Sweet Bird

Late this afternoon, I got a text from a victim assistance worker in the district attorney’s office telling me that she had a client in desperate need of tampons and asking if I could I help. I said yes, found three large boxes of super absorbent tampons and two packs of wipes and put them in a grocery bag with two Time of the Month Club mugs, one for the person she was helping and one for her.

The whole incident felt like the stories of cardinals showing up after someone has died.

Yesterday, I announced on social media that I’d be closing down Time of the Month Club, my little nonprofit organization, by the end of the year. It was time. It has been time for a while, I just couldn’t let it go.

Ten years of having stacks of tampons and pads in my dining room, hauling pink bags of supplies to shelters, and, every once in a while, having someone who had been homeless look me in the eye and thank me. Tampons, pads, and underwear for people who are homeless – that was my deal.

That, and a bit of advocacy – trying to raise awareness of the cost of menstrual supplies and the benefits of providing free supplies to everyone. It was a good run but it was a solo enterprise. And, to be blunt, I ran out of gas. Not for community work, not for homeless people, not even for heavy lifting (although those pink bags can get heavy!). I ran out of gas on this specific issue.

But while I was sputtering into the station, I noticed other groups firing up. I saw energy in these new groups that I used to have. At first, it bothered me – like upstarts were beating my time – but then I started to appreciate their exuberance and insistence on the issue of menstrual equity. After all, it’s what we want in a movement, right? To get a lot of people and organizations taking up the cause and doing it more forcefully, more competently, more wholeheartedly?

So today was bittersweet. There’s a wee bit of mourning going on here. So it was a gift to have the cardinal visit. It flew in at just the right time and when it left, that sweet bird was smiling.

__________________________

Photo by Patrice Bouchard on Unsplash