Mentors

We all have people in our lives...the people who give us those opportunities just when we need them. I was able to visit with one of those people in my life this week. Her name is Roberta, and she was the Director of Federal Programs in Fallon. I haven't seen her for probably three years. She is the woman who hired me to teach ESL Kindergarten in Fallon back in 1999. I was so grateful for that job. When I quit to have Jeron, she found "just a little something" for me to do in Even Start. I eventually took over the program, which allowed my husband to go back to school and allowed me to have a flexible enough schedule to work full time and be home with Jeron and then Jadee. I loved that job. It was my perfect job at the perfect time, and then the not-so-perfect time. Jeremiah graduated and got a real job and we moved to Reno, so I had to leave that job. Roberta had retired the year before and her successor left a huge gap in the department, so I was okay to move on.

During my conversation with Roberta on Monday, she expressed to me that Even Start was never so great as when I was at the head. That's really saying something, as she wrote the original grant 18 years ago and ran the program all those years before I took over. She is an amazing woman. So much of what I know about leading people in the professional world I learned from her. She always believed in me and my abilities and really gave me wings to fly.

I loved talking with her again. She helped me with the issues I'm having with Jeron's education. When I told her I've been thinking of going back to school to be a marriage and family counselor, she told me I'd be good at that, that I have the ability to be empathetic, yet realistic. Then we talked about my mom dying and she listened and empathized. I am so grateful for the many roles she's played in my life. I am grateful to know that she is still out there, ready to help in any way she can. She truly is a lovely person, worthy of good report.