It was an incredible feeling to be at our LeadingAge annual meeting last week. I’m not sure whether it was more like a family reunion of long lost family members or the joyous return to civilization of someone who’d been stranded on a desert island without hope of rescue! Perhaps I am overstating the case but I don’t think so. There was more than excitement in being in Atlanta, there was real emotion in being together again.

Many of us did a lot of hugging last week. It wasn’t just the hug of greeting or the quick social convention of a one-armed casual connection. These were heartfelt moments, often with tears in our eyes, arms wrapped all the way around. There was a lot of meaning in those moments of reunion. It was the sharing of the nightmare we’ve lived through, it was the joy that we’d survived and it was an acknowledgment of all that has been lost.

Throughout the last 20 months, we all fought this battle. We fought it in different settings and to different extremes but we all fought and we all carry the scars to prove it. Being together with our colleagues, being with the only people who could truly understand this experience, was affirming and healing and I felt it in every interaction.

From the depths of our struggles, we rise. Our energy rebuilds and we rededicate ourselves to our commitment, to the work we do, to the people we serve, to our incredible teams and our remarkable colleagues. I am grateful to have been with each of you last week, grateful for the chance to be together and to move forward, building on our collective energy, even more strongly than before.