Alice Gaddi Roselo: Golden Threads and Second Springs

Barbara Smith

One only needs to read Alice Gaddi Roselo’s essay “Prescription: Hope” in the Birren Center’s Second Chances anthology to appreciate the grace and humanity which she brings to the GAB community. In it she eloquently describes a life path that began with a dream to become a doctor and has transformed into a new sacred journey in which the spirit of that dream---to heal, to lift, and to serve---remains.

Alice’s GAB journey began in 2021 during the stillness of the pandemic when she saw a simple online flyer. “I was just gardening, reading books,” she recalls, “and the information flashed on my screen.” Her curiosity led her, from Quezon City, Philippines, into a virtual GAB class sponsored by the Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Center in California. It connected her across continents with three fellow Filipino participants navigating their own life transitions. What she found in that first eight-week experience reflects what is at the heart of Guided Autobiography: small groups, structured themes, and the transformative act of writing and sharing life stories. 

By the time the eight-week session ended, the bonded group knew they wanted to continue. With their support, Alice provided leadership in compiling their writings into OurSecond Spring, a self-published book, which is personal and intimate in its expression of the individual voices of each of the participant authors.

Alice’s career and life experiences, both before and throughout her involvement with GAB, reflect an expansive knowledge base and endless curiosity. Holding a degree in Business Economics from the University of the Philippines and an MBA from De La Salle University, she has worked as an economist, a teacher of licensure candidates, a media researcher, a financial consultant, an events planner, an activist, a book conceptualizer, and now, having taken the training, as a certified GAB instructor. She currently manages the RevYOU Lifelong Learning Hub, a family-owned review center where she coaches future professional teachers and also mentors their instructors. She regards her varied path with humility, seeing it all as raw material. “I can continually repackage myself to be helpful,” she says, “rather than just sticking to one discipline or field.”

That spirit of repackaging animates her approach to spreading GAB in the Philippines, where cultural reticence about personal disclosure makes the work delicate. Many of her friends, she explains, "feel they have nothing noteworthy." Others worry about being scrutinized or pitied. Alice meets them where they are, often over coffee or tea, listening for the story hiding inside the conversation. She has gathered 42 contributions of high school friends for a new anthology of Philippine voices dear to her, entitled Golden Threads: A Tapestry of Life Stories. This and the Second Spring collection are significant examples of 

the reach GAB has for writers who want to take GAB a step further into the world of preserving memories in a publication.

The GAB community is fortunate to have Alice on board. As she prepares to offer her first GAB course in the coming months, she has already devoted countless volunteer hours in a range of roles including helping assemble the GAB Gazette and the upcoming Moments That Shape Us anthology, while actively participating in GAB Chats and other group activities to sharpen her skills and sustain momentum. Despite the time difference, with many meetings scheduled in North American time zones, Alice often joins Zoom sessions in the wee hours of the morning in the Philippines. Even at those hours, she brings fresh ideas and insights, asks thoughtful questions, and contributes creatively to every conversation.

For those considering stepping into the GAB community, Alice offers a mantra she has quietly composed for herself, a beautifully rendered reflection of the spirit of GAB: "I am unique, my story matters. I write with courage, truth, and purpose. I am light. I am hope. I can write."

You can find Our Second Spring, published by Alice’s original GAB group, on Amazon at bit.ly/oursecondspring_savvyseniors.