Rowdy Gaines had the opportunity and honor to meet many, many American heroes this week: the Blue Angels. What’s more, he had the opportunity to both see them perform a private show and even fly with one of them. It took a whole year-and-a-half of planning, an extensive physical and more to grant the Olympian clearance (and he has a dear persistent swimming friend to thank for that), but he was able to fly the friendly skies, an experience he was quick to call the “most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life.” They flew just feet above the ocean, broke the sound barrier and went 5 Gs during the course of the 45-minute flight. Rowdy represented LIMU and TEAM BLU FROG really very well; there were a lot of handshakes and hugs shared after it was all done. And, even though many soldiers clambered after autographs and photos with Rowdy, he was heard saying over and over again that the honor was all his: in his eyes, they were the true American heroes.

I was in Joplin, MO, last Friday and Saturday for a business briefing and LIMU GIVES, both which went really very well.

With Jerri Finley as our host, we started our morning on Friday with a tour of the tornado zone. It reminded me of our tour through the tsunami zone in Japan this past summer: total devastation. I didn’t realize the damage was as extensive as it was; a Category 5 that was a mile wide pretty much destroyed their whole community.
We went to a high school to speak to some students that had been displaced by the tornado. Joplin High School was destroyed and the 9th and 10th grade children are now at an old middle school, while the 11th and 12th grade kids attend their classes in a mall; that’s right, an old mall store that had gone out of business is now home to about 300 students. Older kids are always a tough audience, but these kids were so incredibly respectful and, based on the Q & A that followed, they were very interested in my story of surviving the peaks and valleys of life.
We had dinner with about 30 of our LIMU Members (and a few guests, along with top income earners Rusty and Angela Barton) and, again, I spoke briefly about my story and what LIMU has done for me in my life.

Saturday was a business briefing and training session led by Shannon Pardue. There were many leaders there. Shannon asked me to speak about dedication and passion and I happily obliged him. There were 85 Members and 15 guests in attendance.

I was very honored and humbled to, once again, represent LIMU in what have now been two of the most devastating forces of nature on earth this year, in two locations where our company has an important presence. LIMU GIVES is as strong now as it ever has been!