Inspirational Day for My Teens- Architects of Change
When I first opened membership on my old website, I attended many conferences as a vendor. I will never forget this particular event that I shared with my young daughters. The California Governor and First Lady Conference on Women in Long Beach, California was a fantastic day that I was honored to participate in as a vendor. Incredible, unforgettable, inspiring, and life-changing are just a few of the words I can think of to describe this event focusing on women as architects of change.
We are very fortunate in California that our First Lady is Maria Shriver. This woman is phenomenal. Her spirit is contagious, and she has much to offer our great state, not to mention the whole country! I often think of the Shrivers as the forgotten Kennedy’s. If you think the Kennedy’s have contributed a lot to our society, you should know about the Shrivers! They are my favorite branch of the infamous family tree. Their Kennedy legacy lives through their Matriarch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver who with her husband Sargent Shriver set out on a mission to make this world a better place. They are amazing people that have changed many lives. Married forever and parents to four sons and one daughter. Sargent Shriver was the first Director of the Peace Corps, and he is responsible for starting the very successful pre-k program known as Head Start. He also ran for Vice-President on the 1972 Presidential ticket. Eunice is a graduate of Stanford, and she is the founder of the Special Olympics. Their family is a group of philanthropic superstars who don’t sit on the sidelines and write big checks. They roll up their sleeves and get busy!
Maria often speaks of the unconditional love her parents gave her, and that they told her how special and loved she is every time they talked. She also speaks of their strong desire to making the world a better place. There is no sitting around for this group. GET BUSY! And more importantly, find a way to give back. And so it goes; every Shriver is involved in some charity group that is for the betterment of all.
You may know Maria as a journalist, or author, or First Lady of California. My favorite job title is the one she opened the conference with. Housewife. She talked about someone asking her son if she were his mother. He acknowledged that she was. The person then asked if she were a model, and the son answered flat out. “No, she is just a housewife.” Maria was shocked at his description of her and later went over her resume with her son, touting the journalism and the writing. He reminded her that she had not recently published a book. She asked him about being First Lady of California. He reminded her that it was his dad that was elected! Her son stood fast and settled at housewife. Although Maria may have been defensive for a moment, she should be oh so proud that her son sees her as a housewife. To come from your child, this title is the best title of all. It means that he is secure in that his mom is there for him and his siblings. He does not feel neglected. No matter how many hats she may wear, he sees the mom hat at the top of the pile!
Oh sure, she has help and plenty of it. She does not do the day-to-day grunt work, but she is known for being there and being a hands-on mom. Born of privilege and married to a wealthy man, she could give her children everything and anything. But, the Schwarzenegger/Shriver household is notorious for the things they won’t give their kids. There is no television in the bedrooms. And that goes for private phones as well. She wants to know who is calling her kids, and what they watch on TV. Arnold insists the children do their laundry, turn off lights, and clean up after themselves. Maria does not like foul language amongst her children, and she insists that her family attends weekly mass.
What do these high achieving parents get in return? Lovely, honorable children for whom they can be proud. Their two daughters passed my booth a couple of times. Each time, they made eye contact with me and my girls and shared big beautiful smiles. They walk tall and with purpose.
Except for the balance in our checkbooks, I feel like we are no different.
Another Shriver that captured our hearts is Bobby. Maria’s big brother, and the oldest of the five Shriver kids. Another generous philanthropist, Bobby was just two booths down promoting his newest venture with Bono. For more information click here: (RED). Fundraising in the purest form to help those who have HIV/AIDS in Africa. A customer buys (RED) from various corporations, and the corporations donate back. Easy-peasy.
Bobby stopped by my booth for a photo op with my children. He could have smiled and moved on his way, but he engaged in conversation and had some fun with the girls at their mothers'(me) expense. We enjoyed his company for a brief moment in time, and my children admired his down to earth behavior. This friendly one on one manner is what the Shriver’s are known for. They are kind, fun, spirited, and very hard working. It was indeed an honor to meet them.
At the end of the day, my daughters had the honor of hearing Maria Shriver, Suze Orman, Martha Stewart, Sarah Ferguson, and the Dalai Lama speak. We witnessed Eunice receiving the Minerva Award presented to her by Maria. How lucky for young girls to see powerful women that have paved the way for them. They especially loved the sense of humor of the Dalai Lama. The awe-inspiring part of him was not lost on them, but they found him to be very funny! Something tells me that he would enjoy that description of him; especially coming from teenagers.
The most touching moment of the day came when the mother of Laci Peterson was waiting for her car to pick her up to deliver her back to the airport. You may remember the horrible story of Laci Peterson. She was pregnant and murdered by her husband Scott, who is in prison to this day. This woman came out of her suffering and pain to speak about her daughter and life. All I can say is she was one of the most gracious women you can meet. As she and her friends piled into my very messy van for a ride back to the hotel, she spoke to the girls as any mother would. Thoroughly interested in them and their young high school lives. I felt like I wanted for the time to stand still, as I was sure, this woman in her white suit was an angel sent by God to encourage and love young girls. It was no mistake we met, and that she needed a quick ride, so as not to miss her flight. When she got out of the car, it was the girls that mentioned the gathering of angels they could feel in the car. It was that palpable.
Too often we hesitate to take our kids to “grown-up” events. Especially when they prove to be inspirational. But why? Sometimes these opportunities are windows of hope and inspiration that can only be witnessed first hand.