Bridge Gala

Saturday was my first time as a guest at the Bridge Academy gala. Mind you, I still worked my tail off at the event, but this time as a volunteer instead of paid staff.

Before the event I was anxious about attending it. I haven't seen most people since before I left, and I left on shaky ground. Though I ended up giving them four months notice, I barely got a good-bye and certainly did not receive a warm send off. Still, I told my successor I would attend to help her with computer details. She also asked for help setting up since they were only given 60 minutes to set up before the event.

Keeping busy meant anytime I felt trapped in a conversation I could (truthfully) say I had something I had to do behind the scenes. In the moment, though, I rarely felt trapped. People seemed genuinely pleased to see me and were curious about what has been going in my life. Conversations felt richer than when I was working at Bridge. I left with promises to get together soon for lunch.

Mom had a good time hanging out with the "trailer" teachers. I had a good time sitting in the bridal suite playing tech consultant. Turns out I still remember how to run an event like this and that I am pretty good at finding on the fly solutions to problems. The only one I couldn't figure out was how to find tissue for a mom who expected to be in tears during the speeches. If I was running the event next year, I'd add "bring tissues" to the list.

Next year, though, I hope to be someplace else, or be paid for consulting.