August of 2010 I managed to get myself to say yes to become
a line officer of the Luso American Fraternal Federation. What does that mean? It meant that for the next 5 years I would
spend my time fundraising and planning my 2015 Luso Convention at the Luso
Annual Convention. I know, what? Yah I get it, but the reality of it is, Luso
American has been a part of my life for almost 33 years. Every August I have packed a suitcase and
spent 4 to 5 days at a convention in some city somewhere in California. I have made some of the most amazing memories
and some of the best friends of my life.
From Dancing for youth council #16 from 1982 to 1987, being the 1986
Luso Convention Queen, 1998-99 State Associates 20-30’s President and right now
I’m Vice President of the Luso American Life West Board and will be installed
as the LALW President on August 3rd.
The last 5 years have literally flown by!
I really never thought of becoming a line officer or
president for that matter. I always
thought I would stay an officer in some capacity and continue to work locally
with my council to keep it thriving and help keep our youth council
active. But in 2010 that all changed and
I’m nervous and excited for the whole thing to happen this year.
60 days, 60 days to finalize centerpieces, events, food, clothes,
speeches and god knows what else. I
swear in a blink of an eye we went from me talking to my parents about this journey
to us actually making final decisions to get the convention set in August. It’s been quite a journey so far. Not without a lot of tears, arguments and
disappointments. I will say that so far
my good memories far supersede the bad ones and we have only been in the
planning and fundraising part of this journey.
Such a different journey from when I was 20-30’s President that’s for
sure. 20-30’s don’t have a clue the
amount of work and time that goes into these 5 years to be president.
So the 2015 Convention will be held at the Hyatt Santa Clara
and I will hopefully have as much of my family there as can be. Our committee is small but I have some
amazing people on it and I know they will work hard to make it the best
ever. I have friends coming that have
been a part of my Luso family for over 30 years and friends who have never been
to a Luso function, so all in all it should be a great weekend.
So 60 days... I should probably finalize purchases for the
convention and work on my speech. Right
now my rough draft is 7 pages... that’s a bit much and I’m not sure I want to
speak that much.
I hope to be able to blog about my journey this next year
starting with the next 60 days to the convention and my travels. I can’t wait to visit councils and meet new
people. A new adventure and continuing my
Luso Journey. I’ll be celebrating 33
years this year with the Luso American Life Insurance Society and I have had no
regrets. It’s been quite a ride!
Till the next entry... :)
Let the countdown begin!
#LUSO2015
#LUSOLife
