WBA Expands to Aiken!

Wednesday, August 20 at Laura DiSano's lovely new home in Woodside Plantation in Aiken. (152 Bellewood Drive, to be exact) Since Woodside is a gated community dontchaknow, she'll need to give them a heads-up about visitors, so do let me know if you plan to go and if you have room in your car to bring someone - since Evans is the furthest we've ventured, WBA Augusta-wise.

Here's what Laura emailed me last week:

I am going to invite several women from here- the new superintendent of schools, a PH.D. in ichthyology turned dog behavioralist, an interior designer, a marketing technology entrepreneur. Maybe we can be expanding into Aiken .Organic growth- gotta love it. Give me a call -so we can discuss. Maybe you can provide a little history on the organization so we can inform the guests.

Talk to you soon- friend.
Laura

Some of us know the history of WBA: We started eight years ago as a networking group for professional women. Dr. Dorthe Peloquin was briefly a Financial Advisor at Smith Barney who started WBA, and when she left Smith Barney she asked me to continue the group. What started with a handful of people that met for dinner at Dorthe's home has morphed into an email distribution list of over 100 women. We meet once a month at someone's home for appetizers after work. "Someone" is whomever offers in the group! We actually started with lunch once a month at a restaurant, and after a few years began to intersperse lunch with happy hour, till someone offered to host. I can't remember who that is…was it Brenda Durant?

There is no agenda. There is no application process. There is no organizational structure. WBA is simply an email distribution list on my computer at work. The way we've grown is by invitation.

But, as we have all seen, much more has evolved.

We decided we liked the "nonstructural" nature of the group, but that we would all support each other's causes, as most of us have nonprofit organizations that we work for, either in our spare time or as vocations. And so we have. Then, Gail Patty's son had a terrible accident, and Carolyn Ziegler had a terrible fall. Rebecca Rogers' husband, Larry, had a terrible fall. We've buried our loved ones. We've rejoiced in good news together. We've rallied like no other group any of us have experienced. Is it impossibly corny to say, "this is what love looks like"?

We have a blog: wbaaugusta.blogspot.com. We might have a web page in future, and a directory. Anybody interested in getting something started like that, let me know and we'll carve out some time to work on it.

As I was typing this email, I got this from Rebecca Rogers (a/k/a R2) (HALLELUJAH!):

Hello dear concerned friends: As I write this update Larry begins our 5th week in the Doctors Hospital ICU. I am very encouraged by my morning visit. Over the past several days we’ve had our ups-and-downs, or, more accurately, downs-and-ups. After a rough patch in the middle of the week (bleeding at the sites of his various tubes and a return to ventilator breathing and another blood transfusion) he has rallied round! He is becoming more alert and breathing on his own again for extended periods of time. He is responding to familiar voices, smiling and sometimes even trying to laugh (although it makes him cough). I read him the Bill Kirby Joke of the Day in the paper and that brought a smile to his face. So he is WAY more with-it than he’s been in the past 4 weeks. That does my heart good.

Thanks for your continued concern.
1:30 p.m. Addendum. More Good News! Larry is “sitting up” in the chair position in his hospital bed. Much more alert. His doctors plan to take him entirely off ventilator support and either put in a valve that will allow him to talk or, perhaps, take the trache out all together. Fingers crossed!

R2

Isn't that something! I don't know if anyone has dropped anything off at their home, but the fridge in the garage is accessible if you have something you'd like to bring for Rebecca to eat (or drink!). 3353 Sugar Mill Road, off Pleasant Home Road.

Carolyn Ziegler is making unbelievable progress at home.

Gail Patty is getting back to work, finding care for Aiden, her precious son Casey's toddler, and Gabby is starting school next week.

It's good.

And when it's not, let me know and WBA'll work on that, best we can ;)