June 30, 2023 – We wanted to feature this popular new design today because it represents a beautiful new chapter in the life of its author, Contributing Cardie Carrie Wolfgang.
As owner of Novel Destination Used Book Emporium in Jamestown, NY, Carrie has been a Cardthartic Retail Partner since opening the store nearly a dozen years ago, after retiring from a career in nursing. Today is a bittersweet one for Carrie, because tomorrow is the shop’s closing day. Let me flip back a few pages and explain how this story unfolded …
The card message began as a line in a lovely note Carrie had sent me after reading the Cardie Newsletter about friends supporting each other through illness back in March. We loved her words and, while working on the summer release, emailed her asking permission to publish them with the charming image we’d found. Carrie responded, “Oh my. Oh my. Oh-oh-oh-my … I am stunned. I am honored. And the serendipity of this arriving as I am trying to sort both personal and business changes into some magical life brew that will nourish my family, those I feel responsible for, and myself, is not lost on me!”
She later explained, “As my 62nd birthday and the second anniversary of my life partner Brian’s death from Covid draw near, I find myself considering what makes sense for my future. I have been packing my lunch and taking time off to fit everyone else’s agenda for over 40 years now, so I am looking forward to freedom to do more of my own thing. I also believe I can be more useful in my community as a willing volunteer, so I’ve announced a sell-off in June.”
Carrie has purchased 52 wooded acres in Pennsylvania that the previous owners called The Ranch. Her dear dog “Walt and I go for walks, my sons are clearing trails so we’ll be able to see the wildflowers, snakes and frogs or salamander egg masses. We throw seed for the birds, turkey, and deer. I am watching for turtles. The Ranch is the reason the card image is so very meaningful to me!!!”
Looking back to 2011 when she’d just retired from nursing, Carrie said, “I thought the community needed a book shop. I love books so I was happy to be surrounded by them.” At Novel Destination, she stocked around 30,000 hand-picked, used books.
“When people came in, I wanted them to feel welcome and leave with positive, uplifting thoughts,” she said. “Now I want to be able to do that somewhere in the community … there are lots of places in need if people are well enough to help.
“I loved being able to put the right book in the right hands,” she said. “I loved hearing, ‘That’s my favorite book, I’ve been looking for it for years,’ Or, ‘I have books two, three and five in this series, and you have one and four, so now I can read the whole series in order.’
“I love learning, and reading books allows me to learn about people and places that I never would’ve had a chance to know about,” she said. “It’s my hobby and my comfort, and you can take them wherever you go. Books are also forgiving — you can put them away and take them out again years later and the story is just as good, if not better.”
All Carrie’s quotes above were off-the-cuff, so you can be sure we’ll be all over this beautiful writer once she’s well into her new chapter. ❤️ Congratulations, Carrie!
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Leave a congratulations message for Carrie. And feel free to recommend one of your favorite reads!
June 30, 2023 – We wanted to feature this popular new design today because it represents a beautiful new chapter in the life of its author, Contributing Cardie Carrie Wolfgang.
As owner of Novel Destination Used Book Emporium in Jamestown, NY, Carrie has been a Cardthartic Retail Partner since opening the store nearly a dozen years ago, after retiring from a career in nursing. Today is a bittersweet one for Carrie, because tomorrow is the shop’s closing day. Let me flip back a few pages and explain how this story unfolded …
The card message began as a line in a lovely note Carrie had sent me after reading the Cardie Newsletter about friends supporting each other through illness back in March. We loved her words and, while working on the summer release, emailed her asking permission to publish them with the charming image we’d found. Carrie responded, “Oh my. Oh my. Oh-oh-oh-my … I am stunned. I am honored. And the serendipity of this arriving as I am trying to sort both personal and business changes into some magical life brew that will nourish my family, those I feel responsible for, and myself, is not lost on me!”
She later explained, “As my 62nd birthday and the second anniversary of my life partner Brian’s death from Covid draw near, I find myself considering what makes sense for my future. I have been packing my lunch and taking time off to fit everyone else’s agenda for over 40 years now, so I am looking forward to freedom to do more of my own thing. I also believe I can be more useful in my community as a willing volunteer, so I’ve announced a sell-off in June.”
Carrie has purchased 52 wooded acres in Pennsylvania that the previous owners called The Ranch. Her dear dog “Walt and I go for walks, my sons are clearing trails so we’ll be able to see the wildflowers, snakes and frogs or salamander egg masses. We throw seed for the birds, turkey, and deer. I am watching for turtles. The Ranch is the reason the card image is so very meaningful to me!!!”
Looking back to 2011 when she’d just retired from nursing, Carrie said, “I thought the community needed a book shop. I love books so I was happy to be surrounded by them.” At Novel Destination, she stocked around 30,000 hand-picked, used books.
“When people came in, I wanted them to feel welcome and leave with positive, uplifting thoughts,” she said. “Now I want to be able to do that somewhere in the community … there are lots of places in need if people are well enough to help.
“I loved being able to put the right book in the right hands,” she said. “I loved hearing, ‘That’s my favorite book, I’ve been looking for it for years,’ Or, ‘I have books two, three and five in this series, and you have one and four, so now I can read the whole series in order.’
“I love learning, and reading books allows me to learn about people and places that I never would’ve had a chance to know about,” she said. “It’s my hobby and my comfort, and you can take them wherever you go. Books are also forgiving — you can put them away and take them out again years later and the story is just as good, if not better.”
All Carrie’s quotes above were off-the-cuff, so you can be sure we’ll be all over this beautiful writer once she’s well into her new chapter. ❤️ Congratulations, Carrie!
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Leave a congratulations message for Carrie. And feel free to recommend one of your favorite reads!
Good luck on your new adventure, Carrie!
Dear Carrie,
All the best on this next chapter of your adventure. I identified so much with this piece ( thank you Jodee as always). That nurse in us never leaves , does it? It sounds like you have been a wonderful contributor to life wherever you are and I have no doubt you will continue to share your heart wherever you may go. All the best!!! from a fellow book lover and nurse
What a beautiful story of your giving spirit. May the years ahead bring you (and Walt) happiness and peace.
From a fellow Cardie and book lover . . .
Carrie, clearly you live a new lifetime in each of the separate chapters of your life. From nursing to book store to ranch, you have touched so many lives.
In your latest chapter, the wildlife on your 52 acres will be the new recipients of your kindness and generosity.
What the world needs right now is more open-hearted people like you.
Carrie, though we don’t know each other well, I always felt welcomed and appreciated anytime I visited your store. You, Walt, and Novel Destination will be sorely missed. Good luck, best wishes and happy reading.
I’ve known Carrie for 44 years and she has never been one to look for accolades, and she definitely deserves this one. When I first met her, we both were in the habit of collecting other peoples’ quotes and now here she is being quoted by the next generation. Congrats Carrie on the full circle!
carrie,
my wish for you
is, that you will
lead an interesting
life in your retirement.
i have ordered:
two golden books
two dr seuss books
and all the other books
from the library.
some will be new reads
to me and others
will be re-reads.
thank you for sharing
your “best” books.
live deep and live wide,
judy
Carrie
Congratulations on your next chapter in PA. I would have loved your store, and been a loyal customer. I’ll bet the area is going to miss you and the store tremendously but kudos on realizing it was time to indulge your own passions and have a fresh start. Thank you for all the suggestions too.
Dear sweet Carrie
Through your story you helped me to help someone and in return I was then able to help other people. Something that I still think about and will never forget.
Cardthartic has now honored you in the same way that they have honored me and no one is more deserving that you and I am so excited for you. It is truly deeply humbling.
Had I lived near you I would have been a constant visitor to your store and if you could see my shelves lined with books you would be amazed! I remember that you were reading “The Happiest Man on Earth” and I thought that I should read that also so I bought the book, read it and it now lives among the others. Such a tremendous story of courage and hope.
Now you are writing your own new story, a new and exciting beginning. I would love to keep in touch with you along this new journey and i am not certain if you still have my address or email.
I wish you all good things, good health, new beginnings and always love.
Well Done! Congrats! I luv’d this Cardie Newsletter and I was tickled to find TWO of my favorite books on the list! Poky Little Puppy was my absolute childhood favorite. I still have my copy…my Little Golden Book has weathered 60 years and it is still in great shape. Many a kiddo visiting me over the years has learned to read because of this classic. To Kill a Mockingbird is perhaps my most loved book. I can’t even tell you how many times I have read that classic. Thank you for your wonderful contribution to your community. No doubt you have opened the world to so many readers!
Love this Cardie Column today!! Good for you Carrie. You are doing just what I love and often rely on. A wise book seller once told me “First novels are the best because the writer has been waiting their whole life to create that novel straight from their soul.” That day she sold me “The Power of One” by Bryce Courtenay and I loved it. I could smell, taste and feel each moment in that book. There have been many other firsts since that time but I so remember that moment and that advice. PS Love your reading list too. All the best. Paige Baker
The Little Red Caboose was written by the mother of a member of my Girl Scout Troop in Warren, PA. We, too, loved the hills and forests of Warren County at the entrance to the Allegheny Mountains.
What a wonderful group of cardies you are! So very kind of you to leave your sweet comments…it has been a time of change and growth but notwithout hesitation since I am not much of a risk-taker. I am pleased that Jodee’s words touched you all.
We are fortunate to have Cardthartic to bond over and share!
Thanks again for wishing me well in this new chapter of my life.
Carrie