Today I’m celebrating my sister, the late, great Debbie Ford, on her heavenly birthday. Even though she flew off to her next adventure 13 years ago, she is still very much with me and so many of you.

Debbie continues to wrap those she loved and those who loved her in her giant healing wings.

Debbie LOVED that PEOPLE magazine once said this about her:

“Debbie Ford is a terrifyingly dynamic life coach who could coax a storm cloud into purging itself of unhealthy tendencies toward lightning and thunder.”

And she also loved that Dr. Brian Weiss once said she is “the dominatrix of spirituality!”

Here are 50 Things I will never forget about her:

If she loved you, you knew it.
IF she was unhappy with you, you knew it, and she would immediately want to “clean it up” with you.
From the time she could walk and talk, she always had an entourage following her around. Her leadership skills showed up very early!
She was a drama Queen and her childhood nickname was Sarah Bernhardt.
She gave me my childhood nickname “Ninna” because she couldn’t pronounce my name.
As a teenager, she loved to belt out Laura Nyro tunes at the top of her voice.
She loved beautiful things and was completely unapologetic of her desire to shop and collect them.
And, she was super generous and loved to giveaway all of her beautiful things.
She had dozens of “best friends” and each friend thought they were THE best friend. I don’t know where she found the time to stay in touch with all of them.
She loved, loved, loved her son Beau and was beyond proud of the young man he grew up to be.
She was a “Mama’s girl.”
And she was a “Daddy’s girl” and called him “Fat Daddy.” (yes, he was fat!)
She feared being fat. As a toddler she was super chubby and adorable.
Her teenage nickname was “Flaka Mierda” (skinny shit) she loved being called this!
She LOVED Cuban food, especially fried plantains.
She was fearless when it came to having the “big talks” and confrontations.
Besides being with her son, Beau, her favorite thing in life was having her feet rubbed. Somewhere I have a photo of 5 people rubbing her simultaneously from her head to her toes!
She was a genius when it came to interpreting and synthesizing complex ideas and theories about emotional issues.
She had laser intuition into your core issues and blocks.
She had an unwavering sense of “justice” and wasn’t afraid to fight for her rights or yours.
She was fun, funny, and brilliant.
And she could often be beyond stubborn.
She was a hard worker who considered herself lazy.
She would sometimes obsess about tiny, itty, bitty details.
She loved being Jewish and adored her Rabbi. (and Amma)
She had a big capacity to dream BIG.
She blazed a path into a part of human existence that few dare to even acknowledge exists, and then opened the door to a healed life that leads beyond where so many even dare to dream.
She loved Miami and dreamed of living there again and having her own boat.
One of her guilty pleasures was watching “Say Yes To The Dress!”
She had a fabulous “potty mouth.”
“Flipping Houses” was a favorite thing to do. She had great vision to take an ugly old house and make it beautiful. She did this with people too.
She loved Kentucky Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes but didn’t eat it very often….
She had great potential as a chef. As a kid she learned to make a tasty marble pound cake that she would toast and then eat with chocolate ice cream.
She was the heart of love, making you feel comfortable- even cherished- from the moment that you entered her orbit.
She could keep a secret.
Even though the last year of her life was filled with pain and struggle, she said it was the “best year of her life” and she felt she had fulfilled her mission.
She knew how to waltz and loved to dance.
She loved her family and enjoyed putting together big events for Thanksgiving, Passover, Christmas, Birthdays…any reason to gather & celebrate.
She loved the writing of Thomas Merton. (and Jackie Collins!)
Bri taught her how to “purr,” which she loved, and as cats and scientists know, “purring” helps alleviate pain and mitigate suffering.
She loved cupcakes, especially chocolate with white icing.
She had “writing muses” who would wake her up in the middle of the night to write and sometimes she shared their wisdom with me to help me with my books. It was a very generous thing to do.
She loved swimming with dolphins. (and LOVED Jet Skis)
She was like a comet- intense and bright- spending itself passionately to give up its light.
She was a love warrior.
She challenged us all to own our dark side AND more importantly, our light side.
She was more than a sister. She was a soulmate friend, teacher, biggest supporter, and sometimes, ok often, unmanageable client.
Debbie was a giver and one of her proudest accomplishments was assisting Beau with his Bar Mitzvah project to build schools in rural Uganda via Just Like My Child.
She helped millions go beyond their limited perspective of themselves and reconnect to the love, joy, and peace of their true selves.
She was a physically tiny person who was a huge force of nature – dynamic, passionate, engaging, fearless, funny as all hell, and the person who always delivered laser sharp insights meant to help you grow, whether they were comfortable or not.
In an interview she once said: “It’s easy to love yourself when you feel good enough, when you feel special enough, when you’re loved enough, when you have enough money, and you’re appreciated,” she said. “But what about loving yourself when you’re crying and you’re in pain, feeling powerless and hopeless; when you feel like a reject and nobody loves you? That is love and that is what shadow work demands from you. We were birthed with one soul to take care of, and we must take care of it.”
She is still busy teaching, coaching and helping people. She whispers in their ear, comes to them in dreams….
She talks to me each morning when I am in the bathtub. And most days, I think I am imagining it. So then she sends very clear signs (and she sighs while she does it).
If you think she is talking to you….she is! Pay attention.
She loved receiving gifts and this year she would like YOU to give a gift to yourself: more love and more fun and more self-care.
She wrote prayers and after her death we discovered an unpublished manuscript called “Your Holiness” which you can now buy on Amazon!

As the song from WICKED goes “I’m a better person because you loved me.”

Her short time on Earth made so many of us better people. Eat a cupcake today in her honor.

Wishing you Big Love and a Big Life,

Arielle