I will start by saying that I was very surprised when I found out I was a finalist for the POTY Award for 2006 and now that I am Person of the Year, I am totally flabbergasted.

This week I have felt more love than I think I ever have. You have touched my heart with your most beautiful notes giving me support and your very kind wishes. I thank you.

As I have said many times before, this is the happiest time of my life. I had been in the corporate business world for 30 years. When my mother's health started to fail, I made what I believe was the most important decision of my life. I decided to resign from the corporate world and become her sole caregiver. For some reason this was very important to me and I prayed that there would never be a time when I would be unable to care for her. God granted my wish. My mom passed away at home on July 29, 2005. I cared for her for almost four years. They were the saddest of times and the happiest of times. Now as I look back I would not change a single thing. The life of a caregiver is extremely demanding physically and emotionally. Yet, during that time, I was not aware that I was undergoing a total transformation. This corporate business lady who was used to running companies in a most structured environment one day noticed a tree dancing in a light breeze. One afternoon, I noticed the beauty of the sun's shadow on a hill. That was the beginning of my caterpillar self coming out of my cocoon to become a butterfly. Those years taught me what life was all about. I learned that it is not about money.

My mother and I bonded as never before. My one and only goal was to make her the happiest she had ever been. One day she said to me, “You know, I haven't been this happy since I was twelve years old.” With those words I could have died instantly because my life's purpose had been accomplished.

Sunrise, sunset. The days went by, the years went by. Her health failed more and more. On July 29, 2005 at 10:15 in the morning, my mother said goodbye and left for her new home.

After experiencing the joys of life, and those are the little things; the stars, the moon, the sun, the rain, the seasons, I didn't want the butterfly to crawl back in her cocoon and continue the life she once had. I didn't know what I wanted but I knew it wasn't that. Then what happened was sheer magic.

My lovely daughter who is also a member at AdlandPro, Veronica Davidson, gave me a free little marketing site and said, here mom, see what you can do and she introduced me to the world of AdlandPro.

She taught me how to get along in the marketing world and I started my new life. Not long afterwards I met John Elliott, my soulmate. He told me I could write. I told him he was crazy. And then John gave me a most precious gift. He presented me with Luella's Corner and said “Here, write something.” I had just come back from the gulf coast after it was devastated by Katrina and he suggested I write about my experience there. My first article, The Faces of Katrina. Then I wrote about my lovely mother, My Mother, My Angel. John and I immediately bonded. He took me by the hand and taught me so many things, almost like school lessons and now I smile as I look back at those days.

In November, 2005, John had a dream. He told me about a site that he wanted to build. But this site would be different. This site would be built for the purpose of empowering women throughout the world. I was fascinated and immediately caught on to his dream. The next few months consisted of very hard work talking, planning, working, laughing, and crying.

On January 16, 2006, The Corner 4 Women was born. Such a proud day! As we were in the middle of our launching festivities I noticed, “Wait! This is Martin Luther King's Birthday!” This was the perfect day to launch, as John's dream was to free life's prisoners from their bondage. Give hope to the abused, give them a direction, help them toward a new life. Martin Luther King had a dream, and so did John Elliott. What a coincidence! Or is it?

John and I work side by side every day of the year. He in the UK and I in the US. We still work, plan, laugh, and sometimes even cry. We have gone through the highest of peaks and the lowest of valleys. But we have learned something. Those valleys are for our greater good and out of each valley something wonderful has come about.

Today, January 16, 2007, we celebrate The Corner 4 Women's first birthday. In fact, keep a lookout for a big birthday bash! In one year it has become a huge success and it is now a major hub where women meet to read, learn, talk, laugh, and to seek help. Many wonderful friendships are forming and women are truly helping women. John's dream is becoming reality. Right Choices 4 Life is in its construction phase and about to be born. We will be meeting with inner city adolescents and teens in various locations throughout Tupelo, Mississippi talking to them, getting to know them, and getting into the trenches with them in order to guide them to a fulfilling, positive and happy life. We will be there for them loving and cheering them on. This program is about to start in the next couple of weeks and is an offshoot of a program for girls in juvenile hall. Right Choices 4 Life is geared at keeping kids out of jail in the first place.

I am most honored to be Person of the Year. However, I share this with my partner, John Elliott. If it were not for his teaching, patience, support, friendship and love, this would truly be an impossibility.

I thank you all for your love and kindness,

Kindest regards,

Luella May

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