I knew this wknd was gonna be both celebratory & a bit rough.
A member of our Board, who I’ve become fast friends w, ALL online, during the last yr, was sweet enough to invite me to Virginia to be w his fam & close friends, as he was getting a tremendous honor for his life’s work (attacking the opioid crisis), by the country’s largest Italian American association.
This man’s dedicated his life to helping others, & to try to curb the epidemic. He’s been an advisor to the White House for diff administrations, over yrs, & now he was getting acknowledged for all he’s done. This was set to be Saturday night, 7pm start…formal black tie event.
Then, on Sunday, as I’ve shared pics in Stories, I was set to be back in NY, 1pm, to celebrate my grandma’s 100th Bday. A full life, now filled w 5 great grandchildren.
The logistics weren’t gonna be easy. Trains or planes – the timing just didn’t work out – w the connections & then the car service. The only way I could make both happen, would be to finish the work wk, drive down to Virginia Saturday (4.5 hrs), go to the event, leave early in the morn Sunday, & make it back for the 1pm Bday celebration.
Figured I’d have a few drinks at my board member’s event, call it an early night, get a good 6 or 7 hrs of sleep, & hit the road right back.
I’ve shared a few times here – while mentally I feel great, I’m still fighting thru chronic fatigue (& it’s not lost on me that past traumas & working thru them contribute). So…the 9 hrs of driving, party in-between, did concern me. Falling asleep at the wheel wouldn’t be fun. Nonetheless I went.
I met my Board member’s kids for the first time. Met some other collaborators for the first time. What resulted was – just simple talking, 5 of us, in the lobby of the hotel of the event, from 11pm – 4am.
We talked abt life. We talked abt connection. We were like old friends reuniting, even tho we’d never met in person before. Despite only 2 hrs of sleep, I hit the road early in the morn to get back to my grandma’s party, more energized than I’d been in a long time. Connecting w a group of good ppl feeds the soul in a way not much else can.