I’ve been attending the Celebrate Women Celebrate You events since its inception in August 2010. Initially, I was apprehensive about attending the first event because I was just beginning to come out of a very dark place in my life (going through a divorce) and I didn’t want everyone to see my scars. When I arrived and saw all of the beautiful women dressed in white mingling, talking, introducing themselves and being so welcoming to one another, I began to let my guard down. To hear Leana explain the vision of celebrate women celebrate you along with the awesome testimonies of the honorees over the past 5 years truly has been an encouragement in my life. I heard stories of a woman of faith who adopted her daughters’ friend because she saw the need (2010), a woman of encouragement who quit her good corporate job to step out on faith and open up a restaurant so that people could savor her delectable culinary delights (2011), along with a woman of strength who had overcome breast cancer and stood as a living testimony being cancer free (2012). I even remember a story of a phenomenal woman who was the first African American cashier at NJ Bell’s public payment office in Plainfield (2014).
These and all the other stories over the years continued to help me realize that I was going to recover after my divorce. I was going to get back on my feet financially, emotionally and so what that the life I thought I had wasn’t meant to be. I was going to be better not bitter and build a new life.
When Leana approached me to be on the team of women assisting to plan the inaugural black tie event last year, I was honored (me, little old me). I was touched even more when I was asked to be a part of the support team where I lead Mrs. Loretta Wynn through the process of being an honoree.
Attending and assisting with planning the Celebrate women Celebrate you events over the years has helped me feel comfortable in sharing my testimony with other women (some of which have come back to me and said that my testimony encouraged them…who would have thought that I would have been able to encourage another woman, however it is a principle I now live by). The founding principle of CWCY (celebrating ordinary women doing extraordinary things) confirmed for me to continue to step out on faith, be determined, stand strong, and follow God’s direction because he has plans and abundant blessings in store for me.
