CELEBRATING LOU DESABLA
Celebrating Lou DeSabla
BY ERIN DESABLA Lou DeSabla was the founder and publisher of Pathways Magazine and creator of the Natural Living Expo. More importantly, Lou is my dad. He is also “Papa Lou” to my three children and many of my child- hood friends. His spirit transitioned peacefully early last November surrounded by the love of his family and closest friends in his beloved Takoma Park — the epicenter of his work and the place he most often called home. My dad is one of the most compassionate, empathetic, free-spirited people I have ever had the pleasure to know. He taught me to live in joy and positivity. I will always remember him as a tried-and-true op - timist — he always saw the martini glass half full —and he taught me that negative thoughts breed negative energy. He believed there is a great continuum with spirit, both before and after our physical bodies. And he was very clear that once it was time for his physical body to let go, it was going to be okay. I will love him forever and he’ll always be with me. I’m honored to continue what he started. Pathways Magazine and the Natural Living Expo are his legacy, and his labors of love for over 45 years. He did not follow a traditional path. His beliefs were his own and they carried him through into how he wanted his life to be lived. He was kind, generous, and a force of na- ture people gravitated towards with ease. The results are the ground- breaking and enduring contributions he made to the mind-body-spir- it-environmental communities in the greater Washington metro area. They have been experienced by and shared with countless thousands of readers and expo attendees for over nearly five decades. We’ve been so moved by all the friends and colleagues who have reached out these last few months to share touching stories and mem- ories about how my dad came into their lives, how he made an impact on them personally or professionally, and what piece of his light they will continue to carry forward. Thank you. I know how much he cared about all the people in his life, and he’d be thrilled to know he left his mark. Some of those tributes are here so we can end this issue by shin- ing a few rays of his light on you. Lou liked to address his cherished Pathways community with, “Please share in our joy…”, and that is exactly what he would want you all to do now. Rather than grieve his passing, he’d insist you pour yourselves a martini — his favorite — and share in our joy as we cele- brate, with every issue published and every event produced, the mind, the body and the spirit of Lou DeSabla.
PATHWAYS—Spring 24—81
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