Lake Sunapee Region VNA and Hospice’s (LSRNVA) luncheon, now in its 17th year, celebrates remarkable women in our area who give back to the community in a big way. Highlights of the luncheon include the annual Women Making a Difference awards and the always-interesting and uplifting message from our guest speaker.

This year’s speaker, Jessica Lahey, is an educator, writer, and speaker. She has taught middle school and high school for over a decade, is a correspondent for The Atlantic, commentator for Vermont Public Radio, and writes the “Parent-Teacher Conference” column for the New York Times. Jessica earned a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of Massachusetts and a JD with a concentration in juvenile and education law from the University of North Carolina School of Law. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two sons.

Her New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed was released in 2015. From the publisher’s introduction: “Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of over-protectiveness. Empathetic and wise, The Gift of Failure is essential reading for those who want to help children thrive.”

Lahey says, “Out of love and desire to protect our children’s self-esteem, we have bulldozed every uncomfortable bump out of their way. Unfortunately, in doing so we have deprived our children of the most important lessons of childhood.

“The setbacks, mistakes and failures we have shoved out of our children’s way are the very experiences that teach them how to be resourceful, innovative, and resilient citizens in this world. It’s up to us. Parents have the power to grant this freedom to fail. Teachers have the ability to transform that failure into an education. Together, we have the potential to nurture a generation of confident, competent adults.”

Contact Cathy Raymond at 526-4077 or CRaymond@nullLakeSunapeeVNA.org for information and to reserve your seats at $40 per person, with the proceeds to benefit the Lake Sunapee Region VNA pediatric programs.