I became an Associate member of ASHT in 1982 when I completed a full dossier that was reviewed by a membership committee at that time. I had to have a sponsor and a letter from a hand surgeon as part of the review process, along with completing two case presentations of two different patients about their history and their treatment. This was done again with more detail a few years later as I became a full member of ASHT. Those of us who were members prior to 1990 became Charter members of ASHT. Then we took the first Hand Certification Exam to become Certified Hand Therapists and be able to add "CHT" after our name. This was so significant, but at the time I am not sure we knew just how important it would become many years later. I was also on the Board of Directors in varying capacities, including following Ginger Clark for two terms as historian. We don't have that position anymore, but I can tell you it was revealing when I went through the history of ASHT sitting at the headquarters office for a couple days, going through the papers collected related to the development and the work of ASHT to build ourselves a strong and viable organization setting the important foundation that made ASHT what it is today. I was proud to be president in 2005 and proud of accomplishments we made during that year. Things have changed and projects have evolved but I continue to be proud of this organization and what it has become.