April 4, 2025

The Rookery to breath

Went up to breathe a little before I had to get dressed up and go be the Founder of TLP.   Very quiet at the rookery, mainly geese and mergansers, no eagle, no heron.   But T. contacted me and was at my house for the first time in almost 6 weeks so I drove back down the hill and got a couple hugs and some catch up and some advice on accessories.   I realized today that my love for Barbie dolls really was a product of my love for fashion.  

I didn't get any decent photos tonight, but other people did.  Here are a few I took.  Accessories brought to you by David Sharken and Loren McGrail.   I loved wearing my Monet scarf tonight.  And thank you Elle Richardson for your clothes shopping presence over that last 15 years.   Ahhhh,  my glasses match my scarf, too.  LOL

Really was a fun celebration.  40 years is nothing to sneeze at.  40 years, you all, I told everyone I was 10 when we started.  Unfortunately, that's a lie, I was 30 which means I'm old now.

Between Phil and me we were in charge for 15 years, the first years.  Tonight there were members of the staff who taught for us during those 15 years in that restaurant.  A couple of them are still at TLP.  It was wonderful to see how the place grew, strengthened and effected so many lives, clearly the definition of  ripple effect.   

Several students shared with me tonight, several volunteers, several teachers.  

I wish I got a good picture of Margaret.  Maybe I'll get sent one.  Her son, Cylus, was there, too.  I remember the day he was born.  There were several babies born to staff in those days, the first one was Corri Vaughan who is now 40, I think.  Corri, are you 40?  Huge lifetimes, some deaths, we were worried about feeling the weight of the deaths, Jim, Jean-Marie, oh and so many students who we all grew to love.   A lifetime, yes a huge chuck of my lifetime.   

I survived being a professional tonight, it wasn't as foreign as I thought it was going to be and for the most part I just felt love.   Thane, I love you, Phil and Carla, how lucky was I to have you 2 placed in my life?   Yes, it felt good to be recognized tonight, but what felt better was having The Literacy Project recognized and honored for being a safe space for people to learn in.   A student said tonight that every time she left TLP she knew something more, Phil and I both said, and so do we, we learn knew things daily from the many students who have walked through our classrooms,   Yes, I may have planted that seed, but the many people who sere involved in cultivating it, is extraordinary.