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Growing up with LITA
by Lauren & Linda Wygant
I was ten when I started hearing snippets of conversations my
mother was having on the phone about the severe loneliness and hopelessness she had
encountered while serving coffee to people living in convalescent homes.
I knew she had volunteered as an Elder to do work through our church, but
I did not concern myself much with the details - it struck me as a grown up
conversation.
By the time I was twelve, I was hearing both sides of similar
conversations, because by then, while files filled up the kitchen table
and newsletters were being piled up in the family room strangers were
sitting in our living room discussing how they also could join the group of people
my mother had recruited to solve the problem of loneliness. By this time,
LITA had caught my attention and I was gleaning more and more from what I was
hearing and seeing. I watched as files became even more numerous and
newsletters became even more widely circulated. I remember being
impressed that requests for help were coming from other organizations which had
grown to rely on LITA as a resource for their own work.
Through all the challenges and growth, all of the very late nights
and early mornings, all of the recognition LITA and my mother were
receiving, I recall my mother being most excited when she could come home and say,
"You'll never guess what happened: something wonderful." The news was always the
same, someone in a desperately lonely situation with very particular
needs had been matched with a volunteer who had just the right set of skills
to offer. I took this news as commonplace, it happened all the time with
LITA, and I had no point of reference to believe it was not an everyday
occurrence for all volunteer organizations. Looking back I realize how very rare
those moments can be and I understand why my mother was so excited. Her
excitement over finding just the right person to fill a need was the beginning of
the most important lessons I have carried from growing up with LITA.
I volunteered with LITA from time to time, starting as a ten year
old going in with my mother, and later as a teenager. As it turned out I
was not as drawn to volunteering in that capacity as either my mother or my
sister, Linda, but the example my mother set and the experience of making a
difference through volunteering, put me on a path of lifelong
volunteerism for which I am incredibly grateful. I learned that making a difference
is one of life's greatest opportunities.
I do not volunteer with the elderly at this stage of my life, but
it is because of growing up with LITA that I have been there for AIDS
patients, abused children and abandoned animals, and have had the privilege of
helping in a host of other ways seemingly unconnected with LITA. But for me the
connection is obviously Love Is The Answer, and growing up with LITA
proved to me how true that is.
- Lauren Wygant
I was in the 8th grade when my mother began LITA. I remember
walking through the door of the first convalescent hospital I had ever visited
and smelling disinfectant mixed with urine. I cringed at the sounds of
people screaming for help and attention, around corners and down hallways. If
my mother hadn't been with me, I might have run out the door. I didn't, because she helped me see beyond the smells and the sounds that over-whelmed me. She introduced me to Roy and Tex, two of the patients at the hospital who were her guides at the beginning of LITA, pointing out
people who especially needed friends. They were warm, welcoming and kind.
I went with my mother as she moved from room to room, learning
people's names and stories. She took patients' hands in hers, wrote letters for
them, and sometimes was the only person to stay with them as they died. I went with her as she sat with people who couldn't communicate, either because of a medical problem or because
they couldn't speak English. I watched as she advocated for those who had no
power, no voice, and needed help that wasn't being provided.
As I listened and learned, I understood why my mother was so
determined that LITA be born. Her passion and determination, rooted in her faith,
were contagious and affected me deeply. Through her actions she taught me
that love and justice cannot be separated, and that faith, not lived, is not
real faith.
Wirowing up with LITA, I learned many things. Kitchen tables are not
only made for eating meals. They are places where papers for incorporation
can be signed, mailing labels types and volunteers interviewed. Front yards
were not just for playing tag, but places where LITA's first board members could
strategize how to pay for stamps and insurance. Newsletters didn't fold
and stamp themselves. People did it, on dining tables and in front of
television. Running a non-profit corporation from your kitchen means your phone
calls to volunteers may be punctuated by the sounds of dogs barking and children
asking you what's on the menu for dinner.
I met my own LITA friend when my mother introduced me to Dorothy,
who became my surrogate grandmother. Dorothy and I both loved music and when
she was able , she played the organ in the hospital lounge. I brought my
guitar, she played the organ, and together we'd sing until both our voices wore
out. Dorothy was a person of deep faith, whose courage over the ten years I
knew her inspired and encouraged me. I knew she would be excited when I told
her that I felt called to the ministry, though in her church, traditionally,
women cannot be ordained. My life was changed forever and I was made
deeper and stronger because I met Dorothy. I knew she loved me and she knew I
loved her.
And that is perhaps the greatest lesson I learned growing up with
LITA. Those things that are rooted in love have the power to transform us and
make us new, if we allow it. LOVE IS, indeed, THE ANSWER
- Linda Wygant
Lauren Wygant is the owner of two businesses in Petaluma, Circle
Gallery, a fine contemporary craft and art gallery, and The Confident
Canine, a dog training organization.
Linda Wygant is a pastor in the Presbyterian Church and is currently
serving as an associate for recruitment at McCormick Theological
Seminary in Chicago. She hopes to complete her Doctor of Ministry program in June
2001.
Mae Wygant now lives in Oregon. Mae is a talented professional
artist, but her greatest gift has been as a mentor, reminding us that
unconditional love is the most powerful and beautiful expression of our humanity.
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