A thank you & an invitation

Look around, who do you see, out there in the water, dog paddling, growing tired, needing a hand?

Gentle reader,

15-ish years ago, an intimidating senior colleague reached her hand out and pulled me onto a life raft I didn’t know I needed.

Stormy Sea. Broom Buoy (1892) August Strindberg (Swedish, 1849-1912), via Artvee

The waters were still new to me, and they’d been relatively warm and peaceful to that point. I didn’t know about the storms coming. I didn’t know about the sharks, and I don’t know how I would have made it this far without the women on that raft.

I climbed onto the raft because of my friend’s generosity. She bothered to notice me, cross some lines, and take some risks.