A Heroes Post Tonight

A little Heroes talk tonight....

Work is SO busy! We have three major fundraising events between September 15--October 25th that we are in the process of preparing for. We also have a bunch of other projects and things going on. I love the momentum we have right now and hope it continues to build!

I posted on the HFC blog tonight about the Celebration we had last night. I'm so very proud of this organization and the mission we stand behind. I am so honored to work everyday with friends that I love and get the priviledge to also call my co-workers. Really, I get to work with Larissa, Cheryl, and Christi every day as well as Cricket once a week (to do our bookkeeping). How lucky is that? I love that we are all passionate about serving families and that we believe so strongly in our mission. I love that the memory of Taylor and Allie drive what we do each day. Love that.

I am traveling about twice a month to Houston right now in preparation for our events and in spreading the mission. We have an extraordinary team of women volunteers steering the group down there! I try to make my trips quick ones, no more than an overnight. Andrew is extremely supportive and never complains about having sole parent duty several nights a month for me to travel to Houston, meet about a golf tournament, or have a board meeting. He hits his limit if I mention a girls night, so I try not to have many during our really busy HFC months. That's just not fair to Andrew.

Larissa honored Taylor and her tenth birthday on July 29th. That really hit me. Taylor passed away when she was 4 1/2 and now she would be 10 years old. That's the part of the phrase that gets me--she "would be." Would & should are two of the most dangerous words for parents like us. I have been thinking a lot about Taylor lately. I never knew her, but yet she has made a HUGE impact on my life. Without her, I wouldn't be where I am today. I am so grateful for Taylor and for helping bring Larissa in my life. I hate that my sweet friend had to "celebrate" her daughter's birthday in the way she did a few weeks ago, but I am grateful nonetheless to know the Lintons. Love you, Lar!!

I had a realization the other day--I've been doing this job for almost three years now. I only taught for four. This is becoming who I am. Becoming my identity now. I have said this before, but one of the hardest parts of Allie's death was losing my identity. I lost who I was as I quit my teaching job and I was no longer a mother. Between Maggie and HFC, I have found my identity. And it is one that I like. I told Andrew the other day that I think I like this job more than I liked teaching. He says that is just because I have adapted to it now. But, seriously, I LOVE my job. I love that on any given day, I could be doing something totally different. I get to meet and interact with many different people (right up my alley!). I wear many different hats as a nonprofit director. I am in marketing/pr, fundraising, development, program services, maintenance (shoot, I even painted my own office! Badly, mind you, very badly, but I still painted!), administration, etc. As a small nonprofit, I am very involved on the day to day operations. Most social workers have me on speed dial and I speak to at least one almost every day for some issue or another. I have one that calls me so often, she doesn't say who it is when I answer the phone anymore. She simply says, "Hey," then goes straight into her question! And I love it!

And I think that is about it as I am going to work a little more tonight (prime hours for a little extra work is from 9-11 for me--its so quiet around here!) and then head off to bed.

If you are in the Dallas area and especially if you have children, I hope you will join us at the Heroes for Children 5K Run/Walk! It's Saturday, September 15th and it will be a blast!