Dear Sigma Sisters

This is my love letter to YOU. Each and every one of you.

Thank you. For what, you may ask?

Thank you all for being my rock. Thank you for being my friends. Thank you for being my mentors, my sounding boards, my therapists, for making me laugh. For teaching me. For supporting me. But most importantly, thank you for being my sisters. You are all the reason I survived 2020. For those who may not know me, I currently manage the page on Facebook called “Tri Sigma Alumnae Engage.” Alumnae Engage started as a summer self-guided program for alumnae to learn about particular topics. In late 2017, I was brought on along with a few other rock star and legendary Sigmas (Chris McCroy Smithhisler, Iota Alpha; Michelle Tantillo, Epsilon Omicron Chapter at Illinois State University; and Elizabeth Hoffert, Beta Xi Chapter at Southeast Missouri State University) to develop that year’s program. Managing a Facebook page was also a part of that program, and I volunteered to manage it. Managing the Alumnae Engage page has become a passion project and a respite for me. Inspired by my adventures from the Labyrinth Leadership Experience (shout out to the class of 2015!) and, of course, fellow Iota Alpha, Chris Smithhisler, I found peace and wisdom reading in daily inspirations. So, I started sharing them on the Facebook page in hopes it would make just one sister smile or fi nd peace. The overwhelmingly positive response to the daily inspirations was something I had not anticipated. Since 2018, we have grown to over 2,000 members and have sisters sharing daily wisdom and support with each other every single day. Sometimes we do random acts of kindness where we have giveaways, and members will post Starbucks Gift Cards for members to use. And while we promote positivity on the page, we also attempt to be realistic with sharing our positivity. We know we are not all in the same situations, and we all have different struggles. We share our wisdom with empathy, understanding that we may never truly understand what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes, but as sisters, we can do what we can do to support them. Little did we know what 2020 had in store for *all* of us. When the pandemic fi rst hit in March, we were all thrown into a state of unknown. I leaned on our value of “Hope” to keep the page going. I tried to share the good but also acknowledged we were undoubtedly in the bad. But hope is an anchor, and we needed to anchor to something hopeful at that time.

I was, like many of us, sent to work from home for the indefi nite future. And while the pandemic was front and center, that would not be the only thing I would be personally dealing with in 2020. In April of 2020, I developed a health issue. That health issue would take over my life until October, when I had emergency surgery. But as the saying goes... “But wait! There’s more!”

I live in downtown Chicago. My area is typically peaceful; however, the summer of 2020 brought civil unrest, which affected my neighborhood. All of this took an emotional toll on me. I was a single woman living alone in a studio apartment with my cat, Luna. I had no nearby family. Except for two of my best friends (one of whom is a Sigma sister) who lived further north in the city, I had no in-person support. I had never felt more alone in my life. I spoke very little of this on Facebook, and I never mentioned any of this on Alumnae Engage. However, I tried to acknowledge that we can still be positive while understanding things were rough. Times were scary, and it was okay to be scared. However, somehow, my sisters knew *I* needed help. Cards. Surprise gifts in the mail, some of which were sent anonymously. One sister from the Chicago suburbs drove all the way to my building to drop off a surprise. Old-school phone calls from sisters checking in on me. All this love coming from both alumnae and collegiate members. I look back on everything today as I write this, and all I wonder is: “How did I get so lucky?” My Sigma story is not your traditional one. I used to get sad that I never fully had the Sigma collegiate experience in college. However, after 2020, I fi nally understood; my Sigma story played out exactly as it was meant to, and it got me through one of the hardest periods of my life to date. For that, I am forever grateful. My Sigma sisters were there for me during a time that I needed them like no other. The Tri Sigma sisterhood is fi lled with some of the most amazing people I have ever encountered. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for being a part of this sisterhood. THANK YOU. Wisdom, power, faith, hope, and love. Values which I try to live my life by daily. And I am proud to say I am surrounded by thousands of sisters who share the same values.

Thank you, Sigma sisters. You will never know the profound impact you have made on my life.

Renee C. Kries Character Education Coordinator Alumnae Relations Advisor- Epsilon Omicron Chicago North Shore/City Alumnae