On the 9th of November, I flew out with my wife to the WellMD Caregiver Summit hosted in San Antonio, TX. Carol Zernial, the director of the WellMD charitable foundation, had asked me to be one of the speakers at the conference. The event had been in the works since early in the year, but now at long last we were on our way. It was a trip of firsts. A few of them, as follows:
- This was my first time to Texas. Alas, I did not get to see very much of the state, but I hope to come back sometime.
- On the flight down it was my first time to get a window seat in an airplane. I admit I probably would have enjoyed this sooner if I had been brave enough to try out the online seat selector before. Not all window seats on all airplanes are equally good–and there are advantages to sitting in the aisle–but it was nice to finally have a chance to properly enjoy the clouds from the upper side. Soaring over an ever changing pattern of clouds, I was struck by the wish that I had first experienced this as a child. As an adult I could say it was pretty, and interesting, but I could remember enough of my former self to recognize that as a boy of eight it would have been an experience to blow my mind.
- The evening of our arrival we were taken out to dinner by Carol, where we joined the other speakers at the event. This was the first time I had eaten with so many prestigious people at once. I think I remembered my manners pretty well…
- It was the first time I spoke to over three hundred people at once.
- It was the first time I sold out all the books I brought with me to an event.
Needless to say the trip was quite a success! Traveling by plane always adds an extra level of stress beyond other speaking events, so it is always a big encouragement when the work invested has such good results.
A video was taken of my presentation; once WellMD posts it I will share it with all of you. Some photos were also taken at the event, which I will see if I can find online so I can share them as well.
Until then, you can enjoy this photo of the clouds.
