We had radiant floor heating. He designed a greenhouse that was heated only by solar. And we put hydroponics in there so we could grow our food all year round. And then we had a huge organic garden. So we were, we were really living off the grid. And it was really super.

[00:12:48] And here again, people came to see what you could do. You know, other people would do this too, if they just. Think about putting some solar panels up. I mean, really, it would make a huge difference and especially in the sunshine state here, by the way. Right. Wouldn't it be a nice idea? We have more solar and, uh, anyway, so he, he was very significant in doing that and he was the love of my life and he really gave me unconditional love.

[00:13:12] And I miss him. It's been two years now since he's been gone. So, uh, but he was, he had three biological, seven adopted kids. Oh, . We have something like 18 grandkids and Wow. And six great grandkids that I know of right now. that you know of. I know of because a lot of 'em were adopted and so some of them just, you know, off nowhere.

[00:13:37] But we keep in touch with at least, uh, six of the, the kids. So that's, that's nice. Wow. Go see them in New England when I go back. But Uhhuh, , you know. And then were you foster parents? He actually adopted them. Okay They adopted they took them in and he had kids ages 18 months to 17 years old so they adopted a variety of ages and a lot of kids that were you know, were going to be abandoned and um, his wife was a Was a child psychologist, so she felt sorry for the kids She's he was consulting with them with in home for little wanders And he she would ask him Dave you think we can take this this six year old kid in he he's an orphan All he has is a dog and no one else will take him because he's got a dog Oh, so they they took him in after they already had at that point five kids.

[00:14:31] Uh huh He's six and then they took this family of four teenagers That was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back, because a lot of the kids were drug and alcohol kids, and they didn't know that when they adopted them. They didn't know how messed up they were. And unfortunately, it, yeah, it did, it kind of ruined the family and, and, uh.

[00:14:51] So I met him when he was going through divorce, going through the whole thing. Oh gosh. I know. I said, am I crazy or what? But he was such a sweetheart, we had so many things in common. And so he actually helped me with the business as well. So, you know, we did, we did, uh, water purification and air purification.

[00:15:10] He liked to do those kinds of things. We don't do a lot of that anymore. We do more, we focus more on the vitamins and, and skincare and things like that. Okay. And so I feel like that's something that I can still continue to help people with. And matter of fact, I, you know, I just, with Cheryl today, she said, you know, I'm stressed.

[00:15:27] I said, well, we have something called stress relief complex. And honestly, in 20 minutes, you will feel a difference because it's ashwagandha. It's a lot of natural herbs and it just, it takes, it lowers the cortisone level. And so you don't, you're not building up all that. you know, cortisone, stress hormone.

[00:15:46] And it does make a huge difference for people. So I like to be able to help people. I've done, I actually, one of our, our sassy sisters did a cleanse with me just recently. And in seven days, she did a seven day cleanse. She lost eight to 10 pounds. And I learned how to eat better, even though she said, I know how to do this, but I, but you're teaching me.

[00:16:09] So now she's eating better. She's feeling better. She's made lifestyle changes and it's the gradual change. And she said, I can't believe how much better I'm feeling now. Wow. So, and she'll probably give us a testimony. I won't say her name. Okay. That's okay. You know, I think at this point, uh, I think she'll come out and let people know what she's gone through and how it's made a difference for her.

[00:16:32] So that's what makes me happy. And, and that to be able to do this for other people and to help them with their health and wellness and to help the environment at the same time, I am passionate about the environment. I started a green team here at Bird Bay. And we've been doing a lot of stuff with recycling and I'm trying to get solar going here.

[00:16:53] Um, we had a fashion show to have, you know, we repurpose and all that stuff. I've done all kinds of activities like that. We have meatless Mondays at both. Bird Bay and then I've started this also at the Unitarian Church and we have a Meatless Monday there and I've got an edible landscape that I set up there to teach people how they can grow food in their own backyard.

[00:17:14] Wow. And I've showed people how they can compost and this is how you do it. Come on, bring your compost over here and we'll, we'll recycle all your food waste and we'll put it to work. So if I can help the earth in that way, because I'm so frustrated with the way we're going.

[00:17:31] Downhill, as you know, and people still are denying that climate change exists, but we, we know it, you know, obviously, just look around, you just look at all the disasters that are happening, and if we don't each do something, you know, to make, help make this difference, then we're just going down the tube. I think we've already reached that critical point of the, uh, yeah, no return, return, It's very scary.

[00:17:58] So, you know, I feel if I can do something that would make a difference, then that's what my life should be. I want to, I want to leave a legacy, as I said to Cheryl. Look what she did. You know, she really helped to do this, helped with 

[00:18:13] Penny Fitzgerald: that. Oh, Donna. Yeah. You, um, you're there. I mean, there's so many of us, all of us that know you.

[00:18:22] We love you. I mean, you are a light to you enter a room and it brightens. It's you just bring that energy. That's so giving and generous and 

[00:18:32] Donna Jewett: loving. I do. I really feel that I, I do love people and I like to be able to compliment people and honestly and be, be authentic and just let them know, you know, that I care and that if there's something I can do for them, that's, that's what I'm here for.

[00:18:49] Penny Fitzgerald: That's awesome. Um, a couple of things you said made me think of some other things. So climate change, like people who don't believe it, don't believe that there is such a thing as climate change or don't believe the extent of it. I guess my response is what if, okay, so let's just assume it's not a thing.

[00:19:11] Let's just say it's a cycle or 

[00:19:13] Donna Jewett: whatever. What 

[00:19:15] Penny Fitzgerald: does it hurt to take better care of ourselves and the earth? And what does it hurt to, to, to take steps to take better care of, of our earth? Exactly. Of nature. And yeah. 

[00:19:30] Donna Jewett: I think you're right because, you know, if we can all do something. It's, it's some, it is important and I was so overwhelmed that I said, I wish, you know, there's something I could do and I was just like, I was ready to cry and I said, you know what, I just got to start and act locally and make, start doing some things that I, what I can in my own backyard.

[00:19:49] Make a difference. Make a difference. And so that's what I've been doing down here. And I feel like, especially in Florida, I mean, you know, we have a potential here to, to do a lot of things with the, with the solar. We have a potential to do so much growing our own food and all this stuff. I'm, I've worked with the, uh, Sarasota, um, there's a transition group.

[00:20:09] And then where we, we clean, we go out and get. food and bring it to the people who need it because it's always extra mangoes and tomatoes and stuff like blueberries Oh, then we bring those to other other families that are in need So, you know things like that's it's simple, but it's something that effective difference.

[00:20:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah Yeah, even if it makes a difference for one person It's made a difference Yeah. 

[00:20:34] Donna Jewett: Yeah. Good thing. 

[00:20:35] Penny Fitzgerald: My husband and I were talking. We have a really robust garden in Iowa. Oh, good for you. Big garden. Yeah. We do a lot of tomatoes. We have a huge, asparagus patch. Yeah. We love asparagus. Um, but we haven't figured out how to grow good tomatoes here because our soil is so sandy.

[00:20:55] Donna Jewett: Uh huh. How, what would you recommend for So again, composting. Yeah. 

[00:21:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, and we do that. I save all my coffee grounds and eggs and eggshells and we're composting 

[00:21:07] Donna Jewett: a bit. You have to keep adding on, adding on every year. We did the same thing in Cape Cod because we had our, um, you know, we had soil, very sandy soil there.

[00:21:19] And my mom started back in the 60s and she started composting. So every year we would add more. manure and compost and uh huh so we finally had a fabulous garden after a while but it does take a while yeah so and I think that's the same problem with down here and yeah even if you have raised beds it's easy and you can fill them easier and then you can continue to add on to that oh yeah older it's easier because you don't have to go down to the ground 

[00:21:46] Penny Fitzgerald: an added 

[00:21:47] Donna Jewett: benefit yes and you get a little cart and I used to I used to put my seeds and I ride I sit in this little cart and I just Just put my seeds in there and scoot along.

[00:21:56] Nice. Oh, I love that. 

[00:22:00] Penny Fitzgerald: So another thing that, um, you said earlier about. Your home ec program being, just dissolved. Yeah. And they brought in computers, but what was that? I mean, what was it? A computer science course that they were implementing, 

[00:22:16] Donna Jewett: but they just took out all the life skills.

[00:22:19] Yeah. How 

[00:22:20] Penny Fitzgerald: does, how do they think that's going to go? I mean, that was several years ago. Have you got any, have you seen any? 

[00:22:25] Donna Jewett: 1993 by the way. My goodness. That was in Littleton, Mass. Uh huh. And if you look around, you'll see very few home ec programs anywhere anymore. Really? And you wonder why kids don't know how to cook, don't know how to sew, don't know how to do Balance a checkbook.

[00:22:40] Balance a checkbook. Go, you know, buy a home. That's all the stuff I was teaching. I was teaching all of my skills. Wow. And I'd bring in insurance people. I've talked about how do you do investments, how to do all the stuff. Mm hmm. And that's the problem. The kids today don't know, and the parents aren't teaching them.

[00:22:57] And I did, I was one of the few people doing anything on sex education and anything on, you know, just in terms of, we did child development and, you know, kids would be abusing their children because they would expect them to be potty trained right away, you know, and they, they don't know. No, no. And so that's by teaching them what to expect at different ages, you know, then you're right.

[00:23:19] You avoid some of that. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So, I mean, what a domino effect. Yeah, it really is. And unfortunately it's, uh, I'm, I'm seeing we're seeing this in our society right now. Well, I'm 

[00:23:34] Penny Fitzgerald: I'm happy to say in Iowa, I don't think that's the case. And I don't know about everywhere, but, um, I have a very good friend who is a home ec teacher in Iowa and she's great, but, but yeah, I don't know about other places, but that's, that's horrible.

[00:23:48] I mean, in my opinion, that those life skills are what teach you to be independent and self sufficient. How can you afford? Anywhere, anytime to pay someone else to do the things that you're learning to do yourself in a home ec class in public 

[00:24:07] Donna Jewett: education. And I think you're right this is, this is the problem and we're not getting.

[00:24:14] Even the basic facts for kids, and now they're finding out so many other things, I mean, critical thinking, 

[00:24:21] Penny Fitzgerald: nevermind. Right, decision making, emotional intelligence. 

[00:24:23] Donna Jewett: Yes, all that stuff is being taken out of it. Conversations, how to be a good human. I think the best thing I did was to teach them about, um, goals and, and values and, you know, having them, We had them do budgeting and what happens if you have a crisis and how do you do that?

[00:24:40] And we did, we did simulations. I did simulated weddings and, and then I said, okay, and mother in law moves in and you know, what do you do? Well, you'll win the lottery or, you know, that's 

[00:24:54] Penny Fitzgerald: one strategy, 

[00:24:56] Donna Jewett: but that's, you know, what would you do if you did that? You know, and a lot of people just blow it. And so you teach them.

[00:25:01] What are the things that you can do? So part of that is, is having them, um, you know, be prepared for any life adventures going forward. That's a good way to put it. I feel like, you know, that's something that is missing in today's world because parents don't even have the time to sit with their kids and to, and to talk with them about things and, and the kids, as they get to be teenagers are not going to ask the parents either.

[00:25:26] Penny Fitzgerald: No. Well, and the parents may not know themselves. They may have not been taught the things. 

[00:25:31] Donna Jewett: Absolutely. And I found this out when I was with some people who were against sex ed, and so I asked, I started asking them questions and they didn't know the answers. And I said, Oh my gosh, it would be a good idea if maybe they had the right answers.

[00:25:45] If you don't know the answers. Right. Oh, they don't, they find out from their friends and guess what? You know, they don't think they can get pregnant if they're standing up. Why? Oh my goodness. Yeah. That kind of stuff. I'm not seriously. Yeah. 

[00:25:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Wow. 

[00:25:58] Donna Jewett: So I think, you know, that's why it's important to get, get factual information to the kids and make sure that we're covering all our bases.

[00:26:06] Right. 

[00:26:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Because burying your head in the sand is not. 

[00:26:10] Donna Jewett: Absolutely. I'm going to cut it. And so what I'm doing really with my own life is, is really helping people with some life skills and that is, you know, going back to growing our own food is, as you said, that's something we need to do more of because we are going to run out of food here.

[00:26:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, not only that, but taking it down to a more basic level, even it's expensive to buy your food. And if you can grow some of it. You know, why not? And it's so much better. The quality of it is just different when it's fresh off the vine instead of, you know, trucked in from a different state. 

[00:26:43] Donna Jewett: And Europe has been doing that forever.

[00:26:45] I mean, everyone has their own little backyard gardens and they've had that for a lot of times. Most people I know, especially the Italians, oh, we have our own gardens in our backyards. And I think, um, although here I live in a condo, so I can't, I have, what I do is I have an earth box. So I can grow things in an earth box, I have all my herbs and I can also grow my greens and I can grow other things.

[00:27:11] So I can put there, it's not in the earth, it's, it's, but it's all self watering, which is great. So those are, that's a great way to get around that. That's nice. I ended up doing that over at the, uh, the UU because I think Unitarian Church, because it was easier and we, we didn't have to worry about people coming and watering.

[00:27:30] So, right, it's, well, 

[00:27:33] Penny Fitzgerald: that's a great point because being in Florida, I mean, we, we are under an HOA and I think probably a lot of us in Florida have HOAs. It's pretty common. And a lot of us are also, um, sun chasers or sun seekers. So, so, you know, to be able to have a box that is watering, self watering, um, we can go away for a lot of us travel.

[00:27:56] A lot of us are a lot of people in general. Yeah. Like to travel or, I mean, it's nice to have that flexibility to be able to not have something to care for while you're 

[00:28:06] Donna Jewett: gone. Right. And honestly, it, maybe if you put water in every, every week or so, it's fine and everything else is sort of takes care of itself.

[00:28:15] Wow. Yeah. 

[00:28:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. Yeah. Huh. Well, and I, your background in teaching others in, you know, being in HomeEc, um, that has led you to a lot of this, it, you have a lot of skills that are translatable to what you're doing now from, yes. And 

[00:28:33] Donna Jewett: I think it's, it's, it's helped me and I think the fact that I can help others makes me feel good too because I can continue on with this and that's, um, you know, my business itself is just sort of.

[00:28:46] It sort of takes care of itself, which is nice. That is nice. I do like helping more people and that's what I'm, you know, my, my goal is to help more people every day. And if I can, you know, help them to get healthier and keep healthier, um, I think a lot of people my age, uh, I'm, I'm watching, I'm looking around

[00:29:06] there are a lot of people that are really struggling. They can't even get, get out of a chair, you know, I'm doing yoga, I'm doing, um, water aerobics, I'm riding my bike, I'm walking at least 6, 000 steps every day and all that stuff. You know, so I keep, I keep myself moving and active. And I think that's one of the other key things, um, since I had this vertigo, which I know is when, when Dave died.

[00:29:33] I literally, I was taking care of him, you know, 24 7 and when he passed away, all of a sudden I went, Oh my God, I gotta, I gotta get going. And literally my head started spinning and I started doing all these things, you know, and that's when I got the vertigo. Really? Okay. Donna slow down my body to slow down because I, I said, I can't, I got to realize that I can't.

[00:30:03] So I can't 

[00:30:04] Penny Fitzgerald: do it. Gosh. Yeah. And you got to listen to your body, 

[00:30:07] Donna Jewett: right? Yes. And, and so, and this, this, it just happened again because again, I started getting on this. Treadmill again and doing more and more and more things and not saying, okay, stop, better take care of yourself. You can't keep doing this. And it's, it's actually, it's a good, good way to remind yourself just like, okay, we have to, we can take, try to take care of the world, but we don't take care of ourselves first.

[00:30:30] Right. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. 

[00:30:34] Penny Fitzgerald: So what is your, what do your days look like? What, what kind of activities? I mean, you mentioned the list of things that you do, but how do you structure your time or what, what do you do to take care of yourself? 

[00:30:47] Donna Jewett: I get my calendar out and schedule it in and I actually schedule things in.

[00:30:53] So like. If I do yoga at eight o'clock and I'll do water aerobics at ten or something like that, so I'll try to do my exercise in the morning. I try to do some meditation or something for my mind. I'm starting to do journaling so I can do my memoirs because I want to be able to start writing those.

[00:31:10] Um, so I'm trying to put slots of time for these things and then I will, you know, like if we have different meetings coming up, I'll be able I'll put those things in and I'll just kind of get myself. With my appointments. So my calendar is always filled. And that's probably a good thing and a bad thing.

[00:31:31] But at the same time, you know, that way I'm getting in what I need to do throughout the week and making sure that I have a balance of things that I, that I need to do. So at the same time, so I'm not, part of it is okay. I've got to make sure I get my exercise and usually I'm best in the morning to do that and make sure that I do that and I'll feel better and I'll have, and I'll be able to sleep better at night.

[00:31:54] So that's great. 

[00:31:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I feel that, um, if I don't schedule time for exercise or for physical activity, it 

[00:32:03] Donna Jewett: doesn't, that's the, It hasn't happened yet. 

[00:32:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. It's the first thing to go in my schedule if I don't have it written down. 

[00:32:11] Donna Jewett: And you're absolutely right. And I, I, when I got this little second vertigo thing, I started, I just stopped doing things, which is a mistake.

[00:32:20] I should have just, you know, okay, I still need to get up. and walk and move and do things. Yeah. So then I'm gradually getting myself back into that. I think as it was colder here, I just was kind of like, Okay, I just want to stay in bed. I don't want to go anywhere. I 

[00:32:35] Penny Fitzgerald: don't want to do anything. Uh 

[00:32:37] Donna Jewett: huh.

[00:32:38] Hibernation. Yeah, yeah. I mean, cold for us is like, you know, when it's 50, 50, 

[00:32:42] Penny Fitzgerald: 60 degrees here. Everybody's wearing coats. Yeah. I know. 

[00:32:48] Donna Jewett: As opposed to, we know what it's like back 

[00:32:49] Penny Fitzgerald: in, yeah. Exactly. Up north. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:32:52] Donna Jewett: You get some good weather out there. Yeah. You 

[00:32:56] Penny Fitzgerald: really need mittens. 

[00:32:58] Donna Jewett: Yeah. Right. Yeah. But yeah, 

[00:33:00] Penny Fitzgerald: it's, I, it's shocking to me how quickly your blood thins and you get used to the warmth.

[00:33:07] And, um, then when you go back. North, it's 

[00:33:10] Donna Jewett: harder. Don't they say you're losing adipose tissue? I said, well, that's good. Then I'm losing a lot of fat. That's great. Oh, well, 

[00:33:18] Penny Fitzgerald: I haven't noticed that part yet. I haven't 

[00:33:21] Donna Jewett: noticed. Yeah. I do like a cleanse every. Probably three or four times a year and I find that that is a great way to get the toxins out of your body, you know, no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar, no flour, um, you get no dairy and get all that stuff out for seven days.

[00:33:39] That's all it is. It's like a reset. Yep. And then you're eating fruits and vegetables, herbal teas, lots of water flushing you out and, and just cutting out those things. Give you a liver arrest at the same time. And yeah, I don't know much about 

[00:33:54] Penny Fitzgerald: that either. 

[00:33:57] Donna Jewett: Oh, wine is, is one of those things that I have had the hardest time giving up.

[00:34:03] But you know, it does help and it helps you, your body to, to reset. And then I usually drop four or five pounds. Really? It gives me a kind of a start to, you know, keep, keep that off and then get it, get into my habits, my habits and stuff. Yeah. So it helps. Yeah. Wow. That's neat. Yeah. It's easy. It's easy to do.

[00:34:26] And I coach people and I don't let them just do it on their own. I will check in and say, how are you doing? And are you drinking enough water? You know, if you get a headache. You know, did you wean off your caffeine first or you, did you go cold turkey, you know? Oh. Even, even if you're just doing one cup of coffee today, a day, honestly, it, it, you'll get a headache.

[00:34:46] I didn't know that. Um, so yeah, it's, it's, it's amazing all these toxins get into our system. And sugar is the hardest thing because people don't realize it takes at least three days to get the sugar out of you. Your system, and that's, so people usually have this crash after three days, like, Oh my God, they will make this, and they do, you know, once you get over that hump, then you're good.

[00:35:12] Wow. Yeah. 

[00:35:13] Penny Fitzgerald: That's so much to think about the way that your body reacts to different substances and, um, 

[00:35:19] Donna Jewett: Hmm. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So, sometime if you want to try it, I'll be happy 

[00:35:25] Penny Fitzgerald: to help you. Yeah. I, um, yeah, the alcohol or the, um, wine would be the hard part for 

[00:35:31] Donna Jewett: me. For me too. And so, I started finding some substitutes and ways that I can.

[00:35:36] Oh. Cranberry juice, I'll put it in a glass of, with some soda. A little sparkling water, uh huh. Sparkling water, twist, twist a lime or something in it and put it in a wine glass. Oh. And 

[00:35:47] Penny Fitzgerald: pretend. So, it's still, you can still toast then. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:35:50] Donna Jewett: Yeah. So, you know, you just feel like you're having a glass of wine and yeah, and it's, it's really what it is for me.

[00:35:56] It's the sugar. And now at five o'clock, that's my, uh, my sugar level goes down and I think wine would be the thing would be, would be to help bring it back up again, quick, quick fix. Okay. Huh? 

[00:36:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Um, Jeff, my husband, um, is. diabetic and he's not insulin. Um, he's not taking insulin or anything. Yeah. And he's, he's changed his diet quite a bit, but recently they, his doctor gave him, um, the sensor where it tests his blood sugar.

[00:36:30] And it's amazing the things that affect him. And I don't know if everyone, I'm assuming everyone is slightly different anyway, in the way that. Um, whatever food or beverage that they're consuming affects them, but his, um, blood sugar goes down with alcohol. Like if he has a glass of wine, it goes down. Yeah.

[00:36:50] Interesting. Yeah. It's been fascinating. Yeah. You know, and a white flour has been the worst for him. So he, like a bagel, like set, set the alarm off and yeah, it's 

[00:37:01] Donna Jewett: the carbs. It's the carbs. Yeah. It was a huge difference. And some people like that, you know, and. That's why if you start to cut off your carbs, then it's better off, you know, and he'd get complex carbs, vegetables.

[00:37:16] Yeah. 

[00:37:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We eat pretty healthily. Um, we, a lot of, a lot of veggies, um, not a ton of fruits, some, um, but mostly veggies is we're. We love that. But, um, yeah, I eat more fish than he does. I love fish, but he's, he, he likes it, but not every 

[00:37:35] Donna Jewett: day. Yeah. In Iowa, it's a little hard to find fresh fish. It is.

[00:37:39] Yeah. 

[00:37:40] Penny Fitzgerald: We eat a lot of it here for sure. Yeah. And, and here it's harder to find good beef. So 

[00:37:45] Donna Jewett: that's true. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Oh, yeah. That's 

[00:37:49] Penny Fitzgerald: okay. We enjoy it when we're local. 

[00:37:51] Donna Jewett: Good. Now, is he coming to visit? Are you going to? He's here. Yeah, he's 

[00:37:55] Penny Fitzgerald: here. Yeah. So he'll be here through, um, part of the early part of March.

[00:37:59] He has to go back and help the farmers because it's almost time to start planting or it will be start time to get the soil ready. And 

[00:38:05] Donna Jewett: all right. And, and he's a farmer as 

[00:38:08] Penny Fitzgerald: well. No, he, he works for the, um, the farmers cooperative up there. So he runs their, uh, precision agriculture program. Wow. Yeah. So this, um, they are using chemicals, but they soil sample.

[00:38:23] And wherever there is, um, nutrition lacking in the field within like a three foot grid sample of, of the field, um, it's precision. So they'll, they'll determine which, um, nutrient is, is lacking and how much is lacking in that specific spot in the field. And that information gets plugged into a computer.

[00:38:45] And then it drops only in the amount of fertilizer that's required and the exact specific kind of fertilizer that's required in the exact spot in the field. So you don't get the runoff. You don't get, you're not. Yeah, it's much 

[00:38:59] Donna Jewett: less than yes. Have you seen kiss the ground? Oh, my God. Netflix. Kiss the ground.

[00:39:08] Okay. Regenerative agriculture. Okay. It, it is what is gonna save this world. I will check that out. 'cause it's going back to the roots of cows, fertilizing the grass. Get those roots back in there, get the grasses growing. Uhhuh and they've been able to re, to, uh, get desert areas back into grassy fields and, and, and good arid land that people can go through on.

[00:39:36] Nice. Okay. It is what's going to save this earth. And I mean, honestly, and I'm surprised being being in that field that he hasn't, he doesn't know about that. Well, I 

[00:39:47] Penny Fitzgerald: don't know about that. He probably 

[00:39:48] Donna Jewett: does. Regenerative agriculture is called. Oh, I know he 

[00:39:52] Penny Fitzgerald: knows about that, but I haven't heard 

[00:39:53] Donna Jewett: about the show.

[00:39:54] Kiss the ground. Watch it together. It's a, it's a nice, it's a good video and it's, it talks about, you know, how they've done this all over the world and how it's made a huge difference. Oh, wow. Yes. 

[00:40:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Interesting. Yeah, I will. And I'll, I'll be sure and, um, chat with you after he's seen it so we can 

[00:40:12] Donna Jewett: have his movie night together.

[00:40:14] Get the popcorn. There you go. 

[00:40:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Popcorn and wine.

[00:40:21] That's not a, that's not a very good carb for us, but we'll, we'll splurge for a bit. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:40:28] Donna Jewett: That's great. Good. Good. I think that's important. Yeah. 

[00:40:32] Penny Fitzgerald: I will definitely check that 

[00:40:33] Donna Jewett: out. 

[00:40:35] Penny Fitzgerald: So is there anything when you in through your career and through what you're doing, is there anything you would have done differently 

[00:40:43] Donna Jewett: along the way?

[00:40:45] I probably would have started with Shaklee earlier, and I think I would have started that in, as a serious business. I don't regret my 16 years of teaching, but I do realize that I could have been helping more people earlier in my, in my life, and I think I would have. And again, it would have helped me personally, and I think I would have benefited from that and help more people along the way.

[00:41:15] So, um, no, but I think, again, um, I, I feel like the teaching career was important because I was able to. reach more people and do things that I felt were important and especially reaching the young kids today because I think that that is key. And I, and I still would like to do more of that. 

[00:41:35] Penny Fitzgerald: There are other ways 

[00:41:36] Donna Jewett: to reach other ways. I can help. Yes. Yeah. And that's, that's what I do is like, you know, by having this little garden, I have the kids come over and help me. Oh, Yeah, hands on stuff. And that's, I think, is the best way to, for people to learn anyways, and they see, and they can learn from that.

[00:41:52] And 

[00:41:52] Penny Fitzgerald: taste. They can taste the their labors. 

[00:41:56] Donna Jewett: I actually worked for, as a docent at a farm, and I would take the kids on tour to show them where their food came from. Oh, wow. Nice. Dig up carrots, would dig up potatoes, would actually, you know, I'd show them where peas came from. They thought they came from cans, you know?

[00:42:11] And, and I gave a little, I had a little puppet and I'd tell them a story about Bertha and the bees. I'm Bertha and this is, I'm a, I'm a honey bee. And I'm going to tell you about my, and I would, I'd tell them all about the birds and the bees. Oh gosh. So, you know, it would be a way for me to talk to them about, you know, what, why it's important for all these creatures to, to live and, and not be sprayed with pesticides and how important it is to be organic.

[00:42:39] And we had an organic farm with, with solar power, with wind power, with hydroponics and all that stuff. So it was, it was a great way to kind of, um, teach little kids all the way to culinary art students. So we had all those people come through on the farm. And that was my other way of. of helping, you know, to make a difference.

[00:43:00] Wow. That's 

[00:43:01] Penny Fitzgerald: awesome. Well, and thinking back after all, as far as you've come, what would you, what would you tell your younger 

[00:43:10] Donna Jewett: self?

[00:43:12] Well, that's a good question. Um, cause I could say live, live life to the fullest, which I think I am doing. I think I have been doing that. And I, you know, honestly, I I guess I don't have many regrets. That's great. It was nice. I look at my life and the only thing now, I mean, the travel thing is something that I want to do now, but it's not the end all be all.

[00:43:41] I don't want to just say, you know, oh, she traveled the world. Well, that's nice. But you know what? If you, if you're doing something that means something, you know, I, my stepchildren went across the, around the world, but they, what they spent, um, about a year in Kenya helping AIDS children. Oh, wow. And they had a preschool there and they, and they helped to get these kids and give them education.

[00:44:03] And, you know, she said a lot of them died while they were there and it was just horrible. But she said, you know, that was something that they could do to make a difference. And so I don't want to just. Travel for the sake of travel. I want to be able to make a difference wherever I go. Oh, wow. I'm giving to conservation.

[00:44:18] This is part of my, when I'm, when I'm going to Thula Thula, because part of your, you know, the money that you're giving is to help keep these supports that, uh, that's awesome. Yeah. Very cool. What the heck? You got to keep giving in, in some ways, right? 

[00:44:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, and, you know, if your younger self could see all that you've done and what you're doing, she'd be pretty excited, I think, for the future.

[00:44:44] Donna Jewett: Well, thank you. As I said, I started writing my memoirs, but I'm not going to write it chronological. I'm just going to write stories. Yeah. Because I think that's, it's much more fun just to tell, tell those stories that are meaningful. Mm 

[00:44:58] Penny Fitzgerald: hmm. Absolutely. Yeah, you've got a lot of fun stories. 

[00:45:02] Donna Jewett: Yes. Oh, I do.

[00:45:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Speaking of fun stories. Yeah. Do you have a fun memory? Well, first of all, what's your, what's your favorite wine or cocktail? 

[00:45:11] Donna Jewett: Okay, so, uh, I tend to be a white wine person. Uh huh. this summer, and I'm, I was trying to think when you wrote this, what is, there's a, there's a, not a lemon drop, but the one that there's a, um, an Italian, uh, Limoncello?

[00:45:28] Lemoncello. Thank you. I was doing lemoncello with a spritzer and a squeeze of lemon. I love that. For my summer drink. Mmm. You just have a little bit of lemoncello and you had that, you know, sparkling water. And that was my go to drink during the summer when I thought, this is much more refreshing than even wine.

[00:45:49] Absolutely. Yeah. Yum. It is interesting because, you know, the 5 o'clock thing I mentioned to you, but there's also a tradition in our family that mom and dad would get their cocktails at 5 o'clock and we'd go strolling through the garden. And then we would walk around and talk about, look at, look what's growing.

[00:46:07] Oh, look at that tree over there. Oh, look at those flowers over there. Oh, we didn't even see that the asparagus has come up and, you know, stuff like that. So that was, that was our tradition is to go out at 5 o'clock and stroll through the garden. It's interesting how many other people that I've talked to have had that tradition too.

[00:46:25] And Dave and I would do that. We'd go up to the garden at five o'clock with our glass of wine and look at all the things that have been growing and how the labor of our love would, you know, we'd say, okay, look. This is fun. That's a great tradition. So it is. And now we have a tradition here at Bird Bay, and we meet out.

[00:46:43] I put a bench out here in Dave's honor and now in his memory. So we meet out at the bench. People bring their wine and bring, bring appetizers. And we gather around outside and people come from, from all, all the condos they come up. Yeah, we had 25 people there the other night. Oh my goodness. We just gather around and we, we chat and we have, we share and we do wine tasting with each other.

[00:47:06] Oh, as I said to you, I was going to get you over here because we have people now we have wine tasting groups. So yeah. Oh, how fun. We do that, uh, just outside my condo, so I don't have to go anywhere. Yeah. I just walk out my 

[00:47:20] Penny Fitzgerald: back door. Oh, that's perfect. Nobody has to drive and just walk, walk back to your apartment.

[00:47:24] Donna Jewett: And you usually have enough appetizers that you, it becomes dinner. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, we all share different things. Tasting new things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that's been a nice tradition. And it's, I like, I like that kind of part of the way this community is, is, uh, evolving for me. You have your own blue zone.

[00:47:45] Yes. Yeah, you're right. 

[00:47:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, the community is so important to keep connections. 

[00:47:53] Donna Jewett: And that's why I came here. I was looking for community. You know, our place in Cape Cod was lovely, but we're half a mile off the road. We're all by ourselves. And It, it wasn't as conducive as here where people can, you can knock on the doors and you can, you know, just everyone can get together and have a little gathering.

[00:48:13] So it's, it's more fun. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Yeah. You don't have any pets, do you? Not now. No, I had, I had dogs and cats. Okay. That keeps my life simple right now. Yeah, us too. 

[00:48:26] Penny Fitzgerald: We don't, we don't have pets currently. I just 

[00:48:28] Donna Jewett: decided I don't need that in my life right now. Maybe when I slow down, which I don't know when that'll be, but it's not.

[00:48:39] Because they do, they slow you down and they have to, they tie you down and you have to be back to feed them and take them out and whatever you have to do and I was like, you know, I don't need that right now. 

[00:48:47] Penny Fitzgerald: It's not fair to them either to, yeah, to not be there. Right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I was just mentioning that because our, our neighborhood, um, I feel like everybody but us 

[00:48:59] Donna Jewett: has a dog.

[00:49:00] Oh, really? Yeah, so. OPD, Other People's Dogs. There you go. Other People's Dogs. Yeah, you can go out and You can go take care of them. Yeah. 

[00:49:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. And, and every morning and every afternoon, you know, there's about an hour in the morning and in the afternoon where they're out walking and you, you just go out and socialize.

[00:49:16] Donna Jewett: Yeah. Go walk with them with a dog. Yeah. Or, you know, they can, you can offer to take care of the dogs if you, if you have, if you need that fix. Yeah. 

[00:49:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Let them go away for a weekend and, you know, I'll take care of Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, Donna, this is so fun. Is there, is there anything else that, um, I haven't asked you that you would 

[00:49:37] Donna Jewett: love to share?

[00:49:38] Well, I think, you know, it's, it's really fun to be able to do this because I think it's important to reflect on your life and thank you, thank you for doing this because I think it's important for people to express stuff and let, you know, share with others, but at the same time, the way you're doing it is just, it's very, uh, uh, amenable because I feel like I, I feel very comfortable with you and I feel like I can open up.

[00:50:04] Well, thank 

[00:50:04] Penny Fitzgerald: you. Yeah. I, everyone has a story and I've women, especially, I feel like we just go through, go through our life and we do what we have to do. And we're, you know, we've raised kids or raise a family and you know, you go to work and you do your job and you kind of forget some of the passions and the joy that you had as a Kid or some of the dreams and, um, yeah, sharing your stories are 

[00:50:29] Donna Jewett: important, I think.

[00:50:30] And what I did, I've been doing, when I go back to New England, Uhhuh, , I was spending like three or four days with, with friends and family, but mostly friends. Uhhuh, . I would spend time with them and listen to their stories. Yes. And honestly, even though you think you know someone, you really don't know them until you're, until you're living in their home, see what their life is.

[00:50:50] They would take me on walks to show me, you know, where the neighborhood is, you know, so and so, and they'd tell me their, their stories. And I really, I, I, I think it's invaluable and people are not really sharing enough of that. And the kids don't ask their grandparents anymore, you know, like, tell me a story, you know, and then, then they're sorry later on that they don't know.

[00:51:10] Yeah, and I think I actually interviewed Dave's sister who was in her 90s and I did a video of her and she had a song that she'd made up about her life. So I recorded that. So, of course, when she died. Oh, I was the only one who had anything about that kind of aspect of her life and, and had this song that she sang about herself and it was powerful.

[00:51:32] It was just really meant meaningful. What a gift. Yeah, and, and honestly, that's the kind of stuff that, you know, I feel I learned so much. As you say from other people's stories. You learn more about yourself and you learn about other people, and it's really absolutely valuable. Yes. 

[00:51:49] Penny Fitzgerald: And we, when we come together, we are a force.

[00:51:53] Donna Jewett: Yes. And I'd like to get to know you better too, because I don't know, I know this is you're asking me questions, but I will, I won't record you, but I'll ask you questions. 

[00:52:05] Penny Fitzgerald: We'll spend lots more time together for sure. 

[00:52:08] Donna Jewett: That would be great. I'm glad your husband's here to enjoy. Yes, yes. Time together. Yeah.

[00:52:13] Absolutely. Good weather now, so that's good. Yeah. 

[00:52:15] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, it's beautiful right now. I'm 

[00:52:17] Donna Jewett: grateful to stay around for a little bit, a little 

[00:52:19] Penny Fitzgerald: bit, a little bit. Yeah. And, um, yeah, we've got a plan to spend more time together. So it's good. Yeah, 

[00:52:25] Donna Jewett: good. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see that movie kiss the ground. Okay. Let me know what you think.

[00:52:31] I 

[00:52:31] Penny Fitzgerald: will. Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much, Donna. 

[00:52:35] Donna Jewett: Thank you so much. This was delightful. Well, it was delightful for me, and I appreciate it, You too. cheers. Yeah. Cheers.