Before I dive into the incredibly blog worthy birthday party, I just have to say I feel like something special is going to happen in a grocery store (or rather, I'll MEET someone special in a grocery store). I've known it ever since I saw Michael Buble's music video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AJmKkU5POA.
My suspicion was almost confirmed when I chose to stand in Holden's line. Yes, Holden. How great does Hayley and Holden sound?! AWESOME! He was adorable and mid-young 20's. We exchanged a few words...nothing exciting. We asked "How are you?" at the exact same time, but I was the only one who answered. He forgot to ask if I had a rewards card, so I asked if he could look it up by phone number (its my parent's phone number, so its not like I was giving him my number. Calm down). Good thing I gave it to him b/c it saved me like $4! When he handed me my receipt, he said, "Have a great day Miss Jordan". Too cute! I may have just found my regular grocery store!
OK. Enough of me being ridiculous. I went to the most incredible birthday party EVER! As I was sitting there I kept thinking "Is this real? Am I really here?" It's like one of those really cool things that just happen to cross your path (like getting to go the the Princess of Thailand's funeral and meet her grandson (a prince) because my study abroad professor knows EVERYONE!)
Anyway, about 2:15 everyone started filing to the cafeteria for H. Ross Perot's 80th birthday bash. The tables had been moved and there were chairs EVERYWHERE! We got there 45 minutes early so we could sit (good thing!) There were more people at this birthday bash than at my sister's wedding (and her TX reception combined!)
Apparently they had a little trouble finding a white lie to tell Mr. Perot to keep it a secret. They took him on a tour of the Perot Museum. They left in time to make it back for the party, but he wanted to stop for frozen yogurt, and was very persistent. Ross Jr. told him Michael Dell was on campus and they had to make it back to meet Michael. (Michael wasn't on campus....)
Mr. Perot walked in the door closest to where we were sitting, so I was probably the first person in the whole room he made eye contact with. Or not. Who am I kidding?! My mom keeps asking if he knows my name yet, since I've seen him twice now, but no... he doesn't know me. The bluegrass band played Anchor's Away as he walked in, then we all sang the National Anthem. The 99-year old realtor Ebby Halliday (the #1 realtor in TX and one of the top realtors in the nation, who actually STILL works at age 99, and a good friend of Mr. Perot's) played the ukulele and sang a song she wrote for Mr. Perot.
They showed a couple videos of people who wanted to be there for the party, but couldn't make it, and who wanted to express their deep appreciation to the man who created the IT services industry: Michael Dell and Steve Jobs. Then at some point the bluegrass band played "I'm Proud to be an American" and I saw a couple ladies wipe their eyes.
The band played "Texarkana Baby" and the Foundation President of Texas A&M Texarkana (Perot's hometown) spoke and the mayor of Texarkana and a judge presented him with a replica of the sign that will go on the bridge they gave him as a birthday gift.
I think the next person who spoke was Dr. Robert Haley from Southwestern Medical School. He told us this long story about how Mr. Perot came to him and asked him to research the Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) 15 years ago because everyone thought it was a fake disease and the government wouldn't fund the research. Long story short, Perot funded the research and when Dr. Haley went to present the results to the Clinton administration, they all blew up at him and told him to give it up, it wasn't real, but these guys in uniforms came up and whispered in his ear "This is the study we wanted to do. Keep it up" then they disappeared. Weird. He went into a little of how they found this gene that protects us against toxic gases, and the vets who had more severe GWS had the recessive gene, b/c they weren't protected. They also found that those who had it worse were closer to the bunker when the chemical bombs went off. The government went down to UT Southwestern and threatened to end all government funding to medical research if they didn't stop the research of GWS. Of course, they didn't stop, and good thing because now they have answers! Dr. Haley presented answers to the 3 questions Mr. Perot had 15 years ago as his birthday present: 1. What causes GWS? 2. What is GWS? 3. What is the treatment for GWS?
They had video clips of other people wishing him a happy birthday like....Larry King, Jay Leno, Big Bird (yes, Sesame Street), everyone at Westpoint, military men in Afghanistan and Bolivia, and Perot Systems workers in India (and there was a HUGE banner of his face on the side of their building)...among with others.
Ross Perot has done A LOT in his lifetime. He has a great heart and even though he has started not one, but TWO multi-billion dollar companies, he still helps those in need. I think at age 82 he should try running for president again!
Oh, and the last gift he got was the first volume of a book compiled of thousands of letters from friends and family. Pretty much everyone famous wrote him a note in that book about how he impacted their lives.
His real birthday may still be 19 days away, but I enjoyed helping him celebrate today! Happy 80th birthday Mr. Perot!
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