Purple Promise

I write about myself an awful lot. Meanwhile, my husband deserves to be formally recognized in this blog I say is about "Just the Two of Us." On October 24, 2012, we took a nice mini vacation to Memphis, Tennessee to attend the The Purple Promise Award Dinner Banquet to celebrate all the employees who received the award. I am so proud of  Ron. He was one of 16 selected employees out of over 200,000 to receive the Purple Promise Award. For those of you who do not already know, Ron is a transportation driver for the heavy weight division at FedEx. There are a few FedEx divisions, and where he works is the main division. If you were to talk to someone who works at FedEx Freight, or FedEx Ground, they would have no idea what the Purple Promise Award is.

Now that we have that cleared up, the Purple Promise Award honors the selected employees at a formal dinner in Memphis, where the FedEx Airport and corporate office is. This is a difficult award to achieve as there are thousands of employees.

Here is the screening process selected employees go through before being chosen:

 Purple Promise Selecting Process

Why Ron was selected:

Click on the photos to view it larger.

Professional Photos taken at the Banquet

Ron personally receiving his award from CEO Dave Bronzcek and Mike Ducker (VP)

It was a pleasure to meet the "big wigs" of FedEx, as they were very nice people and very appreciative of the employees who represent the company. 

Ruby Wilson and a band performed, aka Queen of Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee

She was amazing and brought some Aritha Franklin/ Tina Turner soul to the night. You bet I was dancing. She was a funny lady too. She walked up with her cane to the stage Yoda style even with a man to help her up. Once she started singing, she broke out dancing Jedi style. When it was over, she reverted back to her cane and was escorted off the stage. What is it with these Jedi's hiding their powers from us?

 And to top off the celebration? Ron, the vegetarian ate the famous ribs at Corky's with his manager Jeff to witness it. Ron said, 'If I'm gonna go down, I'm going down with style.' 

Graceland was cool. We learned a lot about Elvis, and his charitable contributions. I was very impressed to learn that he walked around Memphis like a normal person, and was known for giving his cars away to people who needed it. He would simply buy another car. The only car he held onto was the pink cadillac because it was his mom's favorite. His house was surprisingly humble in comparison to the celebrity cribs we see today.

We really enjoyed the south. It has a unique culture. The people were hospitable, and we felt the country life even though we stayed in the city. I could probably live out there, but Ron disagrees. So we will stay in southern California, but I hope to one day end up in a small town again. I really do miss the slower pace of life, and experiencing all of the four seasons. We chose San Diego, and there are many perks to being here besides just the perfect weather. We always have places to go, restaurants to try, and events to attend. I am enjoying the city life, but being from Pennsylvania, I have a country side to me. Perhaps, one day, we will find a way to fulfill both sides of me.