She was one of the first to use the home visiting model that is so widely utilized now. She also was instrumental in obtaining special funding to start the Milton Family Center, a parent child center in a community north of Burlington where there are a number of Head Start eligible families. Of the projects getting that special funding back in 1985, the Milton Family Center is undoubtedly one of the only ones still thriving today.
Annette proudly told people that she shook hands with Jimmy Carter representing the State of Vermont celebrating one of Head Start's early birthdays, just one of many honors bestowed on her because of her tireless work for Head Start.
I met Annette one day early in 1984 when I interviewed for a home visitor position with Head Start. I had a lot to learn even after I got the job. I thought my big college education and my sociology degree prepared me for the complexities of working with families with small children who were barely suriving at poverty level and below. I had kids. I was sure I could relate. Annette had great faith in me and made me understand my own strengths, and where I got in my own way. And when I was an idiot or in over my head.
She trusted me later on to help write the initial Head Start grant that got the Family Center going and was there every step of the way in getting it off the ground. She served as an advisor and then a member of the board of directors for many years. Even after I left my position as a home visitor, and took on directing the center, she was a mentor. And a friend.
What most people didn't know was that Annette was a Head Start parent in the early days of the program and worked her way up to Director and held that position for over 27 years.
Later, when I moved away to California, we kept in touch through holiday cards. It was always good day when her card arrived with a little bit of news about other former co-workers or the program. Eventually she retired and some years later her husband died. And I knew that didn't bode well for her.
And then this fall, she died. But I didn't know until I didn't get a card. After the holiday I received a note from her daughter-in-law telling me that she had passed away in September from colon cancer, at home.
I never got a chance to say thank-you to her, or to tell her how much she meant to me in those early years. To tell her how much of an imprint she made on my choices through the years and how I could hear her once in a while, laughing at something I did that was silly-stupid, telling me to get up, dust myself off and get going.
Let this be a good lesson. Don't wait until another day has passed to say thank you to the people who made a difference in your life. I wish I hadn't.
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Sage advice: "Don't wait until another day has passed to say thank you to the people who made a difference in your life." Intentionally seek them out, thank them and tell them why.
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