Dorothy Eisenberg - Excerpts 4 & 5 Transcript
(Las Vegas, Nevada; August 22, 2001)

JG: That's really helpful and (unclear). Do you have any favorite stories of working with Jean?

DE: Well, yeah, a lot, but I think that one of the things that (DEisenberg4) she made most of us feel is that we had power, that women had power, that we could get things done. Certainly, when she was elected to office, it reflected on all of us. I think we all felt that share of Jean, each had a piece of that win, because we - we all worked hard, and I think that she - when we saw how she could function and - and she was respected, we felt we could be respected the same way. I - It showed us because Jean was a housewife and we were - that's what we were, and she showed us that we really were more than that, and she said to me, "If you can organize a house with five kids, sometimes six kids at home, and get everybody all those places and do all of those things, you can do anything," and I said, "Well, I didn't look at it that way." (DEisenberg4) I just knew that with a big family, you had to keep a schedule or else you'd be lost, and there - there were traits that - that you could carry over to - to other kinds of things, and I -(DEisenberg5) I think that that's what I care most about Jean, was she made me see that I could do a lot of other things and - and feel proud of myself? A lot of times I - I would say to her - oh, we - we'd sit and - and talk and I would say, "Jean, sometimes I walk into a meeting and I really feel like - and people are saying nice things and all of that," I said, "I think I - I'm a fool, I - I know that I'm not really this person," and she's saying, "I have that feeling sometimes, too, and that comes with what we were taught as women and - and how we've grown over the years," and she said, "What you have to do is, when somebody gives you a gift, you thank them, you don't say, 'I'm not worthy of the gift,"(DEisenberg5) and - and that really has stuck with me over the years, because I think every once in a while we do feel that maybe we're not the person we're supposed to be or - or people think we are, and - and then I say, "Well, I'll accept it, it's a wonderful gift," and - and I think that's one of the things that Jean really gave me.