The Work that Matters Most

I’ve never been afraid of hard work. I realized early on that if I wanted to get anywhere, I was going to have to do the work. My talents were so-so, but my grit and determination were my superpowers. When I dug in, put in the time, and slogged through the tough parts, was when I grew the most, valued my accomplishments and lived up to my personal potential. At @VMware, we used to say “We (VMware) tackle the hardest problems…the problems others either can’t or won’t try to solve.”?That attitude always resonated with me.

All this to explain that I’m about to do something really, really hard.

I’m joining the Board of Directors for George Mark Children’s House, a non-profit that is tackling one of the biggest gaps in modern healthcare: pediatric palliative and end-of-life care.

Repeat…pediatric palliative and end-of-life care. Just saying the words is difficult. The topic alone is gut-wrenching, devastating, and overwhelming.

All true.

But as Dr. Kathy Hull, the Founder and visionary behind the George Mark Children’s House told me, “Just because it’s hard, and challenging, and heavy, doesn’t make it go away.” Her attitude, passion and inspiration is ANYTHING but heavy and sad.?She saw opportunity in celebrating life, no matter how short that life was.?Rather than limiting visiting hours, she envisioned enabling entire families to enjoy the precious time they had together. Traditional hospitals strive to keep everything sterile which is important, but they FEEL sterile. Kathy envisioned an environment that embodied warmth, love, peace and dare I say joy. And the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) was that she wanted to provide these services to families of any social-economic standing.?She wanted to give them this precious gift of time with their terminally ill child, for free.

Dr. Hull lived this all first-hand, not as a parent, but as a Child Psychologist for Oakland’s Children’s Hospital.?For over a decade she counseled parents and entire families, helping them process the bottomless grief of saying good-bye to a child, in an environment built for saving life, not letting it go.

We all know we are going to die someday. Instead of looking the other way, hoping someone else will help and do the hard work, I’ve decided to be a part of this innovative, positive and peaceful approach to end-of-life and respite pediatric care. I’m joining the Board of Directors for George Mark Children’s House.

If you’ve never heard of the George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, visit www.georgemark.org or watch Dr. Kathy Hull's 12-minute TedTalk on her vision for pediatric palliative care.

I have my work cut out for me, but, in this case, it’s not the work that’s hard, it’s the purpose that’s hard. I am equal parts scared and excited to do everything I can to help the George Mark Children’s House serve as many families as possible during one of life’s most trying chapters. #georgemarkchildrenshouse