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Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Why should I care?

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. Not a big sports town. In fact, the only major sports team, the Trail Blazers won their last championship when I was still in high school (the 70’s).

ct-cubs-indians-world-series-game7-photosMy mom and dad didn’t play sports, we all played musical instruments. Our family didn’t even watch sports, or much TV for that matter. We listened to music. So, not a big sports fan. Until this last October. You see, my husband was born and raised in rural Illinois. His father drove a UPS truck for almost 25 years. They were a blue collar big family living in the same house for their entire childhood in a really small town. They played sports beginning in grade school, they watched their beloved Cubbies on television and occasionally could make the 3-hour trip to Wrigley Field and see them in action.

So last night, when the Cubs made history, broke the curse of the goat and finally brought a World Series trophy back to Chicago after 108 years, I got a little misty-eyed. With all of my years of therapy I started to psycho-analyze my sudden devotion and emotion to something I have no history with. Why did I care so much?

And it comes down to this. Legacy, honor, loyalty, family memories…..common bond.

And then it dawned on me, why 1908 felt so familiar….that was the same year the first credit union in America was founded!  I have spent my entire adult life working in the “movement.” I feel like credit unions, in a way, are my family.  I am passionate that credit unions don’t forget their history and continue to tell the story of how they started. It irks me when I pull up a credit union website, click on the ABOUT link and see something benign like this:

Generico Credit Union was founded in 1938 and is a not-for-profit financial institution owned and operated by its members. History erased and replaced by a description of our structure.

Sad.

We need to continue to pay homage to those courageous loyal people that trusted each other enough to move their life savings from the perceived security of a bank to a cigar box in a co-worker’s desk drawer. To those that volunteered their lunch hours to “open” the credit union, or closed a loan at their kitchen table, gladly worked in a dingy basement at a metal desk with no technology. We sometimes forget what it was like, oh so many years ago to run a financial cooperative.

Today, sadly, many credit union executives are giving up as they ease into retirement. They have lost their loyalty. It’s hard to run a credit union today. It’s hard to stay optimistic and enthusiastic with all that’s being thrown at us. It’s easy to give up hope. To not feel the “win.”

The lovable loser Cubs fans showed me what dedication looks like. Generations of love, devotion, commitment to a common bond. I know that even if they had lost last night they would still be wearing their jerseys today, thinking about the next season with even more optimism.

We can learn a lot from Cubs fans. After 108 years of credit union history, let’s try to fly the W flag every single day. We owe it to those that we have lost.