Tired? No! We're just getting warmed up!

I had this blog written on Friday, it was all about how we've been at this organizing and negotiating for 18 months now and how this week was busy with one meeting and 2 negotiations and how at times, I and everyone else I think, just gets tired from it all.

Then one of my coworkers asked how negotiations went this week. She's come to several of them but couldn't this week. When I said they were going slow her response was what I needed to hear.
She said, "We can be patient, they won't wear us down."

Then I spent this morning in New London at St. Mary's Church.  We were invited by Fr Bob Washabaugh to do a blood pressure and health screening clinic after the 2 masses. 
With me were Kim Carrigan, Casie Kury, and Naomi Yates from Backus and Lisa D'Abrosca from L+M, all nurses, and Dan Durant and Efrain Torres, organizers from AFT CT, and Dan's son, Josh.
St. Mary's has 2 masses, 9:30 in English and 12:00 in Spanish.  People came down after the masses and we would take their BP and answer questions for them.  We had literature in both languages for them to take home.

I did not understand ahead of time how rewarding it would be. 

The opportunity to help in this way was more a gift to me than the gift of our time and experience were to the parishioners of St. Mary's.

At mass, Father had said that when God calls you He expects action from you.  I consider my later in life career change to nursing to be a calling, it has given me much satisfaction and I'm sure I've given back to many people in my work, but this.....this was different.  It's hard to put into words, but if you've experienced it, you know.

So, I had to sit down and rewrite this blog.  You see, I'm not tired any more.

Val Bantley's words of encouragement and the comradery and chance to help this morning were what I needed.

I thought I was tired, but I just needed to be reminded that we are many, we are strong, we are united, and we are doing His work.

On this, the birthday of  Martin Luther King, I cannot tell you how long our journey will take, but our cause is just and our direction is clear.