Member of the Year Award

Tonight was the most incredible night. I was honored by the ladies of American Legion Unit 291 with the Member of the Year award. I am truly humbled by this as I truly believe that joining the Legion was a pivotal time in my life. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was 15. I wanted to be a court reporter but could not get past 180 wpm. It was tough decision when I decided to quit school and let that dream go. I did finally find a job with Sarnoff Court Reporters and had much success there. You see, I had a job that I loved and enjoyed for many many years. I provided technical support for Court Reporters. But then my disease progressed to the point where the last wrist surgery would not allow me to continue working on the keyboard. It was too difficult on my hands and eventually that type of work would cause a more rapid deterioration of my joints.

Being a stay at home mom wasn't bad. I guess you can say that's when I started volunteering. It began with my kids school, PTA, soccer, hockey, etc. But now that my kids are older, it became difficult to find things to volunteer for.

I found the CERT program and got certified for disaster preparedness and even got a HAM radio license (nerd alert). Tried to get my neighbors trained for a disaster, but it mostly fell to deaf ears. I volunteered and became HOA president. I found that politics is a hateful place to be and people are mean. Then a neighbor invited us to join him for a visit at the American Legion Post 291 Newport Harbor. I loved this place and I especially loved Taco Tuesday and Line Dancing. My husband and I had some fun times there. Then there were times when he didn't want to go and I couldn't go without him so I decided to join the Auxiliary. Didn't really know what this organization really did so I was pleasantly surprised when I attended my first meeting and heard about all the volunteer opportunities.

I know that those of you that know me won't believe this, but I am a pretty shy person. Once I know you, then it's Game On. LOL! So the Auxiliary President at the time, Pier Warmuth, was instrumental in introducing me to all these wonderful ladies and I came out of my shell and began volunteering. The first was envelope stuffing and troop shipping. I didn't want to go by myself so I took my neighbors with me. Then I really ventured out of my comfort zone and volunteered to play bingo with the vets at the Long Beach VA. What a great time that was! These guys were great and we had fun feeding them and providing them with prizes. I volunteered for the Leprechaun Leap 5K complete with green tutu. Hall decorating, Family Day and the Stand Down event were all great opportunities to really get to know all these beautiful members.

All these things led me to volunteering to be Community Service Chair and introducing Cucumel's Compassionate Carpets for our Homeless Vets. So you see, this Award is a reflection of the wonderful ladies that I've met along the way. They are hard working, compassionate people that make volunteering so enjoyable and life changing. So it is because of them that I have found my purpose in life and it is in their honor that I humbly accept this award.

For God and Country