Dear Readers,

Just a few weeks after I launched SavvyAuntie.com in the summer of 2008, I was invited to the offices of Gay.com and PlanetOut.com here in New York City (the media outlets have since been acquired). There I met Jenny Stewart, then Editorial Director and unsurprisingly, a lesbian.

Jenny and I immediately connected. Here I was the, as she put it, "straighter than straight girl" and she, as I'll put it, "one of the most respected women in gay media,"  and yet we had something so wonderfully in common, she realized: we are Savvy Aunties.  What Jenny then said struck  me:  "With SavvyAuntie.com, you have created the one thing that unites gays and straights - the children we love."

At the time, Jenny published an interview with me on Gay.com and thankfully, we stayed friends.

Today, Jenny and I enjoy great East Coast to West Coast phone conversations where we support each other and our careers. When I asked Jenny if she'd consider reading a galley copy of my book, Savvy Auntie, she jumped at the chance. Her reaction to my book was better than I could have anticipated. Jenny believed it would be a good book before she read it, but she was surprised but just how good it is. Here's what she said in an email to me:

"I got the book.... and read it THAT VERY DAY AND ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!"

I'm very proud of her reaction.

Jenny is a writer. Jenny is a journalist. Jenny is an editor. Jenny was voted one of the  "10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz."

Jenny is a good friend.

And when Jenny shared her thoughts on my book more formally, here's what she said:

“With this savvy guide, Melanie has changed the way we will begin to look at women and family in America. She’s identified the one thing all women - straight, gay, married, single, or partnered - have in common: an unconditional love for the children in our lives."

Jenny remembered our first meeting.

And I'll always think of Jenny for her kindness and thoughtfulness and her complete support for Savvy Auntie.  She's one Savvy LesbiAunt.

XOXO,
Auntie Melanie