Happy 100th birthday to the National Park Service! Funny story...

Happy 100th birthday today to the United States National Park Service! Funny story ... about 15 years ago, Carl and I went to my mom Jan Landers' house on Lake Martin in Alex City, Alabama for a family gathering to meet my new soon-to-be aunt Fran Mainella who was engaged to my uncle Bob Landers. We were all having a great time on the lake when at some point I wanted to take a picture of all of us as a family, and Fran ducked behind a pier post. "No photos, no photos please!" I was like, wait, is she camera shy or what? A few days later, my mom calls me at my office and was like, "Hey, go to CNN.com." I go online and I see the oddest thing... Fran is standing there in a park ranger uniform right beside none other than President George W. Bush, who was behind a podium in front of a bunch of cameras nominating her, right at that moment, to be the 16th director of the U.S. National Park Service. Well, I thought... that certainly explains the no-photos request, makes sense now.

Her nomination was confirmed shortly thereafter by the Senate, she and Bob moved to DC, and soon enough she was off and running in her new role. Family conversations around the holidays took on a different nuance over the next few years. Fran was always on point and always so interested to hear how our world was rolling along. "How's your job at your ad agency working with the Navy Reserve? Are they meeting recruitment goals? Have you done any fun commercials lately?" "Things are going great Aunt Fran. How's the Grand Canyon, still deep and wide? George and Laura doing ok?" Yes. We would actually have these conversations and they were actually real.

During her nearly six years as Director, I learned a bit more about the importance of the National Parks along with the multiple reasons we have them and the very real need to preserve them. I also understood a little bit more about the politics involved as I followed her career, and learned vicariously through her how a career in public service really plays out: you can do some really incredible things as long as you have the right people on your side and the right resources at your disposal, and at the same time you can't please everyone. It's all part of the process, and you treat the opportunity as the honor it is.

What I found most interesting during her time as Director were her stories about her interactions with President Bush -- he was actually a genuine, friendly and very likable person, he commanded a room just like any president should, he of course did a lot more than met the public eye, and he had to make some incredibly tough decisions that none of us in our right minds would ever want to be in the position of having to make. It was during these conversations with her that I realized, for the first time ever, no matter who we are and what we're called to do that we ALL get up in the morning and put our pants on in the exact same way.

So, here's to the breathtaking, whispy wonders of the Great Smoky Mountains ... the miles and miles of unbroken sawgrass peeking into the far distant thunderstorms of the Everglades ... and the rare opportunity to know an incredible lady who helped keep it all rolling. Love you, Aunt Fran!