Once upon a time (April 17, 2023 to be exact), a group of bright-eyed, bushy tailed new board members gathered together to begin a new chapter in DDP's story. Former board members met and shared stories of DDP past, present and their hopes for the future. The newbies listened with awe as the wise (and a little tired) leaders went over the 17-pages-long state of affairs. Filled with hope, excitement and nerves; the newbies set out trying to wrap their minds around where to begin. The nine well-intentioned strangers decided to start slowly and focused on building relationships with one another. After learning each others' strengths and struggles, it was quicker to assign tasks to help move DDP forward. After a few months of sitting around Zoom screens sharing pieces of their personal stories, reflections on the work to be done, and goals for the future, the mighty 9 broke into task groups to get to it. They laughed together, vented together, and came back to board meetings to report on progress--financial, structural, legal--all the things. They strove to be PACEful with one another, even amidst sad and stressful times; saying goodbye to Delroy, projects being more difficult than initially anticipated, feeling overscheduled and navigating some conflicts within the DDP worldwide community. They celebrated their successes together at the conference and carved out time to reflect on their time together / relationships with one another. It was a time of deeply-felt connection as well as sadness as they said goodbye to Alison and Joy. Then 4 new bright-eyed, bushy tailed newbies joined the crew, and the board began working to bring them into the fold and put them to work! Over the past 6 months, we have tried to continue the cycle that worked so well for us the first time around--sharing pieces of our lives with one another and working on projects together. Now we're saying goodbye to Tatiana several months too soon! Tatiana: Our board member who helped us better understand ways to be inclusive to those for whom English is not their first language; who has always been quick to advocate for accessibility (particularly financial accessibility); who helped us better understand DDP in Greece; who has brought a passion and a joy for DDP to our time together. Thank you for being you, Tatiana!!! We're all hoping you have a speedy recovery surrounded by loads of love--ours and others'. Until next time, friend. GO RELAX :)