September 17, 2025 • 18 mins
Host Cyrus Webb welcomes author Maryellen Donovan to Conversations LIVE to discuss her book THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY---and what it's been like to share her story with the world.
Get your copy of THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY on Amazon here.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/cyrus-webb-s-tracks--1422267/support.
Get your copy of THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY on Amazon here.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/cyrus-webb-s-tracks--1422267/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live. I'm your host,
Cyrus webs So glad you guys could join us once
again for a radio audience tuning in at Max WYED
ninety four point one FM and WYAD online dot com.
Are glad that you all can be with us also
to join this online worldwide v era, a podcast that
I heart radio and AMAS on music. Be glad you
all could be with us as well. Some stories that
you hear they really de resonate with you and remind
(00:22):
you not only about what's possible in life, but also
what we can come out of no matter how dark
things may seem. And I think you guys will see
our next guest on her book definitely fit the bill
of that. We're excited to welcome Mary Ellen Donovan to
our broadcast today. Mary Ellen's book is called The Road
to Yesterday. We're going to talk to her not only
about sharing her own personal story of lost grief and
(00:43):
also living again, but also what she hopes others able
to take away from it as well. Mary Ellen, thank
you so much for the time. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Thank you for having me, Cyrus, I fit it, Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
The pleasure is definitely online. I got a chance to
get in an early copy of the book, and from
the very beginning, Mary Ellen, what we're able to see
is how you're able to navigate so many different challenges
and struggles in life but also persevere. I want to
begin there. What has it been like for you to
think about your own strength and how it showed up
(01:13):
for you in different areas of your life?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You know what cyrus to be really honest with you.
Now that this is all said and done and the
book is out and the responses in comments that I've
gotten from people, I'm actually a little shocked that I
actually made it through. Whenever someone hears my story, you know,
(01:36):
there's just so much. There's so much loss, There's a
lot of sadness. And I really didn't have much of
a choice because I had an eleven month old and
six year old when I lost my husband on nine
to eleven. But I had to go on for them.
(01:56):
I had to get out of bed for them even
when I didn't have the strength to. And what's really
neat in this whole process is, now my kids are
twenty five and thirty, just the respect and the pride
that they feel for their mom now because they really
see that I fought through for them. My faith had
(02:21):
a lot to do with it. I had an amazing
support group from my family and friends, so that certainly helped.
And I do have to say I had two amazing
ghostwriters helped me with this project, and they were so
easy to work with. We bonded immediately. They wanted the
(02:44):
project right away when they heard my story.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
But what I loved about their.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Final job is that they kept my voice on the
pages and it really does sound like me, so that
made me really happy.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, you there are moments in the book, Mary Ellen,
that we're able to see almost like the now what
situation and now now what question that a lot of
us ask when things happen, but also the what if
right talk to us about the balance of that, because
I think a lot of times we unfortunately because of
(03:24):
events in the world and even in our own lives personally,
that we have something happens and it's like, Okay, you know,
what else can happen? Or what if this doesn't happen?
What if I'm not worthy of this? What if I
don't find love again? What if you know, this doesn't
go the way I plan? What was it like for
you not to allow the what if? And the what
(03:44):
what now? What was it like for you not to
let that stop you?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Uh? I have to say when I'm looking back on
this whole journey, I really believe that my late husband
and Steve, was on a mission when he left this
world that I would be taken care of. And I've
always thought that his last words on this earthwork God,
(04:12):
take care of my girl, and he truly has. I mean,
I've always just felt protection from him. My kids have
always felt that, and I just had to go along
and follow my gut. And I always hated hearing that
saying that people would say, you know, what God dishes
(04:34):
out is you know to those who can handle it.
And trust me, there were plenty of days that I
didn't think I could handle it and I would just
literally be down on.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
My knees.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
In just desperation and feeling just weak and.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Just tired.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But like I said, I just I had no choice.
And people said to me all the time, oh, I
couldn't do what you do. You're doing an amazing job.
But I know I'm being repetitive, but I had no choice.
And these are the cards that were dealt with to me,
and I think I can say I'm a pretty good
(05:20):
card player right now.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
But the best part of this is the outpouring from
people who have struggled and they just literally call me crying,
saying you've given me hope when they were just so desperate,
you know, to find answers people that just felt just
(05:49):
so alone and defeated, and to think that my words
in this story brought them some light is just such
a gift to me. And can I Cyrus, Can I
just tell you how I came up.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
With the title?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Oh? Sure, definitely, it's really interesting. So my husband worked
for Canna Fitzgerald on one hundred and fourth floor as
a stockbroker, but his true passion was singing. And just
one month before nine to eleven, Steve went to Nashville
and recorded five love songs that he wrote for me.
And he has just the most amazing and I won't
(06:34):
say had because.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
The words and the songs are still.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
They're in my car, they're in my phone, and I
can hear his voice whenever I want to. But one
of the songs that he wrote was called the Rote yesterday,
and that's how I pitched the title, and the words
are on the first page.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Of my memoir.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And when you read the words, I believe that Steve
knew that he was leaving me that day. I honestly
believe that he had an intuition. So the fact that
and the irony of the fact that he did this
one month before nine to eleven, I consider myself very
(07:17):
lucky to have a gift like that. You know that
I'll have my whole life, my boys will have it.
So that was really a blessing as well. But for
people that were wondering where the title came from, that's
what it was.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, since you brought it up, and I wasn't sure
if if you wanted to talk about it, Mary Ellen,
but I want to read a bit of that because
I think it is interesting when we read your story.
The of course that the words of the song said,
the roads yesterday is a long and whining path when
you think you can't go on, it can always lead
(07:54):
you back to the one you love. I love the
idea of being being able to return to love, and
you're able to do that in so many different ways,
including I think what comes to me as a reader,
Mary Ellen, is being able to love yourself. Talk to
us about that and how you've been able to do
that without without any guilt, but also now to do
(08:19):
so wholeheartedly.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
You know what if I couldn't love myself, how how
would anybody else love me? You know, I've always thought
that you have to give out.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
What you want to receive.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I have always been a very positive and upbeat person.
I don't like dwelling on the negative. But also at
the same time, I want my readers to know that
I'm certainly a very very real person with very raw
(08:54):
emotions and feelings. And you know, I just recall nights
when in the beginning, when I would put the boys
to bed at eight o'clock at night, and I would
just be so alone and quiet in my house.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
It was just.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I felt like debilitated, and I literally would go outside
and just.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You know, drink too much wine. I started smoking.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Cigarettes and which I never had, and I just I
needed that to help me go to sleep at night.
You know, those are the things that are real, and
I kind of had to do whatever I could just
to just to get by, you know, and just keep
(09:48):
putting one step forward. But that definitely wasn't a road
of you know, straightforward, it was.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Winding curves.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And the fact that I went on to remarry and
lost my second husband to lung cancer after ten months,
and then the same time he was diagnosed with cancer
just a few weeks after I was diagnosed with breast cancer,
(10:19):
So yeah, that was one of the why me and
how could this be happening to me? And I think
the hardest thing was for my young boys to go
through this. You know, they knew they were losing a
second father, their mom is facing breast cancer, and that's
(10:40):
way too much for little kids to handle.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
My son at six years old.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
We had moved to a new house just because I
had to get away and I just needed a change
for the three of us. But it was a fall
afternoon and my little boy was out with this break
that was double the size of him. And I opened
the window and I said, hey, Brett, you need some
help out there, and he said, I've got a covered
(11:10):
mom on the man of the house now, And that
just tore me apart, because that is not the role
of a poor six year old to handle, you know.
But he did his job well and definitely took care
of me. We were known as the Three Musketeers and
(11:30):
that's still our nickname with each other.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So, well, you just hit on something, mary Ellen. I
want to go to him. That is the lifeline your
children also provided. We'll want to talk about that. I
want to say, for those who are just tuning in, welcome.
You're listening to conversations live excited to welcome mary Ellen
Donovan to our broadcast today. Mary Ellen is celebrating the
release of her book The Road to Yesterday, that's out
(11:54):
now published. I was telling her by one of my
favorite publishers, she writes to press, We're going also let
you all know how to stay an next with Mary Ellen,
and I was going to bring up about the children.
I don't have any children of my own, mary Ellen,
but I love the fact that throughout the book you
realize that not only did you need to live for yourself,
but you also had your children. And that's illustrated so
beautifully on the cover of the book. Talk to us
(12:18):
about that, how that was part of your motivation to
keep going.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
So first of all, I want to say that the
picture on the book was an actual photo that a
friend of mine took just shortly after nine eleven and
I was at her house and she took a picture
and my mother in law sister actually painted it for me.
So I knew that I wanted to incorporate that into
(12:49):
the cover because.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It was so significant, you know, to.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Be perfectly honest with you, if I didn't have children,
I honestly don't know if I have wanted to go on.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I remember shortly after, just literally I was.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
On the ground and I called my brother, who's literally
my best friend in my rock and who's gotten me
through everything, and I just said to him, David, I
don't know if I could do this. I don't know
if I have the strength. And thank God I do
have kids, because I just don't know if I would
(13:28):
have wanted to be on this earth without Steve. So
I was certainly meant to have them. And it's funny,
both of my kids, they were the most easiest, quickest deliveries.
I probably could have been in the world Books of
World records because they were so fast. And I believe
(13:51):
now God blessed me with those two fast deliveries because
then bam, I was going to pay for it in
other ways, you know, through pain, and I'm just so
grateful that I am a mom and I'm proud to
be a mom, and just celebrating this with them makes me.
(14:17):
It just makes me so happy.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Right, you know. I think it's interesting that we're having
this conversation when we are Mary Ellen. Of course, we
just had the anniversary of nine to eleven recognized. And
I think a lot of times, especially when people hear
the title of the book that wrote to yesterday, it
kind of reminds me of how I felt after the
(14:40):
loss of my grandmother in twenty fourteen, that sometimes it
seems so long ago, and then sometimes it's you know,
you almost feel like it just happened. And I think
that's one of the things about life and memories. But
I want to talk about it in a different way
for you, because as we've gotten to read your book
and gotten to know you and what you've gone through,
(15:02):
as you mentioned, going through cancling yourself, and you know,
having someone you love go through it and you not
once but twice, you know, and being able to keep
moving forward. Talk to us about what that's been like
for you already to hear about how people have been
inspired by you and what you've been able to do well.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
First of all, I just want to mention.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I actually was in New York City with my family
last week because I had a book signing and I
had never been in New York for an anniversary, so
that was a very very emotional time for me. And
you're right when I was there.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
First of all, they did.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
The most amazing job with those two pools at Round zero.
It's just so respectful, it's peaceful. People just feel closer
to their loved ones. But to stand there with my
boys this past year, I.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Think that.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
When people see that, wow, she did it, and that's
just the response that I'm getting is and it's just
made this all worth while that somebody can watch me
go through these things, you know, my family members, and
the fact that I've now written a memoir that was
(16:35):
out on September tenth, the day before nine to eleven.
It's just talk about full circle, right. People ask me
why did I want to write this book, and it
was because I just I have a story to tell.
And my goal from the very beginning was if I
(16:56):
could just touch one person, then it was is it
for me? But now I'm just it's been hundreds of people,
you know, people that I don't even know the podcast
that I've had. You know, I just I feel so
connected to people and people love my words, and that's
(17:24):
just that's really amazing that I can just actually say
that right now.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Well, you definitely are touching lies, mary Ellen, and helping
other people feel seen, and I think that is one
of the big things this book does. Again, everyone, mary
Ellen Donovan has been our guest. The book is called
The Road to Yesterday. It is out now. You can
get it, of course, they're our friends at Amazon dot
com or have it ordered. It's your favorite local bookstore
if they don't have it. Also, as I mentioned the publisher,
(17:51):
she writes press, mary Ellen, really appreciate you stopping by.
It means a lot to have you on. Let our
audience know. How can they stay connected with you.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I actually cyrus if somebody wants just a personal, fine copy,
I would love to send them out.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I've just been sending them out daily.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
But my website is Maryellendonovan's dot com and.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Books can also be ordered through my website.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
We'll make sure that we linked it up for a
podcast audience. Mary Ellen, I really appreciate the time today.
Thanks again for stopping by and looking forward to on
exit chat together.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I'm very humbled and appreciative to you Cyrus for having
me on this morning HID.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
It is totally my pleasure and we thank your audience
at tuning in. It's another great segment of Conversations Live.
Until next time, I'm your host. Syrus website is always
enjoy your day, enjoy your life, jury your world. Thank
you all for choosing Conversations Live and it's going to
make today amazing. Take care,
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live. I'm your host,
Cyrus webs So glad you guys could join us once
again for a radio audience tuning in at Max WYED
ninety four point one FM and WYAD online dot com.
Are glad that you all can be with us also
to join this online worldwide v era, a podcast that
I heart radio and AMAS on music. Be glad you
all could be with us as well. Some stories that
you hear they really de resonate with you and remind
(00:22):
you not only about what's possible in life, but also
what we can come out of no matter how dark
things may seem. And I think you guys will see
our next guest on her book definitely fit the bill
of that. We're excited to welcome Mary Ellen Donovan to
our broadcast today. Mary Ellen's book is called The Road
to Yesterday. We're going to talk to her not only
about sharing her own personal story of lost grief and
(00:43):
also living again, but also what she hopes others able
to take away from it as well. Mary Ellen, thank
you so much for the time. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Thank you for having me, Cyrus, I fit it, Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
The pleasure is definitely online. I got a chance to
get in an early copy of the book, and from
the very beginning, Mary Ellen, what we're able to see
is how you're able to navigate so many different challenges
and struggles in life but also persevere. I want to
begin there. What has it been like for you to
think about your own strength and how it showed up
(01:13):
for you in different areas of your life?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You know what cyrus to be really honest with you.
Now that this is all said and done and the
book is out and the responses in comments that I've
gotten from people, I'm actually a little shocked that I
actually made it through. Whenever someone hears my story, you know,
(01:36):
there's just so much. There's so much loss, There's a
lot of sadness. And I really didn't have much of
a choice because I had an eleven month old and
six year old when I lost my husband on nine
to eleven. But I had to go on for them.
(01:56):
I had to get out of bed for them even
when I didn't have the strength to. And what's really
neat in this whole process is, now my kids are
twenty five and thirty, just the respect and the pride
that they feel for their mom now because they really
see that I fought through for them. My faith had
(02:21):
a lot to do with it. I had an amazing
support group from my family and friends, so that certainly helped.
And I do have to say I had two amazing
ghostwriters helped me with this project, and they were so
easy to work with. We bonded immediately. They wanted the
(02:44):
project right away when they heard my story.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
But what I loved about their.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Final job is that they kept my voice on the
pages and it really does sound like me, so that
made me really happy.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, you there are moments in the book, Mary Ellen,
that we're able to see almost like the now what
situation and now now what question that a lot of
us ask when things happen, but also the what if
right talk to us about the balance of that, because
I think a lot of times we unfortunately because of
(03:24):
events in the world and even in our own lives personally,
that we have something happens and it's like, Okay, you know,
what else can happen? Or what if this doesn't happen?
What if I'm not worthy of this? What if I
don't find love again? What if you know, this doesn't
go the way I plan? What was it like for
you not to allow the what if? And the what
(03:44):
what now? What was it like for you not to
let that stop you?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Uh? I have to say when I'm looking back on
this whole journey, I really believe that my late husband
and Steve, was on a mission when he left this
world that I would be taken care of. And I've
always thought that his last words on this earthwork God,
(04:12):
take care of my girl, and he truly has. I mean,
I've always just felt protection from him. My kids have
always felt that, and I just had to go along
and follow my gut. And I always hated hearing that
saying that people would say, you know, what God dishes
(04:34):
out is you know to those who can handle it.
And trust me, there were plenty of days that I
didn't think I could handle it and I would just
literally be down on.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
My knees.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
In just desperation and feeling just weak and.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Just tired.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But like I said, I just I had no choice.
And people said to me all the time, oh, I
couldn't do what you do. You're doing an amazing job.
But I know I'm being repetitive, but I had no choice.
And these are the cards that were dealt with to me,
and I think I can say I'm a pretty good
(05:20):
card player right now.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
But the best part of this is the outpouring from
people who have struggled and they just literally call me crying,
saying you've given me hope when they were just so desperate,
you know, to find answers people that just felt just
(05:49):
so alone and defeated, and to think that my words
in this story brought them some light is just such
a gift to me. And can I Cyrus, Can I
just tell you how I came up.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
With the title?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Oh? Sure, definitely, it's really interesting. So my husband worked
for Canna Fitzgerald on one hundred and fourth floor as
a stockbroker, but his true passion was singing. And just
one month before nine to eleven, Steve went to Nashville
and recorded five love songs that he wrote for me.
And he has just the most amazing and I won't
(06:34):
say had because.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
The words and the songs are still.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
They're in my car, they're in my phone, and I
can hear his voice whenever I want to. But one
of the songs that he wrote was called the Rote yesterday,
and that's how I pitched the title, and the words
are on the first page.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Of my memoir.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And when you read the words, I believe that Steve
knew that he was leaving me that day. I honestly
believe that he had an intuition. So the fact that
and the irony of the fact that he did this
one month before nine to eleven, I consider myself very
(07:17):
lucky to have a gift like that. You know that
I'll have my whole life, my boys will have it.
So that was really a blessing as well. But for
people that were wondering where the title came from, that's
what it was.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, since you brought it up, and I wasn't sure
if if you wanted to talk about it, Mary Ellen,
but I want to read a bit of that because
I think it is interesting when we read your story.
The of course that the words of the song said,
the roads yesterday is a long and whining path when
you think you can't go on, it can always lead
(07:54):
you back to the one you love. I love the
idea of being being able to return to love, and
you're able to do that in so many different ways,
including I think what comes to me as a reader,
Mary Ellen, is being able to love yourself. Talk to
us about that and how you've been able to do
that without without any guilt, but also now to do
(08:19):
so wholeheartedly.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
You know what if I couldn't love myself, how how
would anybody else love me? You know, I've always thought
that you have to give out.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
What you want to receive.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I have always been a very positive and upbeat person.
I don't like dwelling on the negative. But also at
the same time, I want my readers to know that
I'm certainly a very very real person with very raw
(08:54):
emotions and feelings. And you know, I just recall nights
when in the beginning, when I would put the boys
to bed at eight o'clock at night, and I would
just be so alone and quiet in my house.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
It was just.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I felt like debilitated, and I literally would go outside
and just.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You know, drink too much wine. I started smoking.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Cigarettes and which I never had, and I just I
needed that to help me go to sleep at night.
You know, those are the things that are real, and
I kind of had to do whatever I could just
to just to get by, you know, and just keep
(09:48):
putting one step forward. But that definitely wasn't a road
of you know, straightforward, it was.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Winding curves.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And the fact that I went on to remarry and
lost my second husband to lung cancer after ten months,
and then the same time he was diagnosed with cancer
just a few weeks after I was diagnosed with breast cancer,
(10:19):
So yeah, that was one of the why me and
how could this be happening to me? And I think
the hardest thing was for my young boys to go
through this. You know, they knew they were losing a
second father, their mom is facing breast cancer, and that's
(10:40):
way too much for little kids to handle.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
My son at six years old.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
We had moved to a new house just because I
had to get away and I just needed a change
for the three of us. But it was a fall
afternoon and my little boy was out with this break
that was double the size of him. And I opened
the window and I said, hey, Brett, you need some
help out there, and he said, I've got a covered
(11:10):
mom on the man of the house now, And that
just tore me apart, because that is not the role
of a poor six year old to handle, you know.
But he did his job well and definitely took care
of me. We were known as the Three Musketeers and
(11:30):
that's still our nickname with each other.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So, well, you just hit on something, mary Ellen. I
want to go to him. That is the lifeline your
children also provided. We'll want to talk about that. I
want to say, for those who are just tuning in, welcome.
You're listening to conversations live excited to welcome mary Ellen
Donovan to our broadcast today. Mary Ellen is celebrating the
release of her book The Road to Yesterday, that's out
(11:54):
now published. I was telling her by one of my
favorite publishers, she writes to press, We're going also let
you all know how to stay an next with Mary Ellen,
and I was going to bring up about the children.
I don't have any children of my own, mary Ellen,
but I love the fact that throughout the book you
realize that not only did you need to live for yourself,
but you also had your children. And that's illustrated so
beautifully on the cover of the book. Talk to us
(12:18):
about that, how that was part of your motivation to
keep going.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
So first of all, I want to say that the
picture on the book was an actual photo that a
friend of mine took just shortly after nine eleven and
I was at her house and she took a picture
and my mother in law sister actually painted it for me.
So I knew that I wanted to incorporate that into
(12:49):
the cover because.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It was so significant, you know, to.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Be perfectly honest with you, if I didn't have children,
I honestly don't know if I have wanted to go on.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I remember shortly after, just literally I was.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
On the ground and I called my brother, who's literally
my best friend in my rock and who's gotten me
through everything, and I just said to him, David, I
don't know if I could do this. I don't know
if I have the strength. And thank God I do
have kids, because I just don't know if I would
(13:28):
have wanted to be on this earth without Steve. So
I was certainly meant to have them. And it's funny,
both of my kids, they were the most easiest, quickest deliveries.
I probably could have been in the world Books of
World records because they were so fast. And I believe
(13:51):
now God blessed me with those two fast deliveries because
then bam, I was going to pay for it in
other ways, you know, through pain, and I'm just so
grateful that I am a mom and I'm proud to
be a mom, and just celebrating this with them makes me.
(14:17):
It just makes me so happy.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Right, you know. I think it's interesting that we're having
this conversation when we are Mary Ellen. Of course, we
just had the anniversary of nine to eleven recognized. And
I think a lot of times, especially when people hear
the title of the book that wrote to yesterday, it
kind of reminds me of how I felt after the
(14:40):
loss of my grandmother in twenty fourteen, that sometimes it
seems so long ago, and then sometimes it's you know,
you almost feel like it just happened. And I think
that's one of the things about life and memories. But
I want to talk about it in a different way
for you, because as we've gotten to read your book
and gotten to know you and what you've gone through,
(15:02):
as you mentioned, going through cancling yourself, and you know,
having someone you love go through it and you not
once but twice, you know, and being able to keep
moving forward. Talk to us about what that's been like
for you already to hear about how people have been
inspired by you and what you've been able to do well.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
First of all, I just want to mention.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I actually was in New York City with my family
last week because I had a book signing and I
had never been in New York for an anniversary, so
that was a very very emotional time for me. And
you're right when I was there.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
First of all, they did.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
The most amazing job with those two pools at Round zero.
It's just so respectful, it's peaceful. People just feel closer
to their loved ones. But to stand there with my
boys this past year, I.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Think that.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
When people see that, wow, she did it, and that's
just the response that I'm getting is and it's just
made this all worth while that somebody can watch me
go through these things, you know, my family members, and
the fact that I've now written a memoir that was
(16:35):
out on September tenth, the day before nine to eleven.
It's just talk about full circle, right. People ask me
why did I want to write this book, and it
was because I just I have a story to tell.
And my goal from the very beginning was if I
(16:56):
could just touch one person, then it was is it
for me? But now I'm just it's been hundreds of people,
you know, people that I don't even know the podcast
that I've had. You know, I just I feel so
connected to people and people love my words, and that's
(17:24):
just that's really amazing that I can just actually say
that right now.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Well, you definitely are touching lies, mary Ellen, and helping
other people feel seen, and I think that is one
of the big things this book does. Again, everyone, mary
Ellen Donovan has been our guest. The book is called
The Road to Yesterday. It is out now. You can
get it, of course, they're our friends at Amazon dot
com or have it ordered. It's your favorite local bookstore
if they don't have it. Also, as I mentioned the publisher,
(17:51):
she writes press, mary Ellen, really appreciate you stopping by.
It means a lot to have you on. Let our
audience know. How can they stay connected with you.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I actually cyrus if somebody wants just a personal, fine copy,
I would love to send them out.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I've just been sending them out daily.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
But my website is Maryellendonovan's dot com and.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Books can also be ordered through my website.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
We'll make sure that we linked it up for a
podcast audience. Mary Ellen, I really appreciate the time today.
Thanks again for stopping by and looking forward to on
exit chat together.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I'm very humbled and appreciative to you Cyrus for having
me on this morning HID.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
It is totally my pleasure and we thank your audience
at tuning in. It's another great segment of Conversations Live.
Until next time, I'm your host. Syrus website is always
enjoy your day, enjoy your life, jury your world. Thank
you all for choosing Conversations Live and it's going to
make today amazing. Take care,
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