More Deets?...Really?

Okay, so someone asked for more details on the gala.  I'm happy to oblige.  I'll try to give you the whole scoop in a nutshell....

First of all, from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, the American Mothers of Oregon had a convention downtown, so a number of the women I spent the evening with at the gala, I'd already spent a few hours with earlier in the day.  At the convention, I sat between the 2006 and 2010 Mothers of the Year.  No pressure there, huh?  And, I'm sure during lunch I made a social faux pas or two, no doubt.  Ah well.  What would you expect?  But, they were very nice, and I enjoyed myself immensely.

There were some pretty funny things that happened at the convention, so maybe I'll lay those on you first.

I was raised in the Hamm family.  We were a pretty raucous crew.  My sister left for college four months after I was born.  Yes, you read that right, and I was raised with four brothers--three older, one younger.  You may ask why this even matters to the story, so now I'll explain.

While I was in line for lunch, an earlier Young Mother of the Year asked me how I knew the 2006 Mother of the Year.  I explained and then told the 2006 MoY that the Young Mother's husband had been my seminary teacher in high school and how he had survived all of the Hamm kids.  You see, my brother at one point punched that teacher.  I'm sure the Young Mother knew who I was before this (that he was my brother), but maybe not considering her response.  Do I need to explain more about my family? Actually, we're not really all that bad, and I'm pretty sure my brother has a great story as to what really happened.

I left the lunch line with a bit of a negative feeling about that interaction but kept a smile on my face and went to make my lunch faux pas at the table.  I started chatting with 2010.  She was great; very down to earth.  I asked her about her family.  She told me about her daughter and her son-in-law.  As she described the son in law, I had a hunch that I knew his family by the description she gave.  I asked if his name was Platt.  She said yes and told me his first name.  Funny thing...that Platt is named after my violent brother.  I got a good kick out of that one.  My brother--you either love him or you hate him.  I used to hate him; now I love the heck out of him.

So, conversation turns across the table.  I start chatting with a young woman who had walked in to join us.  She just moved here from Utah two weeks ago.  I asked her where in town she was living.  She told me the name of her ward.  I told her I thought that might be the ward where my younger brother lives.  She asked his last name.  When I said Hamm, she said, "Oh yes, they brought dinner to us the night we moved in."

I just thought it was hilarious how there were links to my family all around that table and all around that room.  Loved that my negative feeling immediately was turned to positive.  Just a very fun experience.

I will write more about the gala later.  I will also write about the things I learned at the convention.  For now, this is probably long enough.