Gals Graze

You’d have thought we were saving the world Wednesday when MariBen Ramsey, Michaelanne Hurst and Lulu Flores and I met for lunch - and perhaps we were!   
(Pictred left to right - MariBen Ramsey, Michaelanne Hurst and Lulu Flores)

I swear there’s just some chemistry that happens when women that don’t know each other very well, but who are all smart gals, get together and there’s no real agenda. I wouldn’t be surprised if the paint started to soon peel off the walls at that corner table at Cipollina Restaurant,  from the sheer power thrown off by the gals that I lunch with there. 

MariBen Ramsey, who has been Vice President and General Counsel/Grant Director at the Austin Community Foundation since 1995 cracked us up with her stories of how many times the Austin Community Foundation has moved – always chasing the free rental space.

Since Lulu Flores, attorney and former Assistant Director for Intergovernmental Affairs of the Railroad Commission, is the current President of the National Women’s Political Caucus, we inevitable got into a spirited discussion of the recent elections. I am the former President of the Texas Women's Political Caucus so I was particularly interested in a very controversial issue – whether women’s political organizations should endorse male candidates. The National Caucus has just determined to enforce a previously allowed infraction of its basic charter, the endorsement of male candidates by state and local affiliates. MariBen, Lulu and I have been around long enough to have seen how this issue can inspire unbridled passion in women – on both sides of the issue. May sound simple, but it's not.

Michaelanne Hurst, Executive Director of Communities for Recovery, which provides volunteer peer support services for persons suffering from alcoholism, chemical addiction and an addiction/mental disorder combo, listened intently to the political stories, and then made a wonderful statement. She said that as the mother of a three-year-old daughter, she has a renewed interest in equality for women. 

I believe we all left feeling inspired by the intelligence of our gender, and fueled to tackle another day! Thanks to MariBen, Lulu and Michaelanne for reminding me again, why I am so glad that I am a woman.

SueAnn