Graduation Day!

If I said the word sewing school to you, I am sure you wouldn’t see a picture of Felix Unger and Oscar Trevor Madison in your mind. Instead you would be thinking about ladies working with different fabrics sitting at treadle sewing machines making beautiful bags. But as I was thinking about our upcoming graduation, The Odd Couple seemed like the perfect word picture to me.

We are talking about bringing two very different cultures together to create a program that can live and breath on it’s own. John reminded me yesterday that we are on the front line with these ladies fighting for change. He said, think about their lives and what they where doing six months ago before they entered school. We are working to create a place for women to be educated on so many levels of their lives and challenged on things that may have never mattered in the past. Creating a place where they can build self-confidence, bring hope to their families and provide for them.

When we first started school, John said to me, “If you have one that graduates, this will be a success”. I will be honest; I didn’t find his words encouraging. We made the rules hard and it would cost them something thing, personally they would have to change some things to get here everyday and get here on time.

Today, I am left without the proper words to tell you how happy I am to have a graduating class of seven ladies push through manifestations, sick children and the many, many other things in order to graduate. I am thankful they are willing to be part of The Odd Couple. I promise not to eat really awful food or make strange noises while holding my nose. We can let John do all of those things.