The other night, I was up until 1:30 am sending out individual emails to our press contacts announcing our upcoming event on Friday, November 4th with John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting, Civil Twilight, and Vicci Martinez. While it was exciting that our press documents were complete (and looked great), it was extremely time consuming. I had spoke with Mateo Messina that evening and he was also up creating and writing music for the concert into the wee hours.

While I forced myself to stay awake and concentrate, I began to think about all the volunteer hours that go into putting on this one event. How many other guild members had had their share of late nights soliciting items for the silent auction, coordinating production, or creating marketing materials? Why were we all doing this? Are we insane?

Then, I remembered a conversation I had at a party recently with a friend who’s been a nurse at Seattle Children’s Hospital for the past 20+ years. She thanked me that evening for the work we do through the guild. “Do you know that I’m the one who holds the hands of these families when they’re in the hospital with their sick child?” she said. “When they look me in the eyes and say, ‘we don’t know how we’re going to pay for this,’ I get to reply, ‘it’s going to be okay, we can help you.’And I wouldn’t be able to say that if it weren’t for guilds like yours.”

Teary eyed, I thought of those families and the small amount of comfort that must be in such a despairing moment. Then, a smile spread across my face and I finished sending my emails. ~Tammy,  Symphony Guild member