Growing up with LITA
by Linda Wygant
Growing up with LITA, I learned many things. Kitchen tables are not only made for eating meals. They are places where papers for incorporation can be signed, mailing labels typed and volunteers interviewed. Front yards were not just for playing tag, but places where LITA's first board members could strategize how to pay for stamps and insurance. Newsletters didn't fold and stamp themselves. People did it, on dining tables and in front of television. Running a non-profit corporation from your kitchen means your phone calls to volunteers may be punctuated by the sounds of dogs barking and children asking you what's on the menu for dinner.
I met my own LITA friend when my mother introduced me to Dorothy, who became my surrogate grandmother. Dorothy and I both loved music and when she was able, she played the organ in the hospital lounge. I brought my guitar, she played the organ, and together we'd sing until both our voices wore out. Dorothy was a person of deep faith, whose courage over the ten years I knew her inspired and encouraged me. I knew she would be excited when I told her that I felt called to the ministry, though in her church, traditionally, women cannot be ordained.
My life was changed forever and I was made deeper and stronger because I met Dorothy. I knew she loved me and she knew I loved her and that is perhaps the greatest lesson I learned growing up with LITA. Those things that are rooted in love have the power to transform us and make us new, if we allow it.
LOVE IS, indeed, THE ANSWER.