I woke up this morning eager to start the day. I would be spending the day with a group of friends — life doesn’t get any better than that.

I am at my NFPW board meeting — hard at work. So how can I be spending time with friends?

The board members are my friends, and that is the value add of NFPW — the friendships one forms. The members may start off as peers or colleagues, but over time and through conferences and phone calls and yes, now through Facebook and this blog, they become friends.

Many of us went to dinner together last night and we all laughed as the waiter asked each of us if we were alone. To provide context, he was trying to determine how many people to put on each check. “Yes, we’re alone in a crowd,” we said.

And we looked at each and busted out laughing. How could we be alone when we were sitting with our friends?

These past few weeks I’ve learned of members battling cancer, recovering from a broken hip, coping with an ill husband. I worry about each member as if she were a family member.

And that’s what NFPW is really about. It’s more than conferences, contests, networking. NFPW is a family. And this family I picked. How fortunate I am!

I can’t wait for our next reunion in Chicago!