During summer, certain questions return with growing urgency—questions I wrestle with each time I sit down to write an editorial. Why do overall contributions to our magazine decline year after year, even as some friends remain generous? Does it mean our readership is shrinking? Is Ombre e Luci still needed? Does it speak to what our readers actually care about? This time, I've decided not to keep these doubts to myself. Instead, I'm asking for your help. I want answers that will let our entire editorial team see clearly and decide what comes next for Ombre e Luci. After so many years, we know we need younger voices to carry the work forward. We must find them gradually and pass the torch. But this small inquiry will serve the new team too. So I'm asking you to send us your thoughts on any of these:
- I have trouble contributing financially because...
- Ombre e Luci interested me once, but now...
- I didn't renew my contribution because...
- I've found another magazine that replaces Ombre e Luci...
- I read only the testimonies—or the letters—or the reflections...
- I find these sections boring...
- Why don't you cover more about...?
- I wish you would write about...
- I like your magazine, but...
- I'd like to contribute something—an article or idea about...
If your letters and emails arrive in large numbers, they'll help us understand the magazine's situation better. If they're mostly encouraging, we'll have reason to keep going—to keep searching, keep working to help Ombre e Luci connect families and friends ever more deeply, bring light into your homes, share news of services and initiatives for disabled people, collaborate with other organizations and social services so that our disabled friends are better included in schools, workplaces, free time, parish communities. Testimony to the truth that together, certain burdens grow lighter.
Thank you to all who hear this appeal and respond.
- Mariangela Bertolini, 2001
- Read also: Moving Forward: Your Responses to Our Appeal