The 2005 California Governor’s and First Lady’s Conference for Women and Families, held on Thursday, October 27 in Long Beach was an overwhelming experience that left indelible and historic memories. Not least was the hour-long discussion between Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Barbara Walters, who has interviewed so many high-profile individuals in her long career. Both women were, of course, pioneers in their fields. That is to say, they fought for every yard of ground they conquered. And on October 27, 2005, Barbara Walters met her match in the warm intelligence and quick wit of Sandra Day O’Connor. The discussion brought the house down time and time again.
Maria Shriver, whose non-partisan conference it actually was, is an independent, beautiful, dynamic, unstoppable woman with so much drive and humanity. She is her own person first. Next, she is a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a friend to those who have come to know her. She and her parents (Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy), along with her siblings, exemplify the caring of the Kennedy clan for the downtrodden and powerless. And they have done more than care; they have done something concrete about it.
Millions now have a voice, have a future, and are regarded as worthwhile human beings because of the long list of volunteer organizations and legislation Maria’s family has nurtured. For example, Katie Cortelyou of Best Buddies is “a face and a voice for those with intellectual disabilities.” She stunned the audience of 11,000 with her self-confidence and her speaking ability. So much courage was needed and she demonstrated it! And Katie does this over and over again, wherever she is invited to speak.
On the practical side, Maria won the hearts of most attendees by wearing running shoes with her black dress, for the entire day! And it was incredibly long, a full 12 hours+ at the Long Beach Convention Center itself. (Many, many volunteers were probably up at 3:30 a.m.) Let’s thank the good Lord that someone in the public eye had the commonsense to wear comfortable shoes, instead of ruining her feet, legs and back!
Tom Brokaw stated that he was Maria’s idea of gender diversification, as he began his remarks prior to moderating a morning panel. And several other fine male speakers were there—Deepak Chopra and Pastor Rick Warren come to mind—but it was Ladies’ Day. Incredible stories of overcoming obstacles were told by most speakers. It seems to me that the worse we are treated as children, the higher we can expect to fly as adults. Keep that in mind when the insults keep coming at you, year after year. And think Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Blaine M. Yorgason’s Ascending, since we continue growing through all our trials.
The main Exhibition Hall was an extremely busy place, with vendors from BP to Ameriquest Mortgage, to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, to Yahoo, to Hyundai, to Starbucks, to law enforcement agencies, and scores more. A Volunteer Village highlighted the dozens of organizations who put in thousands of hours every year to help those less fortunate. Just as I can’t recount everything I heard, I also couldn’t get to more than half of the booths. So much was happening in the conference sessions. I slept for almost ten hours that night myself. I imagine those who did all the work slept far longer than that.
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