At age 23 Debbie Gisonni had everything. She was on her way to becoming one of the youngest top paid executives in Silicon Valley; had found true love; and could make a mean cannoli!Then in 1984 Vita, her mother, got a brain tumor and became permanently disabled. A few years later, her younger sister killed herself suddenly. Three months after that, her father was diagnosed with bone cancer. And then her favorite aunt got breast cancer.Vitas Will chronicles Debbies riveting experiences. One day she was riding an adrenaline rush on the fast track, and the next she left it all behind to stop and smell the red sauce.Tuesdays With Morrie meets Chicken Soup for the Soul as Debbie brings humor and sorrow into the horrors of hospitals, the lost dreams of her parents, and the shock of her sisters suicide.Through these four deaths, Debbie learns to squeeze the sweetest wine from a bunch of sour grapes without wallowing in self pity. Her advice works for any traumatic situation. Youll be moved to tears and laughter by her 44 inspirational real life lessons and her nightly chats with God. I give it four hankies and a biscotti!
Debbie Gisonni, aka The Goddess of Happiness', is a best selling author, speaker, happiness expert and columnist for iVillage.com.
Debbie knows first-hand how to find true happiness, especially during life's darkest moments. At the height of her executive career, her personal life was derailed by the unexpected loss of four family members in four years. Debbie drew upon her inner strength to embrace her ordeal and, in the process, realized she wasn't the Queen Bee she once thought, in control of every aspect of her life, but rather an ordinary Goddess with the power to be happy no matter what path life took her on. She later boldly left her 15-year career and started her own company (Real Life Lessons') and the goddessofhappiness.com web site to help other women connect their inner power with the real life issues they face every day, from the trivial to the tragic, with the underlying belief that every woman is a goddess.
Debbie is the author of the national best seller, The Goddess of Happiness: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Balance and Bliss and Vita's Will: Real Life Lessons about Life Death & Moving On. She is a contributing author to If Women Ruled the World, How to Create the World We Want to Live In, and her articles have appeared in publications such as The San Francisco Chronicle, Simplycity, Living in Balance, and Nonprofit World.
Debbie has been a guest on numerous radio and TV shows across the country, and has been featured in books and periodicals such as Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul, The San Jose Mercury News, The Dallas Morning News and Better Homes & Gardens. She is an experienced speaker who has addressed audiences of all kinds from corporate to women's groups to teen girls.
