Happy AOII Story

[irishpipes]

I received an email several months ago from a woman I do not know. On the AOII emporium site she had read my review of the AOII History Book that was on clearance at the time. She emailed me to ask if I thought her mother, an AOII, would like the book as a Christmas gift. Here is what transpired...

1st e-mail from Susan to me:
Kathy--
I saw your posting on the AOII Emporium website about the AOII history book. I was thinking of buying this for my mother for Christmas and wanted to make sure her chapter, Zeta Psi of East Carolina University, is mentioned. Would it be worth purchasing
in your opinion? It seems like a great deal on sale for $12.00. Thanks for your help! Susan

My response:

Hi Susan!

If your mom still has any sort of attachment to AOII, I think she would love this book. It is a really beautiful coffee-table style book with a dust jacket. It has sections on the history of the fraternity, including extensive commentary by the founders and tons of pictures. All of this is relevant to any AOII, regardless of her collegiate chapter.
Each chapter then has an individual write up as well. These are not extensive, but I think they are still interesting. Zeta Psi's has a photo as well (from the chapter's 1994 Christmas party - I guess that's a little after your mom's time!) Speaking for myself,
I enjoyed reading about my own chapter, but I have spent more time looking at the pictures from the "olden days." So, to answer your qustion, Zeta Psi does have a write up, and I think $12 is a steal for this book!

I hope she enjoys it!

Roses,

Kathy

Response from Susan to me:
Thanks so much!!!! I'll order it right away...I actually happened upon the book on the website because my mom lost her AOII badge on her graduation day in 1972. She has talked about that pin for 33 years, and my dad and I are getting her a new one for
Christmas this year. It's pretty special, too, because my parents got engaged in the parlor of the AOII house!!!--and my mom was also her chapter president.
So, it looks like she's going to have a big AOII Christmas this year. I can't wait to see her face...she has no clue about the badge, and the AOII international headquarters are also helping me find an historical one from her era--so that will be special.

My reply to Susan:

Well now you have me hooked on your story, so please drop me a line after Christmas and let me know how she liked the badge and book! A suggestion - take some pictures of her on Christmas - I'll bet our international magazine - To Dragma - would do a story on this. It is a heartwarming story that other ladies would love to hear!


After many months, this was Susan's reply after Christmas:

I promised I would write you back about my mom's reaction to the AOII pin dad and I gave her for Christmas. She was shocked to put it mildly. I've actually never seen her so speechless--it was
great, and I got some great pictures of it. I think I'll try to e-mail To Dragma soon about it. She also really loved the AOII history book you suggested. Thanks so very much for all of your help. Maybe you'll see a story on it in an upcoming To Dragma issue. Have a great new year!

She followed up with this today:

Since writing you yesterday, I've spoken with the To
Dragma editor twice via e-mail, and she definitely
wants to do an article on it. She's even asked me to
gather some pictures of mom in college for it. So,
thanks so much for the article idea!