Looking For a Sign

I represent my employer in a nascent organization, the Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition. This is a very ambitious effort that the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and the Jr. League are taking on to bring together all of the literacy providers in Oklahoma county. A strength in numbers kind of thing. Looking for a way to share resources and capitalize on partnerships between the organizations. All fighting for the same goal – to help people learn how to read.

One of the members of this coalition is an OKC pediatrician. I sat near her at the meeting yesterday and was in awe. She was fresh scrubbed and young. Quite a bit younger than me. Her pager went off and she had to leave. She was leaving to go save a baby. To save…a ...baby.

There was another guy at the meeting. He’s actually one of the key players leading this coalition. Young, vibrant, enthusiastic, funny. He stands on a fake leg after stepping on a road side bomb in Iraq a couple of years ago. 18 years in the military, ranked a major, ended for him with that one misstep, but he is as committed to teaching kids how to read as he was leading his platoon into enemy territory.

Another woman looked to be about my age. Really stunningly beautiful. You can just tell she’s a wealthy, stay-at-home mom who “volunteers” her time. I’ve worked with a lot of these people before and often their volunteering is just something they do to fill the few hours between their pilates class and lunch at the country club. Not this woman. She’s head of her kid’s PTA, she tutors kids five days a week, she works daily at a homeless shelter, she assists a literacy advocacy group… she’s basically working to kick illiteracy in the ass, all on her own time.

A woman who is spearheading this coalition effort is wonderfully flawless. You just know she’s the type of person who thinks of every singly thing. Nothing will be forgotten. Nothing will be unplanned. No stone will be left unturned. She knows her stuff and she is gracious and relentless.

I sit in awe of these people and all of those who are driven and committed to their causes. I envy them. I think that they must be happy to be truly passionate about something…to know their purpose. To be energetic and engaged in their thing…whatever their thing is. I need to find my thing.