After the awards dinner, Yulee and I headed to the hotel lounge to join many others in celebration of MADD’s accomplishments. And that’s when an amazing night got even better.
While we were there I got to have a short visit with Debbie Weir and then I had a great conversation with former MADD president Laura Dean-Moody. And dozens of people also stopped by to comment on the shoes. Many of them said how much they wish they could buy a pair for themselves. One of these people was Debra Coffey. She asked if she could try the shoes on. I was wearing size 8 and Yulee was wearing size 9. Sharing the same size with Yulee, Debra tried on her shoes and walked around in them for a few minutes. Then she asked if she could buy them. I told her no but that I would give them to her if she would make a donation to MADD Washington. She disappeared for a while then returned with a check for $200 dollars. And it was at that moment I ‘sold’ the shoes right off my best friend’s feet. I apologized, of course, but she didn’t mind at all. She was happy to make a fashion sacrifice for MADD.
The evening ended with a barefoot Yulee returning to her room. And I went up to my room to pack for an early-morning flight back to Seattle. I couldn’t sleep. I was too energized by what a wonderful day it had been.
And to make a wonderful trip even better my flight back to Seattle arrived 40 minutes earlier than scheduled so I was able to make it to my son’s soccer game and to watch him score two goals for his team.
My first trip to the MADD National Conference was perfect in every possible way.