A few years ago I had the opportunity to stand for election to the Executive Board of the American Library Association. I had been serving as my state’s representative to ALA on the Council. It was Council members who voted for me and two valued friends to become a member of the Board. ALA Council is the largest single body of people I know of who are engaged and passionate about libraries. Having their vote to lead as a member of the Executive Board was, possibly, my great professional achievement to date. 
My 3-year term has now officially come to an end. Though I will be filling in for a board vacancy over the next seven months, the close of my term of service was recognized last week at our last meeting of board meeting of the year. I was presented with a gift from one of my favorite stores in Chicago and a plaque that will hang proudly in my home office to remind me of this time. I tried to address my colleagues at the meeting, but did so in a rather rambling and uncoordinated way, like a puppy who can’t yet control very long legs on a slippery floor. So, here is what I wished to say:
My first trip to Chicago was in 1995 for an ALA Annual Conference. I was a recent library school graduate and still didn’t have a permanent job. I spent most of that trip in the job placement center and walking long distances in Chicago to the least expensive hotel room I shared with a friend. We talked about how, one day, when we had real jobs, we would stay at the conference headquarters hotel; that would be a sign of success. 
Twenty-two years later, I was again in Chicago for an ALA Annual Conference. I am a member of the ALA Executive Board. I have a room (with a view) at a lovely hotel, I get to spend my days interacting with the most brilliant minds I know. And I get to contribute positively to a profession I love. I have certainly come a long way from my early, unemployed conference experiences. 
My time on the ALA Executive Board meant a good number of visits to Chicago for Board meetings where I got to know the staff that keep the organization operating who are tireless in their efforts to create positive experiences for ALA members. I got to meet, learn from, and become friends with the most talented, creative, kind, and devoted individuals that make up the Executive Board. I was humbled to be allowed to work with them on important matters that impact our profession. 
This is the place where I must pause to say two things:

1. I am so happy to have shared the same term with Peter. He has been a wise colleague and a dear friend throughout this experience. I look forward to more opportunities to work together and some extended time at microphone 7.
2. I miss Gail. We lost her too soon. It was a great honor to be elected alongside her, and I always feel her support; that way she always knew we could do things before we knew it ourselves. 

My colleagues on the board were with me for what I think of as the highest and lowest points in life. From the start, I thought of Executive Board as the peak of my professional life as a librarian. That high point is elevated by the people I served with and everything they’ve taught me. How they stood by me at my lowest points only emphasizes how amazing they are. When I was diagnosed with an illness for which there were actual conversations about probability of survival, they supported me. They made it possible for me to take part and Myto contribute when I was not well enough to travel. They rejoiced when I was present in whatever capacity I could manage. They gave me hope, perhaps without realizing it, by giving me a goal to fight for — to fight to be well enough to attend a meeting. A goal which, on its own, might cause some to wonder for my sanity. None the less, their support, in turn, supported the efforts of my family who were fighting and loving and caring for me. For this I am forever grateful. 
On a cold January in Philadelphia in 2014, my ALA Council colleagues voted for me to represent them on the Executive Board. They may have liked what I had to say about school libraries, they may have found truth in my list of reasons why I thought I could do it, I may have lucked out with an inspired answer about the “micro” and the “macro” of governance. I am grateful for their confidence in me. None of us knew then, but their vote was a vote that kept me engaged in something I love when it would have been all too easy to let it, and my will, slide. 
So now that I’m recovered after a very active Annual Conference last week, I have a beautiful bud vase for my desk to inspire me when I write and a reminder on my wall of the three years during which I experienced a lifetime of goodness.