As my term as your president comes to an end, I would like to take a minute to thank each of you for your trust and the opportunity to lead an organization that I believe in and so fully support. I feel similar to the character in The Little Prince, when he came to earth for the first time. He saw many beautiful roses and wondered why he thought his one rose was so much prettier. After all they all looked alike. He realized it was because of the time, nurturing and love that he gave that one particular rose on a daily basis. It was his rose, and therefore the most beautiful of all.
This is our society. It reflects what we put into it and how we nurture it. Like each of us in practice, ASHT is a work in progress. Our society must adapt to the times and mold and shape itself to meet member needs. Like our children, it must change with each new stage of development. ASHT is on the right track thanks to the efforts of your board and so many others.
Many of you, especially our past presidents, offered counsel, support and guidance to me over the past year. I extend sincere thanks to each of you. It was the collective information that I gathered from so many people who came before me that guided me through this year. I want to thank Karen Peterson, your executive director, for mentoring me in a job that was new to me. Her vision over the past three years has helped us achieve strong membership growth and continued development of quality programming.
I leave you in the very capable hands of your incoming president, Sue Michlovitz, PT PhD CHT, who will continue to push our society to new heights. I wish each of you health and peace, kindness, tolerance and a world full of laughter as you enjoy the holidays and continue your important work into 2013.
