Last night, I again attended the BCF Annual Honors Gala at the historic Kennedy Center in our nation’s capital & I must say this was the best venue ever
Two moments made this event especially sweet for me-on a personal level
First, I got to meet a lady I have long admired: for her strength, her courage, her smarts, her work hard ethics, her determination, her think-outside-the-box mindset, even her resilience & grace after heartbreaking losses
Ms. KellyAnne Conway was so gracious & sincere when I mentioned how she inspires me, that I’ve ACTUALLY read her book & I thanked her for helping to get Donald J. Trump elected using her bold strategy
The second lady, Ms. Alveda King, I had met before, but, this time, we had a good, hearty laugh when I shared a piece of nostalgia about her that I had recently learned: I saw her in an episode of “In the heat of the night” with the late greats Carroll O’Connor & Howard Rollins
These two moments were deeply meaningful to me because after attending many events of this manner, frankly, it gets old if the purpose is just to look good, snap pics with all the right people, just to say just show “I was there.”
I need more meaningful reasons to attend these events. I love meeting people, hearing their stories, their triumph, their wins, their losses, what makes them tick, what ice cream they like, what makes them laugh, what makes them fired up, how they recover & why they keep going. The stuff that really makes them who they are, not just what looks good for the camera
Don’t get me wrong: the events themselves are beautiful, with great food, beautiful decor & everyone is dressed to the nines. But, after the event is over, many times no one remembers anyone’s name & you may not see him/her again until the next event & of course, you have to exchange names again
Having these brief but memorable moments with these two ladies made all the difference for me last night. These are the little moments that pack so much meaning for years to come
Real life. Real time. Real people.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” (attributed to Theodore Roosevelt).
IMN2BHO
