Community
“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” Marianne Williamson
I’m driving south on a foggy September Saturday morning. After several miles I exit the freeway and follow the purple arrows. Turn here. I park the car. Zipping my jacket I step out into the cool coastal air and follow others that seem to know more than me about where to go.
Just ahead I see the silhouette of white tents and hear the faint sounds of music. Within minutes I am in the middle of an oasis of people and a few dogs in purple t-shirts. The field is alive with banners, booths, and wind flowers in colors of blue, purple, yellow and orange. I have arrived at my destination. I am here to support the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Yes. In the past I made donations, but this year I decided it was time to be more proactive and show up.
“Hey Becky!” I call out as I make my way to the Lifespan booth. Becky and Pam, dear friends who inspired me to participate, are pioneers in our county founding Lifespan in 1983 to address a need in the community to better serve the aging population. Lifespan embraces the belief that everyone deserves to live their best life every day of their life. Nearly four decades later, Lifespan continues to be a local leader in care management. As well, through the years these two women have given hundreds of volunteer hours to champion causes that help our elderly.
Becky takes my hand and we seek out Francie, a staff person at Lifespan for over 10 years and the co-chair of the Walk, to get me a t-shirt. I put on my purple tee and now I am a team. I’m bigger than one. I’m community.
“Together we can make a difference,” the speaker who represents those with Alzheimer’s says to the crowd. Francie steps up to the mic and continues to bring on more people to share their experiences losing loved ones to the disease, those caring for ones who have the disease and everyone there who is walking to raise awareness and funds to find a cure. The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. In the United States more than 7 million people have Alzheimer’s disease and it is the fifth-leading cause of death among people 65 and older.
Martin Luther King said, “An individual has not started living until they can rise above the narrow confines of their individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
Did you know that in our country there are over 2 million registered non-profit organizations that recruit volunteers with the intention of helping our fellow people, all of humanity. When I worked for the Santa Cruz County Public Health Department, a career that I loved for 18 years, our initiatives utilized tax dollars as a funding stream for our non-profits. I helped make decisions that would uphold the valuable work of so many people that fought to keep their doors open to anyone who needed their services.
We do that in our country. I look around me here in these moments, in this park transformed into a powerful hub of heartfelt dedication, hope and community and I know we have more in common than the differences that divide us.