philanthropy and new jeans

Lucy and I spent a few days in St. Paul, Minnesota last week attending a semi annual meeting of the board of the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation. We stayed with our good friends and cousins, the Titcombs, who are excellent hosts. (It's not their fault Lucy wouldn't sleep in Taylor's bassinet.) Even though we were both frizzled on Friday from lack of sleep, we enjoyed the company of our "cousins," it wasn't too cold yet, and I even found some new jeans that fit!

Although on Friday Lucy spent the day giving her babysitter a bad time, on Saturday she attended the meeting with me. She listened intently to the discussion about engaging more family members in the foundation, but got squirmy during the investment committee report so we retired to the family archive room and nursed while contemplating various family trees and photographs.


It was, as always, inspiring and gratifying to participate in the family foundation. This foundation represents over 350 family members and gifts over $800,000 annually to nonprofits all over the world. It is an amazing feeling to be part of a family endeavor that helps people with everything from therapy services in rural Oklahoma to sustainable reforestation in places like Ghana and Nicaragua.

My cousin Megan is in the process of becoming a certified doula, and in addition to shopping for jeans, we talked a lot about the state of childbirth in our country. While I was there she attended a birth with a woman who, with Megan's help, was able to have a successful VBAC naturally. Hurray for doulas! Spread the word...