I wrote this for sharing on the Friends of La Leche League Facebook page, formerly known as LLL Alumni
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When I went to my first La Leche League meeting with my four-month-old, I
wasn’t sure what to expect. I was given the blue copy of the Womanly
Art of Breastfeeding when I was pregnant. I devoured the book. I felt
at home with everything I read. The friend who gave the book to me
told me that if I didn’t have any bottles in the house, I would not be
tempted to use them.
My daughter was born in Bangkok, where we were
posted to the US Embassy. I really didn’t have anyone to talk to about
breastfeeding. There were no La Leche League Groups there at that time.
As soon as I went into that first meeting, back in the States I knew I
was “home”. Seeing babies with teeth and shoes who were still nursing
was new to me, but I learned about all the various ways we mother our
babies.
I started to work on becoming a LLL Leader as soon as I was
able to. In fact, I received my Leader card in the mail at my in-law’s
house as we were about to leave for another overseas posting.
I
never knew back then that I would “still” be in La Leche League. But
here I am. Over forty years later I am still an active Leader.
We
lived in Poland under communism, and I was not permitted to form a group
or hold any kind of meetings. In fact, while we were there it was even
illegal to have a printing press. So I did my work by correspondence
with La Leche League International. I got my husband’s Polish secretary
to help translate basic breastfeeding information into Polish. I then
mailed the Polish language information to LLLI in, Illinois. My
understanding is that most of the requests for the Polish language
breastfeeding information were ordered by Polish Americans and they
mailed it back to Poland.
I have many more overseas La Leche League
tales to tell. But now I want to write about the wonderful group that
grew out of being a La Leche League Leader.
In 1996 we were just
starting to write, send and receive email. My family and I were again
overseas. This time in Western Australia. I was active with a LLL
Group there, but was missing my friends back home. Plus, as much as I
love working with mothers and babies, I was entering a new stage of
parenting. Teens. Kids leaving home. Aging parents. And hot flashes!
There was an online email listserv for La Leche League Leaders. It was
so good to connect. But several of us were in the same boat. We
didn’t need support with potty training or night nursing.
Norma
Ritter started a group just for “us”. We decided on the name “Power
Surge”, or PS. We capped membership at a little over 40 members.
In
the last 20+ years we have remained a cohesive group. We have been
though some members becoming widows, losing parents, losing children and
grandchildren. A few of the members of this group have died as well.
The first time a large number of actually met in person was at the
La leche League International Conference in Washington, DC in 1997. I
have pictures and memories of that time that I will cherish
One
member of the group had an idea. She suggested that we all contribute a
bead that we felt represented each our own unique personality. Then we
each contributed enough beads for each member to make their own
necklace from the beads. When any one of us needs support, prayers and
good thoughts we spread out PS Angel wings and wear our beads.
Somewhere I have a list of which bead came from which “PSsister” and why
it was chosen. Some were handmade, some purchased. Some were even
made of rolled up pages from New Beginnings!
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Comments:
Patricia Lawrence Spanjer And
because PS was full, some of us formed another group, Spice of LL Life.
SOLLL OR SOUL. I am part of that group and we are still going strong/
Edie Lindsey Eckman I love this story, and the influence so many LLLLeaders and friends had on my life.
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Jill Levien Interesting
to read everyone's LLL journey to leadership. I was not one of those
moms who felt instantly at home. In fact I remember being shocked at
seeing a toddler who walked and talked and wore shoes climb up onto her
mother's lap to nurse. Little
did I know that 2 years later I was still nursing my oldest when I
became pregnant with our middle child. Or that I would tandem nurse my
middle and youngest child. .
Alice Dench Ziring I think many of us were shocked/surprised to see those first nursing toddlers. ;-)
Barbara Mullins Loved reading this, Nancy,
and I don't know where my life would have gone without this loving,
supportive network of like-minded women! We've been together through
family-centered life and birth - and family-centered end of life care.
Sarah Ostrowski Simmons 🥰
I am a LLL baby! We lived (well still do actually) in New Castle, PA
we drove over 2 hours for meetings in Cleveland, OH. My mom talks about
her first meetings much like you described yours. We would meet at a
park and she said they would ring a bell for
lunch and dozens of "big" kids would pour in! I met my first best
friend in that LLL group too. I still talk to the leader from that group
and many of the friends my family made in it. Fast
forward to me at 25 and I walked into my first LLL meeting as a mom,
the whole meeting was spent asking me questions about growing up in LLL :-)
Sadly shortly later that group in my hometown disbanded :-( .
Now
I am almost 33 years old currently nursing my 2yr old last baby as I
write this post. LLL has been such an amazing part of my life and
taught me that many moms nurse long, my daughter nursed 33 mos. It also
taught me to fight for it while in the hospital with a 36wker. Thank you
for all of your lifetime of work to share BF around the world!
Love
Sarah Ostrowski Simmons Sarah Russell
i think there is one in boardman, OH. I was in MOPs and most of the
moms in that group were crossovers from lll and our local nurse family
partnership and wic office are HUGE advocates and have a support group
too :-)
my biggest personal challenge has been only having 1 car, so that I
could stay home with the kids so getting to meetings was a challenge
sometimes.
Sarah Russell Sarah Ostrowski Simmons
that is hard! So much can be done online now... especially since
everything shut down a few months ago. If you are interested in pursuing
LLL leadership, there is definitely a way to make it happen!
Sarah Ostrowski Simmons Sarah Russell
awesome I may! It has always been a passion of mine! Kick myself often
for not applying for peer counselor at wic a few years ago... I am
currently the librarian at New Castle Christian Academy... but LLL
leadership is definitely on my heart!
Chris Weideman Newlon What a beautiful tale of your continuing journey with LLL. Beautiful and I am just so lucky to have met you in New Orleans!
Margie Hord de Mendez What a fascinating story! And in several countries you were able to make an impact, despite limitations. Congrats!
Babette Cohn Love you Nancy!!
This was beautifully said, of course. You continue to inspire all of us
who followed in your footsteps as LLL Leaders. I remember that 1997
Conference and how proud we all were to be local leaders in the host
city! Angela and I were there with our "babies", with mine turning 23 years old next Wednesday - it still feels like it was yesterday.
Suki Sil Such
wonderful stories, what an amazing international community you helped
to build and then build again! Waving at you from Sydney, Australia.
Best wishes
Janice Pickett Beautiful
story. My first LLL meeting was like meeting all my friends even though
I didn’t know anyone there. LLL Leaders make a difference because for
some reason they can relate to whatever one is experiencing.
Kristi Caw Ramey This thread, all these messages make me so happy. My first LLL International Conference was in 97 as well, in DC
Kimberli Wall Hartwick What
a great life you have lead so far! I would not have been able to enjoy
my independent, non-sleeping, constantly nursing, first born had my
neighbor not dragged me to LLL of Redlands, CA group when I was
pregnant. What a life changing day. By thtime that
baby was born I had read the 'blue book' several times and sent it to my
Mother. She read it and became a big part of changing how babies in
our family were raised from that moment on. I still am a leader too,
Children 41,38, 31, and 28 (they have weaned. :)
) Grandmother to 6. Still doing this because I remember how wonderful
it was to be helped by a calm voice on the phone, and a group of women
who willing shared their experiences.
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Terri Willner I
was so lucky to know Nancy as a co leader in VA early in my LLL time
and she was a big positive influence on me. My 3 sisters all became
Leaders too, and 3 of us were active at the same time in Eastern PA, my
daughter claims she was described as part of “that family” when she
helped with children’s play area during a conference .... no grand
babies for me yet but I think I have a niece applying for leadership
now!
Alice Dench Ziring I,
also, felt as if I had 'come home' and 'found my niche' when I found
LLL and then became a Leader. I applied for LLL leadership without ever
having been to a meeting, as I was living overseas with no local group
available. However, I had the old blue book living overseas with no local group available. However, I had the old blue
WAB, as well as a copy of Karen Pryor's _Nursing Your Baby_, and I had
subscribed to "LLL News", the precursor to "New Beginnings". My
application took what seemed to me a very long 6 months, as it was all
done by snail mail from overseas. As a fellow Power Surger...named for
our perimenopausal 'power surges' (aka hot flashes)...I found a
sisterhood that sustains me to this day, even though I retired last year
as a Leader...after over 40 years. In addition, I have a number of
other wonderful long-time female friends who I met through LLL.
Anne Marie Arsenault Just so beautiful...LLL-ish. My besties are mostly women I met and shared with back in 1970-80's.
Sharon Meserole Miller Such
an amazing journey! I too felt such relief when I attended my first
LLL meeting 46 years ago! I was a young mother ( almost 21), with no
friends who had children yet. My husband worked 2nd shift, and many
evenings my Dad would come over to keep me company! Back when I was born, there was little encouragement for
mothers to nurse. So my Mom and Dad watched me learn to nurture my baby
by breastfeeding. They became great supporters over the years as my
family grew from 3-7! 5 beautiful girls that I couldn’t be prouder of!
When my 2nd daughter arrived, I quickly began the process to become a
leader. I moved 3 times through the years, but always found LLL moms to
be kind and caring. Now the girls are all grown. And I am so thankful
for the growing I had as a mother through the years... Now I have 15
grandchildren who have been nurtured with love! Thank you LLL for
touching our lives with much knowledge and a legacy that I hope will
continue through generations to come! ❤️
Marie Foley-Nielsen I
remember making many beads to bring to that conf, I hand painted a
gingerbread man as my trademark. My crafting business card reads "The
Gingerbread Lady". Did craft shows for thirty or more years, using my
earnings to offset the cost of Catholic school tuition for my 8
children. Now my age slows my skill, but will always make gifts. Still
miss LLLConf. What ever happened to my necklace?
