 |
| Fritzi Woods Love Never Leaves |
What Are You Waiting
For?
I'm a firm believer that everyone leaves a legacy; not when you die, but when you leave a room.
My
sister/friend Fritzi Woods was an advocate for women everywhere but her primary
focus was for women in the food service industry.
Fritzi was
the President and CEO of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, an association dedicated
to developing the talents and abilities of women in all foodservice companies.
WFF works to
get women at the table, on the job and in charge of their own lives.
I first met
Fritzi with the association, but soon came to know her as a friend.
We all have
or should have folks in our lives that we are connected to in spirit. Whether
we see them or not, the connection is real and strong. Fritzi was/is one of
those friends for me.
Every week,
Fritzi would read or see something that made her need to reach out. We laughed
about the similarities of life and how I had “touched a nerve that she didn’t
want to remember.”
We laughed
and compared stories of punishments our children had to endure because of
things that became really small the next day. (Fritzi’s was “who opened the new
bar of soap and mine was “why can’t anybody fill up the water jug.”)
When I cut
my hair off after a head injury, we laughed about how fortunate we were to “have
the face to carry it off.”
About a
month ago, Anna, another of our sister/friends decided that we all needed to
get together for a sleep over. We were
waiting for the right time in our busy lives to do it.
Don’t wait to call, get together,
show love, write a note, to extend forgiveness or show support for someone else’s
dreams.
Do it now.
Fritzi allowed me to laugh at myself,
love my authenticity, smile while I change the world, and confront my own
issues. She did it in life and will continue to do so.
How will you be remembered?
Bertice Berry, PhD.
Greetings Bertice:
ReplyDeleteEmily Brontë wrote: "I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas. They've gone through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."
I came across that quote a few weeks ago and said to myself: "AHA! This describes how I felt after meeting Dr. Berry and hearing her workshop and keynote at the MGM Resorts' Foundation's Women's Leadership Conference."
After hearing you speak and share with us, I actually 'visualized' that my ideas were streaming as multiple colors in my mind. I tried to write about it, and capture the imagery on paper, but had a hard time describing it. I got as close as saying I began to, "feel in colors." (I actually wrote that to you in an e-mail, but deleted it, figuring you may think my head injury was still affecting me, LOL!)
Well, after reading your blog today; I decided to send the Brontë quote to share a slice of what 'your' legacy means to me, (and probably a lot of other lives you touch) even after only a brief meeting . . . with much gratitude and a hug I wanted to share this quote with you because it hits the mark--your kind words, acknowledgement of how challenging life has been and sharing yourself with the audience helped expand my ideas and alter their colors. It is true, like some experiences and dreams that can stay with you, so do some of the people you meet. :)