As we move forward, I would like to take a moment an share with you what the IAHC has meant - to me, the IAHC is "home." Since 1985 the IAHC has served as a "safe place" to voice emerging ideas, network with colleagues, connect with leaders and mentors and explore conflicts in and about caring. As a constant in my professional development, IAHC served as a place to give and receive the reflected appraisal of others whose opinion is valued. It is a place to feel cared about and care for others. It is a place for renewal, recommitment, and reflection. It is a place for joy and sorrow; laughter and tears; empirical scholarship and aesthetic expressions; critique and affirmation; love and fun. It is simultaneously both a haven and a launching pad.

Since 1985, I have had several different career roles and lived in several different locations. Because my husband's career path has often been the impetus for these moves, I learned early on that constant change was a certainty in my life. With that as a given, my husband and I have certain patterns which we maintain as "constants." For example, each year we visit family at predictable times; take at least one vacation to the same place; maintain stable friendships and family relationships; and focus on the gift of "being with" them and each other. In a world with ever increasing change of "chaos" (according to uncertainty theory), the constants we strive for help create moments of order.
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