Rotary

On Wednesday night Joe was installed as his Rotary Club's (the Rotary Club of Downtown Gainesville) new President. It was a very special evening for our little family. Before the formal "installation" we had dinner with the group and Leslie, the previous President shared her thanks for the board that she had worked with through her presidency and handed out various plaques of recognition for those who served. Then she came to her last item to hand out. The "Rotarian of the Year" award was chosen by nominations by club members. Her words were..."We got many nominations. But there was one name that kept popping up... Joe Lowry Jr." I can't tell you how proud I was of Joe at that moment. I knew how dedicated he was to serving Rotary and to serving the community. But it was very special to see that so many other people not even in our circle of family or close friends saw that, too. It was a special moment and if anyone was looking at me they would have seen me beaming with pride. (Joe's mom was standing right behind me and I'm sure she was beaming just as much!) I am usually very private during moments of crisis or celebration- I know that is weird- but I didn't care if everyone saw how happy I was for my husband and how happy I am that HE is mine. He was so humble and sincere when he accepted the award. He remarked that there were others in the group to whom he would have given the award before giving it to himself.

The evening just got better as he was named the new President. He was asked to give a few remarks, and of course he was prepared. I know that every president or anyone in any kind of leadership has their own gifts to offer those they serve. But I really think that Joe has some gifts that are especially suited for good leadership. He is humble yet extremely confident- he is very well spoken and eloquent on his worst day- and of course he is smart and funny, too! Oh and he is great to look at! Anyway, way to go Joe! You are so amazing- I am so proud of you and I promise to try not to be annoyed when you are gone so much due to Rotary this next year! I love you!

The Mother Land

When I left California for school in Utah and people asked where I was from they often smiled upon hearing my answer and said, "Oh, really ... no one is FROM there." Meaning, they don't usually hear of people growing up there- more likely they fell in love with the place on some fantastic vacation and never went home. For all you skeptics out there (like you Joe) just ask Melisa. She has "many" friends that told her this was how they came to live there. That said, I can't say we would be spending the money on airfare even half as much as we do now if we didn't have such amazing family spread throughout the region. This trip we flew into Palm Springs and out of LAX with visits to my sister's homes and a trip to San Diego to be with my mom sandwiched in between. We couldn't have coaxed more fun out of any second. It was truly great. As always my family was above the mark for fun activity, meaningful conversation and gestures of love and kindness towards our little family and to each other. As a child I felt very proud to be a Frisch, and I still love the name and miss seeing it attached to my first name. Today, I feel it again, very strongly that I am so lucky to be connected to these people.
We started off the festivities with an early Father's Day celebration to celebrate my sweet dad. He is always so much fun to be around and full of hugs and kisses and praises of all kinds. We had a wonderful dinner. Hopefully next time we can see him even more!

Lillie keeps me sane and teaches me so many things just by being that thing. No preaching, just living.