Take It from Me: Operation Shower’s LeAnn Morrissey

Analytical. Gift-Giving Guru. Puzzle Solver.

Many years ago, when LeAnn Morrissey reached out to help her uncle who was deployed to Iraq, she didn’t know it was the first step to creating a nonprofit that reached army wives throughout the country. He told her then that several of the men stationed with him were expecting babies; and that back in the States, their wives were feeling isolated. Morrissey responded by sending each of the women a gift box filled with baby items.

For Morrissey – who is obsessed with gift-giving – that simple act grew into more and more surprise boxes until she created the first baby shower for 17 women in North Carolina. Eventually, her efforts became Operation Shower, which has celebrated more than 6,000 mommies to-be at military bases in the United States. Even Michelle Obama and Jill Biden attended one of the showers at Camp Lejeune.

No one could have predicted the direction Morrissey’s life would take when she was a child growing up in Berryville, Arkansas – population 4,500 – being raised by a single mother.

“We were so poor we didn’t even have a car,” she explained.

Even so, with the help of her grandparents and Aunt Ruth, she would not only make it through graduation, but also reach her goal to attend college and law school.

Her legal career was with a corporate firm in Houston, but after giving birth to son Keilan, she and her husband, Ed, moved to St. Louis to be closer to family. Morrissey became a stay-at-home mother, while Ed became partner at a local IT and marketing firm.

I was the Nancy Drew girl.

Growing up in a small town, everybody knows your “stuff,” but you feel safe. I was fascinated by mysteries and read gruesome crime magazines and books. Mysteries were a problem to solve, which is why I was attracted to the law. I loved law school and solving legal puzzles.

I was determined to finish my mother’s dream.

My parents divorced when I was 6, and dad wasn’t in the picture. I resented him and it affected my ability to trust people. But my mother was the smartest person I knew. She was a teacher’s aide and librarian who taught us to value reading and learning. She never finished college, so I wanted to do it for her.

I felt guilty about things I wanted.  

My family struggled financially so I didn’t want to ask for much.  My grandparents and Aunt Ruth bought me the extras, like basketball shoes. I am very practical about money. When Ed and I got married, we couldn’t afford a wedding and a honeymoon, so we combined them and had the ceremony in Hawaii on Diamond Beach. Back home, I ran to the mailbox looking for wedding checks to keep us going.

Law turned out to be disappointing.

While I loved the work at the time, it was the beginning of the dot-com boom. Corporate law was a male-dominated world and it was demeaning for women. Add in a difficult boss and impossible hours, and I ended up souring on a legal career. I became a stay-at-home mother, but needed an outlet.

It’s a struggle to let myself enjoy things.

Through the years, I have worried and struggled. I earned good grades but doubted myself along the way. Lots of worrying, thinking did I do this or that right? My husband, Ed, put my doubts to rest when I couldn’t. The one thing I got right was my son, Keilan. I get strength from being a good mom.

As a very practical person, I’m surprised when I get emotional.

To me, Operation Shower is a business. I overthink and over-analyze everything. That’s the lawyer in me. But then, I attend the showers and see how happy the moms are. They are recognized and appreciated. They feel less alone. That makes me emotional and I can just experience the joy.  Finally, at that moment, I can just enjoy what we’ve created.

 

Editor’s Note: While Operation Shower is currently not hosting group baby showers due to restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization continues to accept donations and send individual baby boxes for expectant moms, while following safety guidelines from the CDC. Read LeAnn Morrissey’s statement here