Left to right, my mother-in-law, Governor Sebelius, my father-in-law, and the exec. dir. of the Kansas Arts Commission.
Yesterday, my husband and I attended the Kansas Arts Commission Governors Banquet and Awards Dinner. Why did we do this you may ask? His mother and step-father were the recipients of the 2008 Arts Patrons award for Kansas. This is kind of a big deal I guess. I had never really heard of this but over the last several months since we found out they were chosen, we realized how neat this was. I mentioned it to some of our arts savvy friends and they were like, "Wow, they won!?!" Apparently, just being accepted as a nominee is quite something, but to win is pretty big. It's like winning the Oscar or Tony award, but in Kansas. Governor Kathleen Sebelius was there and presented the awards. We had a nice dinner, and my mother-in-law and father-in-law were extremely honored and humbled by the award. Of all of the people they could have gone on and on thanking, the one group they felt they had to personally thank in front of the record setting crowd was their family. "Thank us, what have we done? You are always doing for us!", was my thought. We were all there, and we couldn't have been more proud of this rightly deserved honor. I have known these people for 15 years now. They have supported us through work stress, health scares, and advised us on many other matters. We have had the honor to be there for them and witness their extreme generosity to the community of McPherson, Kansas over the years as we attended building dedications and arts unveilings that they have supported and underwritten. They have come to see my husband perform in plays, direct our church choir, and our kids perform in various things. They are incredible role models, and their willingness to take the gifts they have been given and support their community and our great state is really quite remarkable. They thanked us!?! I realize now, it's not what we can "do" for them, it's just being there with them on this special night, and leading our lives in the example they have laid for us, is all they really want.
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