Following are remarks from Trucia Drummond upon receiving the Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award ...
“There is no greater honor than to be recognized by one’s peers. That is why the Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award is so special and important to me; because you are important and special to me and this organization is special and important to me.
For those who know me well, you know that one of my passions is reading. I am never without a book. I even trained for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro by walking the stairs in my high-rise while reading a book - the hand-held variety. More people were impressed by the training regime than by the climb.
A few years ago, a friend stopped by my office and plunked The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood on my desk. I took it home and once I started it, I devoured it. The morning after I finished it, I wrapped it up and mailed it off to one of my oldest friends. I knew she would love it too. For months, I bought copies for other friends and recommended it to everyone. It may not be the most learned literature I have ever read, but it touched me in a very visceral way. It combined those essential elements that make you laugh and cry. It is about a life-long friendship of four women and all that entails. Their relationship is reflected through the eyes of one of their daughters as she seeks to understand and penetrate one of the strongest bonds there is.
About the time that I received notice that I had been honored with the Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award, I had just read a book called The Secret Life of Bees. This, too, was a very compelling read with the story revolving around a strong circle of women and their interrelationships. In the back of the book was an interview with the author, Sue Monk Kidd. She was asked, ‘How does having a sisterhood of women make a difference? Have you experienced such a community?’ Since her response so aptly expresses how I feel about communities of women, allow me to quote her. ‘When women bond together in a community in such a way that “sisterhood” is created, it gives them an accepting and intimate forum to tell their stories and have them heard and validated by others. The community not only helps to heal their circumstance, but encourages them to grow into their larger destiny.’
Over the years that I have enjoyed being a part of this wonderful organization, the intangible quality that draws me into this group is quite simply, sisterhood. This is where we feel safe, loved, valued, supported, encouraged, applauded. We have sought to be more than that, thinking that was not enough to justify our existence. I think, conversely, that it is quite enough to justify our existence. This community gives us the self-confidence and, yes, the power to go out and achieve our goals whatever they may be, to cope with our struggles whatever they may be, and to rejoice in our accomplishments whatever they may be.
I am extremely proud and humbled to accept this award and to have shared this tribute with some of my dearest friends and much-admired colleagues and mentors. To have been nominated for this award by Jane Selbe means so much to me. She was always the ‘leader of the pack’ in Illinois, and I am thrilled to follow in her steps. I extend my congratulations to Jane and Herb on their recent marriage. Life just keeps getting better!
My ever-abiding wish for AAWD is that our divine secrets will be less secret and that many more women will come, share, and enjoy the sisterhood with us.
Thank you very, very much.”
