Some things in life you don't get to decide, some things you do.

I was the president elect of my small Rotary club in August of 2000. I looked forward to our weekly lunch meetings. We had a very lively and fun loving group, and the meetings sometimes bordered on anarchy...fun anarchy. I had been a member for four years, on the club board of directors for three, and was looking forward to serving as President. My view of Rotary did not go much past the boundaries of our small mountain community, or our 30 members.

Then my life changed forever when I got the call that all parents dread. Some things in life you don't get to decide: my beautiful 15 year old daughter was killed in a car wreck. Some of you may have experienced the unexpected loss of a child or close family member and understand the soul searching and contemplation that this kind of thing causes in a person. "Why did this happen?" I asked myself a million times (and still do). It is hard to describe the incredible frustration of wanting, beyond any power imaginable, to change reality. I wanted to somehow reach back in time to influence the fateful events that led me to this horrific new reality. But that of course is not possible.

My little Rotary club reached out to me and my family. Along with so many people in our community they offered comfort and consolation in every way they could think of. Without that support, I am not sure I, or my family, could have survived. I didn't get to decide that my Emily would not be taken from me so young. However, thanks to all of the support from people who cared for me, I came to realize that I DID get to decide how my life would reflect her short time with me. I decided then to dedicate the rest of my life to making a positive difference in the lives of others in Emily's name.

Seven months later I attended PETS. All of a sudden it was like a door opening, or a floodlight illuminating the night. Here was a different Rotary from the one I had grown to love in my little club. Here was a huge international organization with reach to virtually every corner of the globe. Instead of 30 members, here were 1.2 million members all dedicated to improving lives in their communities and elsewhere. Here was an organization that had pledged to rid the world of the scourge of polio, and was making dramatic progress. Here was an organization through which I could reach out and give hope to the hopeless,  to give children around the world at least a fighting chance to rise above abject poverty. Here was a way, to reach out beyond my little home town, and make a positive difference to humanity in a bigger way than I had ever imagined.

I was stunned and incredibly inspired to take advantage of the immense opportunity that Rotary presents. Of course I was busy thinking about how, as President, I would work with my club, to do more than we had ever done before. But I couldn't help but think about how I might get more involved in this bigger world of Rotary.

I made another decision that day. I decided that the best legacy I could build to honor my daughter was to become more involved in Rotary leadership. To do whatever I could to promote and forward the incredible work of Rotary. To take advantage of this opportunity to make a far greater positive difference in the world than I ever could have on my own. Today I stand here on another threshold about to take on the incredibly high honor of becoming a District Governor. Let's get it done!

The Grand Finale!

Well, I finally made it back to the Sierra Valley, Kim, dogs, cat, horses, and home! It was a long assignment, but very successful. We kept 'em small there in Southeast Texas after corralling the Riley Road fire. We probably worked 2 to 5 fires per day, ranging from a couple acres to 20 or so. The weather was never so bad as it was the day we landed in Houston, or we would have been much busier.

At the end of our assignments the tradition is to have a get-together over dinner and a few drinks to celebrate and unwind. All team members pack Hawaiian shirts to wear to these events. It is a great tradition, and brings closure to the whole experience. Well, this assignment's "Team Dinner" was unique.

One of our logistics guys knew someone in the Houston Astro organization, and did some negotiating with them. When it was done we got a fantastic deal! Here's what he got for us: Rooms at the Houston Hilton, (only a couple blocks away from Minute Maid Ballpark) a smoked prime rib and chicken dinner, 2 hour open bar, field level seats, and a pre-game tour! Not bad for $75 eh? (The rooms weren't included in the $75)

 So, Wednesday evening we all met up in the Hilton lobby, and headed down the street to the ball park. We are a large group (about 50) so it was quite a gaggle, and we plugged up a few cross walks. As the Team Safety Officer, I had to bust a few jay walkers, and direct some traffic! Once at the park, we got our tickets, and were ushered into the stadium. Through the concessions area the smell of roasting hot dogs assaulted my olfactory senses! I thought about the prime rib to come, but man those ball park foot-longs smelled awful good!

Our guide took us down into the catacombs of the stadium several flights of stairs, to the field level entrance. We came out of the tunnel, and onto the field right behind home plate.

We emerge from the tunnels onto the field behind home plate!

The St Louis Cardinals were taking batting practice. It was waaaaay cool! We could not pass up the opportunity to take our team picture with home plate in the background. It was a squeeze, but we did it. I was very impressed with the batting practice. These guys weren't practicing hitting the ball. They were practicing hitting the ball to specific spots, including the upper deck above left field. Impressive indeed.

These were pretty nice seats. Ours were not quite this posh!

Our hosts then lead us back through the maze of tunnels and stairwells, back out past those mouthwatering hot dogs, and into our dinner suite. This room was in an adjacent building, and was one floor from the roof, which had an open air patio overlooking the ball field!

Cardinals are swatting the ball right
behind me in that batting cage.

Pre-game view of the field. Man those hot dogs smelled good!

It was a warm day in Houston, probably mid to high 90's, so they had to close the glass roof of the ball park to keep it cool for players and fans. So, our view from the roof top perch was somewhat hindered by the glass and structural steel of the sliding "accordion" like roof.

My good buddy Scott Vail and I pose with Tom, our
 Ground Support Unit Leader on the Roof top patio.

Finally, dinner was ready and the bar was open! I think the line at the bar was a little longer than the food line, at least for the first half hour. Our Incident Commander, Rocky, is from Hawaii, thus the theme of our team dinners. Rocky took the floor and addressed the group. It was a nice talk about what we had accomplished and the good job we had done.

The bar is open!! Denise, our Air Operations Branch Director
looks pretty happy about the whole thing.

Rocky gives us all a post assignment,
congratulatory pep-talk.

Dinner was delicious! I was glad I had resisted the hot dogs! Actually this was easy since nothing was open when we were there earlier. The smoked prime rib was incredible. A typically Texas way of cooking beef. It was done perfectly, and the smokey mesquite flavor was wonderful. There was also some great bacon wrapped BBQ chicken. Everyone chowed down!

The game started at 7:05, and we watched the first few innings on the TV monitors mounted around the room. Finally we filtered out to our seats, and took in the action live. Great seats! It was too bad the Astros didn't put up much of a fight. They went down 5 to zip in the  first inning. Things settled down some after that, but I think the final score was something like 8 to 1. Frankly I don't remember. It was just so exciting and enjoyable to be there and experience it all!

The "jumbo-tron" at Minute Maid Park.

Our seats! The fellow looking my way is Tony. He was the
point person who really got the ball rolling on this great
"Grand Finale" 

The view from our seats of the Astros at bat!

It was a fabulous end to a very challenging assignment. For me it was a little bittersweet. Next year I will not be able to participate with the team as I will be too busy as the District Governor for Rotary District 5190. Hopefully I will be back with Team 4 in 2013. I would like that!

That's All!