Tomorrow (April 9), my business partner and I will accept the Humanitarian Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association. We have been invited to say a few words, and because I can't possibly resist both a microphone and a captive audience, I have prepared a few words. (Christine, my business partner, is immune to the spotlight and graciously agreed to let me speak.) For your perusal, here is what I plan to say:
We would like to thank the AMTA of Illinois for this award, and Susan Barney for nominating us. We would also like to thank Ruth Werstler of the Bethesda Home and Retirement Center in Chicago for welcoming us into the community and providing the incubator where we created ElderCare Massage Chicago.
Our work is its own reward--rich and fufilling in all the ways we were seeking when we first went to massage school. Recognition like this, therefore, comes as an unexpected and humbling honor. Christine and I have known for a long time we wanted towork with older adults. It is not just the rapid growth of this populationand its associated demand for ccomplementary medicine that drives us. We truly feel that massage therapy promotes and supports human dignity as much as physical well being. We continue to seek to honor each client as they are, and to be person-centered in all that we do. Thank you for your support.
