







I have always been the youngest member of this family, and that will never change. It is one thing to be the youngest member of the family, and actually be young in age. I find myself thinking of what my sweet Alyssa said this past weekend. She said, Dad, you are not old, you are only 44. I guess my point is that I might always be the youngest of this family, but by no means, am I young, I am 44 years old, not 44 years young. Lets face it, young people just cant connect and experience things like older adults can, like most of my Sisters can and could. I find myself standing near the yard at 309 S. 75th. I can see some of you, others I cannot. I run backwards on the path behind me only to find the center, which is in the yard at 309 S. 75th. I see 6 different paths, I realize 1 is mine, and the other 5 are all of my Sisters. I also see Mom struggling to get off the chair to say hello. I get a bit excited, because some of you I can see still, some of you are completely out of sight. I then realize that physics and simple geometry takes over, it is impossible for me to get back on my path, and catch up with any of you. This saddens me a bit, but I must get back to where I was, pick up Katie and the Kids, and press forward. I find myself looking left and right from time to time, maybe I can see one of you and say hello. It is sad, because the longer we are on our own paths, the more distance we are creating between us.
Ok, the less dramatic story and point is this. I am realizing that we all move in different directions, and in different speeds. That is fine,it is normal. I also realize that some of you are not looking back for whatever reason, again, that is fine and normal. I feel pain sometimes because I expect everyone to look back, and at times come back, so we can all see one another. Again, not reality. Again, it is ok. It is obvious to me that you guys dont think like I do, and I dont think like you do. There is nothing wrong with that either. Everyone has goals and priorities, all different from each other. We all must respect that fact, I will, beginning this moment. I realize that because of my assuming we are all on the same path, direction and speed, I create problems.
This goes out to all of my sisters, Estela, Anita, Gloria, Janie and Bert. Good luck going down your path. I will always see all of you, as if we were all in that yard at 309 south.
4 and under Winner,Adam Cotton, age 4 (employee Chris Cotton) $100 Toys R Us Gift Certificate
5 through 7 Winner Alex Kaswan, age 7 (employee Samuel Kaswan) $100 Toys R Us Gift Certificate
8 through 10 Winner Alyssa Mesa, age 9 (employee Al Mesa) $100 Target Gift Certificate
11 and up Winner Mary Jane Voss, age 13 (employee Tim Voss) $100 Target Gift Certificate
Alyssa was very excited to hear the news, she is looking forward to going to Target with Katie. I asked Alyssa if she was interested in writing a thank you letter to our CEO Steve Roell. She did with the help of using her big Brothers laptop. Want to read the letter? it is cute.
Letter to JCI CEO
I am very proud of Alyssa, and dont worry Alec, maybe next time it will be YOU!
Enjoy....