GETTING BOARD

It’s time for me to renew my term on the board of directors for the AHRC Suffolk Chapter. It requires my showing up at a General Membership meeting, holding a lit candle that symbolizes punching a hole in the darkness. They serve dessert and coffee: you mill about and then the festivities begin.

Each board member as they go up to get a candle, have it lit and stand there in a line, and a moderator then yells at them for what a mess of things they really make.

BEING BOARD

“Your candle DelBloggolo, symbolizes how you screw things up on the Guardianship committee, the membership/volunteerism committee, the program evaluation committee, the personnel and by-laws policy committee, and frankly if you set yourself on fire tonight, we’d not be surprised, but gratified. P.S. you were only suppose to have ONE piece of cake tonight, but who’s counting?”

This ceremony is preceded by a fashion show, where the consumers of our residential and day programs wear the latest fashions, and get to star for the evening, to resounding applause. The guys are dressed to the nines and escort the ladies in their new fashions down to the runway, where the girls will wiggle, shake it and show off, to thunderous laughter and the beaming smiles of these ladies is gratifying. Some can barely walk, some can’t speak well, some are so sick it breaks my heart, but all of them do a magnificent job.

AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL?

Every day I get a piece of mail from the agency, thinking it is a letter of resignation for me to sign, but they keep forgetting to send it! I go to the board meetings once a month, but they leave the doors unlocked! What’s a body to do?

Actually I love serving on the board, after over 20 years of service, and I hope to continue at least until next Tuesday, and I am proud and happy that the agency has grown no thanks to me. It is my second home, and those I serve are my people, forever. They don’t ask anything of me, greet me with a lot of love in their hearts and their faces are filled with smiles and joy. They take pride in their jobs and homes and are eager to share with me their lives.

One of the reasons I love to be a part of it all is the staff there are remarkable. Sure, every once in a while a bad apple shows up, but fortunately it is quickly disposed of. Some of the most loving, caring and sincere people I know work within the walls of the agency, and frankly: God bless everyone of them.