Every year about this time I make myself sit and remember how I felt all of those years ago when I was preparing to move to Lawrence. I remember feeling like I was embarking on this huge adventure. I was loading a huge rental truck and driving from Hannibal Missouri, just my dog Cassee and I, just to begin this job at Ballard. I had a lot of trepidation about whether I had done the right thing in taking the job, I had a lot of fear about letting the board down and I knew that I had a lot of hard work ahead of me....Boy....I had no idea just how much work it would be but I have to say that it has been the most rewarding job I have ever had, it has been the best thing that to this point has happened in my life. I have met so many incredible people, made so many new friends and am fortunate enough to have a circle of people close to me who advise me and listen to me as I bounce ideas off of them...even though sometimes they just shake their heads and ask me what in the the world I am thinking, they have no idea how much strength they give to me.
When I tell people what I do, I almost feel guilty telling them just how lucky I am that I get to come to work every day. I know that I am blessed, I am allowed to work with great people and for great people. I have two year olds that say the sweetest hello's every morning and I am allowed to have a vision for creating things to help others. That's pretty fantastic. In two weeks I will celebrate my 13th anniversary of walking through the doors of 708 Elm Street. Funny thing is, I never fail to feel a sense of peace, the same feeling I had all those years ago when I was interviewed to come here. I never fail to feel that same sense of urgency to do more within the organization, I never fail to love being in this building, in this space.....it just makes me happy. It also never fails to amaze me just how thankful I am for so many things around me. Including one gentleman that I have become familiar with who absolutely hates to be recognized but whom I believe is quite possibly the sweetest and most generous volunteer we have ever had. His name is Jim M....(and he's probably gonna kill me for posting this but I am hoping he doesn't read my blog.) Anyway, this man just walked into our Ballard lives one day out of the blue and said, "I am here to help and I am in it for the long haul and here are my strengths.....carpentry, handy man, fixit person and when he says that, he means it...he is absolutely a godsend to us. He has scraped popcorn ceilings down, patched walls, painted, stripped floors, installed a new motor in an exhaust fan in our kitchen (let me tell you when I saw him on a ladder outside our kitchen window I was terrified - not Jim though he was happy). He has said to us that he has had a blessed life, had a good career and now it is time to give back. Boy has he, all with a smile on his face and all for our children....our staff has even taken their children to meet him because he is just that kind of guy. I mean seriously, we have a drain tile that has broken underneath the ground somewhere and we have been agonizing over how to fix it and Mr. Jim came up with several alternatives and just jumps in and takes care of it. A godsend??? Absolutely. An Angel? Of course....and much more. Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart Mr. Jim Mahoney, you my dear, MAKE A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE. ;)