I don't know where to begin.....My mother in law, describing her, or to the event itself?  In short my mother in law is the most selfless, giving person.  For her 80th birthday, instead of doing something fancy in the town in which she grew up, Winnetka, Chicago, she decided to get our whole family, 18 people, together to build a house for Habitat for Humanity in San Diego.

At first, my initial reaction was that she is CRAZY!  Certifiably CRAZY.  My only week of vacation doing manual labor.  You have got to be kidding.  Not that I couldn't do it, because unfortunately I am pretty handy.  I felt like I was going back to my childhood, where my dad used to make my sister and me sweep the floors in his industrial buildings for hours, like 8, now this? You have got to be kidding.  We all obliged and flew from all over the country to fulfill this CRAZY old lady's dream.
It was amazing on so many fronts.  It was the true American Dream being fulfilled.  People who could never afford to buy a house were given the opportunity to do so and had to  work  500 hours for the down payment.  After working along side many of the future owners, you could see and feel the pride of ownership.  It was tremendous. 

Talk about giving back.....The ages of the Froeb Crew, all 18 of us, ranged from 13 to 83.  The 83 year old was my father in law who is a retired doctor.  Many of you I am sure are wondering what in the world could this old guy do?  Well he was pretty handy, despite being a doctor.  They put him on mudding the drywall and sanding for 4 days.  Poor guy.  He would do anything for his wife and I guess she put him to the test.  During our time there, we put mud on drywall. sanded, primed and painted the rooms, hung doors, and installed hardware, fixtures and all outlets.  My mother in law was a super star.  She found projects that kept her busy and were things she could actually do, ranging from painting to installing electrical face plates.

The purpose of this blog is not about what we did, but really about giving back and getting involved as a family and with the community.  In the world we live in today everything is so hectic and scheduled.  Sometimes we just need to slow down.  Trust me I too need to take my own advice.  

I mentioned that this charity event was huge to me on many fronts one of which was the American Dream, the second is giving back, the third is teaching our young a trade, like electrical, painting, etc., and the fourth is the bonding experience with the family.  Working with my niece and nephews and explaining electrical, how to hang doors and install hardware was great.  They goofed around, talked the teenager talk, made fun of us old farts, but somehow it ALL worked and made us closer. 

Unfortunately, we all live so far away and it took an event like this to bring us closer and do something together we would not ordinarily do.   At the end of a long week, I felt happy, fulfilled and fortunate.  We are so lucky to live where we live.  Happy Birthday Helen.  You have made a huge impact on this world!