Q: How did you learn about OUR HOUSE?
A
: My good friend and I met when our kids were toddlers. Her husband tragically died and she and her daughter became two of the first clients of the agency. Appreciating how valuable her experience had been and knowing that I was a bereaved child myself, she
encouraged
me to get involved. I was in my forties at the time, and had absolutely no intention of going back to the sadness and pain that I experienced as a small child after my mother died. I thought I had successfully suppressed those feelings until I was at the OH office and overheard kids in a "Little Littles" group talk about the deaths of their parents. I completely lost it…
Who knew that by "finding" OUR HOUSE that I would be able to explore and normalize some of my own feelings of grief and loss and go on to help countless grieving kids like myself find comfort, support and a way out of the darkness into the light.
Q: Why do you continue to volunteer as a Board Member and group leader?
A:
I have served on the Board of Directors since 1998. Over the years I have also run in-house and school groups, been a Camp Erin Buddy, as well as co-chairing a Gala here and there. These experiences have been some of the most gratifying moments of my life. To have had the opportunity to work with so many incredibly smart and talented board members who have contributed so much in time and resources to get OUR HOUSE to where it is today has been phenomenal. To work with such a dedicated and professional staff in my capacity as a group leader has been both edifying and enormously fulfilling. All one has to do is volunteer at OUR HOUSE and one is immediately struck by the beauty and magnitude of how fully lives are changed for the better. The work is nothing short of transformational.
Q: In honor of our 25th anniversary, what were you doing when you when you were 25?
A:
That was a long time ago!! I was living in Manhattan and working in sales and marketing for Simon & Schuster. I was waiting for a teaching position to open up, and I ultimately taught Junior High for a year, but returned to publishing for the remainder of my career in New York.
