Vann

I met Vann (pronounced Vee-ann) in 1975, just as her life was about to change. She was a live-in domestic worker, as her mother had been before her. When we became friends, I was 30 and she was almost 40, and she had begun to dream of a life with more love, more courage, more possibility. She could see what her life was going to be if she didn't change it, and that vision chilled her. She decided to have a child, which meant she'd have to move out of her cramped servant quarters...and when she had Althea, who became my son Seth's playmate, Vann began to imagine a future for Althea that had no bounds. This morning we were joined at breakfast by Althea who, at forty, is a dancer, has a degree in theatre, has worked in musical theatre, and is completing an advanced degree in screenwriting while working as a Flight Attendant for a major airline. Vann has retired and after some years of working as an election volunteer, convincing people to vote and being sure nobody intimidated them, she now spends her time at a senior center with a group of good friends who, like her and like me, have worked to strip away centuries of racism and sexism. We still have a long way to go, but there is no doubt we've seen change.