Punished Deeds

I am on the Board of Directors at Community Reach Center. I have been on the board for four years. I was approached to be on the board, I did not seek it out. It was a monumental decision. Given my personality and my various insanities, the prospect of being a board member was more than humorous. However, here I am.

I complain about it. It gets annoying at times. The meetings can be boring. And then there is the flip side. I make a difference, no matter how small it may be. I am involved in something bigger. I am doing things my father did. It has opened up a large opportunity for me to do volunteer work. It has introduced me to people I never would have met and situations I never would have been in. I have overcome some serious fears in this process. I am proud of myself for my accomplishments.

During these four years I have kept certain things separate. Jason and Joshua are invited for select situations. Anyone else is, for the most part, kept out of it. I have asked for people to help volunteer for things or invited people to join in a celebration we may be having at the center. No one has taken me up on any of it...except one. But, as far as my actual board work, it is private.

One person I have asked to volunteer is my mother. She worked the golf tournament with me one year and assisted with the Christmas party last year. Recently I brought her with me to help stuff envelopes. We were there about an hour. All of these things she did reluctantly. I originally thought that by bringing her with me on these few occasions she might meet some older people who attend these things and make a friend.

While stuffing envelopes with another elderly lady, it came out in conversation that they are both widows, both love spending time with their grandchildren and both had careers in the medical field. This sounded promising. Well, nothing came of it except that my mother asked the secretary how she can become a regular volunteer. She got the paperwork to fill out and turned it in. Today she went in for her orientation and they gave her an application for employment. Say what?

What the fuck happened? My mother talked today with people I have a working relationship with. My mother was going to have lunch with the CEO which thankfully did not get to happen. The Chief Operating Officer went in to the orientation. Isn’t this some sort of conflict of interest? I told her there was no way she could work there. She thinks crazy people are scary and even at one point in our conversation called them “inmates”. I don’t think she’s a good candidate for a job at a mental health center.

I went from trying to find my mother a friend to getting my mother involved in my private business. I feel responsible for it and regret bringing her in. No good deed goes unpunished, right?

This opens up a whole huge can of worms that I would rather not have to deal with. She is not a person who keeps her mouth shut. She has zero boundaries.

I am so screwed.