By: James Pauley, Jr. & Charlene Potterbaum
Publisher: Take Flight Publishing, LLC
Publication Date: May 1, 2024
ISBN: 979-8986751641
Reviewed by: Diana Coyle
Review Date: September 6, 2024
An Unconditional Friendship: Messages from a Colorful Granny and an Off-Color Gay Guy by James Pauley and Charlene Potterbaum is the story of two people starting what seemed to be an unlikely friendship with one another. They met during a memorial service being held for a mutual friend, Kathy Nicosia, who was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, which was part of the horrific events that happened on September 11, 2001.
While at the service, Charlene and Jim struck up a conversation and they both hit it off extremely well. They had crossed paths with each other on and off since their first meeting, and they both knew they had a special friendship with each other. During 2003, they began emailing each other multiple times a week, catching each other up on their lives from cooking to traveling, to family and friend relations, to humorous things that happened to them at different points throughout their day. They were an odd couple because they were decades apart in age, but something special sparked between them and they have remained friends ever since.
The first thing that came to this reviewer’s mind was how special their friendship turned out to be. Who would have thought that during that memorial service of a mutual friend was where this friendship began to blossom? The ironic part was they didn’t see it happening at first. They would casually cross paths because of mutual circles, but as time progressed, they found themselves looking forward to seeing each other. They would often find themselves forgetting what event they were attending because they got so wrapped up in catching up on all the stories they shared with one another. Their friendship was special because they came from different backgrounds not only in age, but how they were both raised. That didn’t matter to them, though.
What was enjoyable was that both Jim and Charlene were down to earth people. They weren’t pretentious and their true hearted nature made them bond even closer to each other. When they began emailing each other frequently, it was enjoyable to see the varying topics they shared with each other. Some stories were so funny that readers may find themselves having a hearty laugh over something one of them did, while other stories were poignant and may make the readers become part of that moment with them. The emotions shared on these pages were raw and real. You can tell they aren’t made up to just write a book. Instead, each email shared a part of their world at a particular moment in time, and they then shared it with their readers to enjoy as well.
One important point this reviewer would like to mention was how this unlikely pair became true friends with each other because they decided to strip away all the labels of Charlene being elderly and Jim being gay and much younger than her. Age, race, religion and social beliefs didn’t play a part in their friendship together. True love and respect for one another was paramount to both of them. Every reader should take a lesson or two away from what they read between these two loving people and decide to make a small change in their own world, no matter how miniscule that change might be. If every person was to be less critical of the people and world around them, we may just have a more loving environment to grow and thrive in.
Quill says: An Unconditional Friendship: Messages from a Colorful Granny and an Off-Color Gay Guy by James Pauley and Charlene Potterbaum is one book that shouldn’t be missed. It will make you laugh, cry, think and learn as you turn the pages. It comes highly recommended by this reviewer!
To learn more about An Unconditional Friendship: Messages from a Colorful Granny and an Off-Color Gay Guy, please visit the author’s website at: www.jpauleyauthor.com
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