Your strength gives me courage.

It's that time of year when we reflect on our lives, what we accomplished, what we hope to accomplish, how we are right now. Last week, Wow had its holiday meeting at Lauri's house, a lovely townhouse full of flowers and candles and lights, all warm and sweet and lovely, just like Lauri. We had our usual yummy potluck and visited and then gathered in a circle to talk about the year.

I asked the ladies to each talk about their accomplishments, to share something that they had conquered this year, some moment of triumph for which they should be proud. For some it was a year of healing, how they survived major surgery and realized the value of the friends who rose to help them. One of the ladies, who had been in mourning at the sudden loss of a husband a few years ago, went on a trip by herself for the first time. Another experienced the death of a mother and a sister, learning during their illnesses to share and delegate their care. Another learned to pole dance from one of this year's speakers and from another learned that, to be cherished by her man, she needed to respect him and change her attitude and found that he is, indeed, cherishing her. One said that she survived the loss of her mother and a friend and four cats, realizing through these tragedies that she is resilient and strong and ending the year with a great sense of peace. Another found such peace by forgiving an -ex and another by having the courage to change jobs and another by facing her fears for the first time.

These are amazing women and amazing accomplishments. These are women who are brave and strong, and it's worth the time for them, and all of us, to stop for a moment or two and take stock of what others might think of as "little things" or things that are just part of life. There are so many times when I, and other women I know, push away compliments, saying that what we've accomplished or how we positively affect others is meaningless, and I'm here to tell you that each "little thing" is a big thing, that our courage helps others to be brave, that our strength helps others to keep fighting, that our kindness makes life a little easier for someone else.

So at this time of year which brings endings and new beginnings, I must say that, as tough as life is for me sometimes, I am grateful for the encouragement of my friends and loves ones who make it easier to face my fears and do scary things and look at my shortcomings and the same friends who are there to applaud me when I succeed. Creating Wow has changed my life in more ways that I can count - I looked around at the ladies at the meeting, these beautiful and talented and strong women who so freely share their hearts, and realized that none of them would have been in my life had I not reached out and invited them, these ladies who were strangers to me, to join together in this group.

I want to share a poem I received today from our newest member, Sheri, a delightful woman who blessed the meeting with her charm and humor and even brought her college-age daughter who lit up the room with her youthful vitality and insight. After her first meeting with us, she put into words the essence of Wow:


A woman alone
Reaching out to share
I find Ellen
And oh does she care

Looking for friends
Oh, how I've tried
You shared your group,
You were on my side

I spoke to you
On the cruise
Thats when you gave me
Very good news

You invited me
To your group
It was like sipping
The best Chicken Soup

All nice ladies
I want to know
With this group
It'll help us grow

Thanks to all of you
For uniting as kin
A Happy Healthy New Year
For all to begin