Volunteers And Staff Engaged In Labor Of Love

I’ve spent the afternoon enjoying our office Christmas party so it somehow seems appropriate to tell you who we are. There is not just one person but a group behind the work that I do, both paid and volunteer. They are, I hasten to add, not always in agreement with what ends up in the column because I write that by myself.

The Community Service Committee is a group of three volunteers who answer all the column mail. Twelve years ago when letters began to pour in - people asking for information, counseling referrals, advice or community resources - I tried to do it alone. But I soon fell behind and felt guiltier and guiltier as the piles of letters on my desk grew.

I was rescued 10 years ago by three wonderful women who have since become my “godmothers”: Charlotte, Diana and Alberta. Some of you have corresponded with them or talked with them on the telephone.

Charlotte is a retired teacher and adventurer from Wyoming who still likes dude ranches. In 1990 she spent eight months as a volunteer purser and medical records technician aboard the Tole More, a 150-foot sailing ship that provided health care in the Marshall Islands. Charlotte was widowed after 30 years of marriage, she has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Diana is a graduate of San Francisco State University in music and education. She sang with a dance band and volunteered at the Stage Door Canteen. Diana lives and breathes music. After many years as a guidance counselor she has now retired but still participates in choral music productions. She has been married for 43 years with a son, special daughter-in-law and two granddaughters.

Alberta (Bertie) is our cheerleader (she was one) and a retired social worker raised in Montana. She has worked at a wide variety of jobs through the years. We tease her that she packs more soul and energy into a tiny package (my dog, Woofie, likes to stand up on his hind legs and put his paws on her shoulders) than is humanly possible. She has been married 54 years, has two daughters and four grandchildren.

We all meet at my house every Wednesday and answer letters, make telephone calls, do research, organize information, plan fund-raisers and tell each other stories over lunch. Too often I’m on the road giving lectures and I miss these wonderful sessions of talking about the world and our place in it. But they are always here, rain or shine, to see if anything needs to be done for you or the community we share.

I get letters that try to imagine what kind of office we have. Our office, in my traditional brick house, runs a four-day week and is held together by our office manager Jo (violinist and cat lover), otherwise known as “Scarlett”; products and travel manager Linda Jo (hiker, dancer); accountant Marj (my mom, a former policewoman); mail-order associate Adina (sailor, earth mother); everything engineer Harry (talented cook and photographer); and the gamekeeper, Ken (my step-dad, former Marine and chiropractor). They share the office with two dogs and six chickens. The chickens usually stay outside with the canaries, frogs and fish that make up our menagerie. This is the best year we’ve ever had in terms of work and good humor. So we were ready for a party to celebrate.

Usually we hire real talent for our Christmas party, like opera singers. Last year, Linda (Harry’s wife) played the accordion and sang so beautifully we got goose bumps. This year we had a talent revue. Linda Jo was the announcer, Jo played violin, Mom sang a British comedy hit wearing a hat covered with fruit and carrying a bird cage, Adina signed “Jingle Bells,” Bertie did her favorite Denton High School cheer with pompoms, Diana sang a spiritual and played piano for all of us, Charlotte made us laugh with her exploding turkey story and Ken touched our hearts with his story of the Christmas he spent below deck on a ship moving through the Suez Canal.

What talent, you might ask, do I have? I was going to play “Whispering Hope” on the baritone horn but needed more practice. It’s been almost 35 years since my days in a marching band. So, I took everyone into the courtyard and we did the “Hokey Pokey.” I used to call square dances.

We really are a silly bunch and you might well hesitate to invite us over, but we absolutely thrive on the absurdity of what we do and who we are. Everyone in America should do the “Hokey Pokey” at least once a year just to keep loose. We laugh so often here that anyone overhearing might think we weren’t working but we all work very hard.

We have made it through some very sad times together so we appreciate the end of a year when we can feel the spirit of love between us. Everyone is healthy, no one’s heart is broken, Jo became a new aunt, Linda Jo took care of her father and helped him die the way he wanted to, Ken survived cancer, Adina’s brother is emerging from a coma after nine months (he was in a car accident) and she is a new grandmother. We survived together. So we said grace, ate, sang carols, exchanged small gifts and held hands looking forward to another year of working with you.

xxxx

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Jennifer James The Spokesman-Review