What did we ever do to you?

[DURHAM D]

19. Yesterday I had a board meeting.

It is a non-governmental agency that provides some assistance to several hundred families a month in the community. The needs have increased and donations have not kept up. We were making hard decisions yesterday and some feelings were hurt as we went back and forth on where to cut expenses, etc. In the past decisions were always made by consensus with little disagreement.

The board is racially mixed and age diverse and I was concerned that some "camps" might be developing as we prepared to adjourn. I am the newest member of the board and maybe this has happened before but it was a new experience for me.

So, I asked everyone to wait a minute as I turned my laptop around on the conference table and mentioned that it was International Women's Day the day before and I thought we should all watch a video.

They gathered together in front of the screen and I watched as body language changed and faces softened as tears started running. Soon we were all holding hands. We all hugged each other and left speaking softly about the power of our common bond.

I ran some errands and by time I got home I had three messages on my phone. By mid-morning today I had several emails. I heard from every board member, all 10 of them. They were sharing One Woman with friends, daughters, granddaughters, and their mothers.

I think we are going to be okay and our mission holds.