So many thoughts are going through my mind as I write this, my last blog post in my full-time role as executive director of Families as Allies. Even more feelings are going through my heart.
I think my thoughts and feelings boil down to this: thank you. Thank you for the past fifteen years, some of the most meaningful years of my life. Thank you for allowing me to do this work with you. Thank you for being open. Thank you for trusting. Thank you for taking risks. Thank you most of all for being willing to do those things with Families as Allies—and with me.
Thank you to every decision maker and state leader who listened, considered different perspectives and committed to partnering with the people the issue was about. That’s rare in Mississippi, but thanks to you, it’s getting more common. I hope you will continue to commit to never having a policy discussion about a group of people without those people in the room with you. Your bold leadership can change the state. That makes my heart soar.
Thank you to every funder, system partner and provider for being open to partnering in new ways as we learned from each other. I cannot count how many of you have learned ways to advocate with families and are now touching the lives of hundreds of families every year. I’ve watched you change your programs and practices in response to what you’ve learned from families. It’s humbled me because you’ve sometimes gone way beyond any place I thought to go. Thank you for what you’ve shared with families and for what you’ve shown me.
Thank you to my friends and colleagues who also work in family- and peer-run and grassroots organizations. Thank you for being a sounding board, an encouragement and an unwavering source of support. Thank you for helping me find courage when I wasn’t sure there was any left in me.
Thank you to the board of Families as Allies for being family-driven and thoughtful, and for your support both in good times and in some very rocky times. Thank you for your leadership during this past year of planning and transition.
Thank you to the employees of Families as Allies. Henry, Coreaner and Nikki—I treasure you. Thank you for trusting me, especially at our difficult “David and Goliath’ junctures. Thank you for honestly and authentically sharing your thoughts and yourselves, and then standing united as one as we unflinchingly faced things together. You are amazing.
Thank you especially to every family that is part of Families as Allies. It touches me just as much today as it did the day I started that you are willing to share yourselves, your family and your journey with us. It is not lost on me how valuable that is. Thank you for trusting Families as Allies and me with something so precious. Thank you for everything we have been able to do together.
A special thank you to my family and dear friends who have supported me as I’ve thought through and made the decision to retire. Thank you for your kindness, your patience and your empathy along the way. I am especially grateful to my son, Sam. When I began this job, you were an eleven-year-old baseball player who adapted to a mom who worked on grant applications at gas stations during game-day rain delays. You are now a thoughtful young adult who has supported me and believed in me through thick and thin over the past few years. I am proud of you, and I love you with my whole heart.
Terrence, I am thankful you are here! I already knew you were a talented colleague and an insightful and kind person. After the past two weeks of working together, I now know that you are perceptive, quick to grasp many different things at once, inquisitive and committed to the mission, vision and values of Families as Allies. Plus, your organizational and business skills are a much-needed gift to the organization. I’ve said it before, but I will say it again: You don’t need my support, but you’ve got it anyway. Completely.
I’ve ended many meetings with the phrase “go forth and conquer” in my years at Families as Allies because we know that, working together, there is NOTHING we cannot do for our children. I cannot think of a more fitting way to end this post.
Go forth and conquer, y’all. Amazing things await.
