Blooming in Bloomington

 

by Cindy Stone

 

 

On a warm summer weekend, nearly 100 of us rare orchids -- adults, dozens of parents and teens -- gathered in Indiana to give and gain support from each other.  We laughed at funny talents, hugged new friends, ate good Hoosier cookin’ and cried our way through many boxes of Kleenex.  Most of us spent some four days or more on the IU campus with equal times inside and outside the classroom learning more about ourselves and each other.  The evaluations would later say it was a magical weekend … "a weekend we would remember all our lives."

For the board and planning committee, the weeks leading up to the 10th anniversary 2006 AISSG-USA National Meeting in Bloomington, were filled with anticipation.  Would enough folks come for three full days of presentations?  Would parents and teens enjoy their new programming?  Our anxiety was for naught because the meeting came off just great, and the orchids were blooming in Bloomington’s sunshine!

Thanks to my four members of the program committee (Arlene Baratz, Charmian Quigley, Jane Goto, & Becky Baughman) all the countless hours of hard work made all the difference.  In addition, a big round of applause to the rest of the board, they made sure a wonderful table was set for all of us to gather and care for ourselves in new ways.

On Friday, August 4th, we had a full day of sessions ...  In the afternoon, there were museum tours, campus walking tours, teen-swim time, plus the Kinsey art tour.  A board meeting ended the day with some evening dinners and late night hospitality suite visits for chatting, noshing and laughter.

On Saturday, August 5th, we spent part of the day on HRT regimens and sharing our stories in the all afternoon storytelling session.  Participants tell us this affects them the most when they can tell their personal journey in a totally safe and supportive place – one of the few times they may have told their story to anyone out loud!  That evening, we had an outdoor
cookout at sunset in a nearby meadow and then came back in for Katie’s fabulous talent show -- which knocked everyone’s socks off!

Dr. Charmian Quigley is shown [above] in the center as Cindy Stone and Arlene Baratz present her with a certificate of appreciation as she learned of the new “Annual Quigley Scholarship Program” to be given every year from now on in her honor.  The scholarship was created by a generous longtime member, who wanted to anonymously recognize our beloved Charmian, and how she has attended every AISSG-USA meeting, given much of her time, energies and dollars to help our meeting grow from such tender beginnings.  First timer, Maggie from Detroit, was the inaugural Quigley Scholarship recipient and Maggie thanked us so movingly with a gift of her dancing prowess in our talent show that she opened up to all to join her on stage.

On our last day, Sunday August 6th, we learned about ways to care for ourselves and Charmian gave her advanced 501 talk.  As we walked into town for lunch that Sunday afternoon, we knew that something rare and wonderful was coming to an end -- and it was time for the orchids to start their journey back home.

Now, summer has faded, and as it slips away into herstory, I want to thank all those who worked on this year’s annual meeting, and to say what a privilege it was to host all of you who made it to Bloomington.  I am truly grateful to Charmian Quigley for helping us locate our many speakers and giving so freely of her own wisdom and counsel; for Arlene Baratz for working with the parents’ group to develop a needs assessment for parents and teens; for Tryla Brown for gathering so many silent auction gifts of art and orchid memorabilia and seeing to that we raised some $1,300+ for scholarships and our year-round work; for Jeanne Nollman for presenting her own sessions and for providing leadership for all the teen sessions; for Anne J. and Lynette P. for keeping the hospitality suite stocked; for Mark Baratz’ amazing photos, slide show and emceeing our talent show; for Katie B. for finding and corralling women to join the talent show and so much more; for our Prez Becky Baughman for giving her all, and for my fellow board members Marissa Jaye, Connie Brooks, Cher Thorpe, Susie Denard and Nancy Evans for supporting our speakers and presenters in a myriad of ways; for Vicki B. giving local support to teens and adults; and last but not least to Jane Goto for doing everything from folder-stuffing to applying orchid tattoos on special orchid bodies to facilitating story-telling so compassionately.

In closing, your board was honored to welcome and be of service to nearly 100 women with AIS and a wide variety of similar diagnoses.  Further, we were delighted to welcome women from all over North America (we want to make special note of the Canadians who were there).  Lastly, we were thrilled to be joined by women from the UK and the Netherlands – who came because our expanded meeting making it worth their while to travel from Europe to the states for the first time.

The meeting evaluations tell us this event went well – some said it "changed their lives" and another said "I will remember this weekend for as along as I live..."  Such praise, yet it's really for all of you for not being frightened to give of yourselves as you did.  We believe your collective efforts did indeed change some lives and will provide seeds that will germinate and bloom in new-found support and healing for all of us.

On a personal note, I can't thank you all enough for showering me with gifts of a blues rap song by "Mark & the Board,” a 50th birthday cake and a gift certificate for a day at the spa!  I feel quite grateful to all of you.  Chairing this annual meeting is the best volunteer thing I’ve ever done and I hope those of you who made it, feel real growth and healing in your lives.  If you didn't join us this year, you definitely need to be in North Carolina next July for the 2007 annual meeting “Sweet Tea & Grits.”  Our 2007 Chair, Nancy Evans, is ready to roll out her own inimitable style of southern orchid charm!  You won’t want to miss it!

   Cindy Stone