Probably the best part of being a Congressional Family is the opportunity to meet and spend time with beautiful people.  We spent this Martin Luther King Day at the King Center in Rock Island.  As Bobby, Isabel, Sam and I walked into the celebration for Martin Luther King, we could feel the joy of the Lord.  The glowing faces and big smiles could not be contained by anyone there.  This community was so overwhelmed with joy and they were not going to hold back.  

Every one of the speakers praised their Creator for the blessings in their life.  Gratitude was so thick you could swim in it.  It may have been because of the new center that was finally finished, or the love they have for Dr. King, but I think it goes much deeper than all that.  I believe that it is because of the persevering love they have for their Savior.  I believe this because they said so and because they sang so.  

They sang so beautifully, from the heart, I wish I could take that joy and spirit and place it in every person's heart. I could tell they wanted to share it too.  When Isabel and I talked about our experience she was so tickled with how wonderful it was she couldn't contain her joyful giggle. 

The “I Have a Dream” award was given to a man who had turned his life around after serving time in prison. This man now serves his community by training boys of all ages in the art of boxing. Several of the young gentlemen have won the honor of receiving national boxing cham­pi­onships. This man trains these boys in open fields. They run around city blocks. They box in cold buildings. He teaches them that crime is not the way, and the focus is on serving God and community by staying healthy through athletic training, being a good citizen and living good lives. It was so inspiring to see all those really cool and handsome upstanding young men holding their cham­pi­onship belts with pride. There is great inspi­ration and promise in people turning their lives around and doing the right thing.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the Center as three young girls read their winning essays on the theme of “The time is always right to do the right thing.”

Bobby's tribute honored Dr. King for breaking down racial barriers, but also religious bigotry and economic barriers.  We are blessed and inspired by a man who loved, loved his neighbor as himself.  He put forth his best, not for his own sake, but for the glory of God.  Because it was the right thing to do.  Dr. King sacrificed his gain for America's good.  He gave up his dream for our dream.  He put his dream of equality for all above himself.  He did what Christ did.  He laid himself down that we might rise and be able to do the things we do, live the lives we live.  He gave his all so that we and our children and grandchildren can know that all men are created in God's image.  So we can embrace the beautiful creative nature of our God and know the realization of being shoulder to shoulder, hand to hand, heart to heart, celebrating the legacy of one of America's most courageous sons.   

Bobby talked about how Dr. King taught us to be and give the best that we can.  The American spirit is one of excellence and perseverance against all odds.  What we all love about Dr. King is that he walked the walk.  He said to do as I do.  He asked everyone, in every place, in every situation to give their best to make this nation the great nation he knew it could and should be.  

Dr. King challenged everyone by saying,
"If it falls on your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry.  Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well."  

Bobby shared that, because of Dr. King's sacrifice, people like himself can embrace their humble beginnings. Bobby's own humble beginnings called him to serve this country in Congress and continue the dream of rebuilding our great country for all people. Bobby challenged us to let Dr. King's vision be our vision, his commitment be our commitment, his undying love for all mankind be ours, his passion and service to his country be our passion and service to our country, and let his great dream that awoke a sleeping giant, the dream that revived the good in a great nation, let his dream be our dream.  


I just want to add this about my husband. I am so proud of him. Not because he does great things but because he does small things with great love.
He makes the best darn pizza, not because he loves pizza, but because he loves people and wants to satisfy their hunger with really good pizza.

He changes brakes on our cars, not because he loves the car, but because he loves me and wants to make sure that his family is safe. He sweeps the kitchen floor, he fights where others can’t, he speaks for those who can’t, he hires those whom others won’t, and he does it because he loves people.

These prin­cipals were instilled in him by his faith, family, coaches, priests, nuns and teachers. These are values we instill in our children by first prac­ticing them ourselves and through loving correction, form and shape those we love. It is all practice, or should I say boot camp, until the day they take life head on all by themselves.

This past month I had the privilege to spend a DC work week with Bobby.  In DC, spouses of members have access to many of the places that the member goes, with the exception of the House Floor.  House member’s children who are under the age of 12 are permitted to go onto the House floor with their mom or dad.  

Sitting in the House Gallery (seating around and above the House Floor) while Bobby spoke on the House Floor, and while he and the other members voted, was like watching a drama unfold.  The House Members are quite spirited and lively.  The best way to describe it, is that, it is like watching the fans of a football game between rivals. I also sat in the gallery while the President of South Korea gave his address to a joint session of Congress.  He was speaking Korean so I really didn’t know what he was saying.  The members of the House and Senate knew because they had translators.  

I followed Bobby to his committee meetings and sat in on meetings with doctors, surgeons, and Naval, Army, and Marine Corp officers.  What wonderful people we have in our Military - they are truly the finest.  The meeting with doctors of every medical field was very, very concerning.  Their vocations weigh heavy on them and government intrusion is not helping them care for their patients but rather, hindering the care!   

Another really fun thing that I was privileged to do was take a Dome tour,  led by Congressman Adam Kinzinger.  This is part of the painting of The Apotheosis of Washington.   We were right up against the painting.  I appreciated being able to see the brush strokes of Constantino Brumidi.  After circling the inside of the Dome, we stepped out of a small door to the very crown of the outside of the Dome.  This is a picture of the inside of the pillars where the Statue of Freedom stands.  Each one of the lights in the crown is 400 watts.  This lamp is on when Congress is in session and off when they are adjourned to go home.  This is the second dome constructed over the Capitol.  The first dome was made of wood and not at all as magnificent as the 8,909,200 pounds of cast iron dome we have now.  

As interesting as it was following Bobby around, the most profound thing I have ever experienced in the Capitol, did not involve his routine, or any of the tours.  The most profound and wonderful thing I was able to participate in was the “Wounded Warriors” parade at the Pentagon.  The Pentagon holds a a special welcoming home ceremony for our wounded warriors who are recovering from injuries.  Our brave warriors come off the battle field and go straight to Walter Reed Hospital to receive treatment and recover.  

The first warriors came down the hall in their wheel chairs accompanied by their wives and children.  There was a family who had their new born baby boy all decked out in camo, so sweet.  Some of our wounded warriors were blind, while others had severe scarring.  I hope and pray that our brave men and women will get better with time.  I wish that I could express to you the dignified humility of our warriors as they moved through the halls of the Pentagon with their families to the sound of patriotic music.  Emotionally, it was so moving.  

Their love for our country and for each other is ingrained deep in their hearts and expressed beautifully in their eyes.  They held their heads high and it was easy to see how the enthusiastic cheering and clapping of everyone deeply moved and humbled them, as they moved through the halls.  

Through out all of human history, it is brave patriots like these that rise up to fend off the tyranny of evil and oppression for the sake of the rest of us.  Their heroic sacrifice has born much fruit.  Never in all of the history of mankind has humanity experienced the freedom that we have been so blessed with here in America.  This is the freedom that is wonderfully expressed through religious expression, free press, free speech and the right to secure these freedoms with our right to protect ourselves.  We enjoy freedom of enterprise that has provided us with the cars we drive, the education we receive, the variety of food and restaurants we enjoy, our clothing styles, the computers we use, cell phones, advances in medicine and what we understand about the body, etc... Our warriors sacrifice for freedom has given us endless benefits.  These warriors deserve our eternal gratitude.   God bless our men and women in the military of the United States of America.  God bless and protect them and their families.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all that you do and all that you have done and all that you continue to do.  

Now that we have lived through the whirl wind of a campaign, election and the adjustment to being a congres­sional family, we have settled into a perse­vering kind of routine.

Bobby has dug in and is working very hard for our district and country. I recently picked up a coffee mug for him. It is from the “Life is Good” product line. (I love that name) On it is a power drill with the words “Mr. Fix it”. On the other side “life is good”. This is Bobby in a nut shell, or coffee cup. He was made for this kind of chaos. He loves to fix things and make them work better than they did before.

Bobby loves to mow the lawn. This is his one chore that he refuses to let go. It is his time to decom­press and allow all the tenseness of the week to be put into it’s proper order. I can relate to this by thinking of a jar of water and sediment. When we are under pressure or stress it is like shaking that jar and watching every­thing get all mixed up. When we find a place to settle and be calm all the layers of the day, week or year get put into layers and proper order and can be seen clearly. When Bobby is in DC, he is constantly working and walking. At the end of the day he calls to talk the day through all of it’s layers. I consider my self very fortunate because I get a lesson in civics everyday. Some­times twice a day.

The question of the day always seems to be, “When is dad coming home?”

The boys ask, “When is dad coming home? The oven at the restaurant is making a funny noise,” or “…is he going to be able to help me move into my dorm?” They are always looking to Bobby for big stuff and problem fixes. Our boys have settled into their niches and new respon­si­bil­ities at our restaurant and home. We are finally at the place where all those tense adjust­ments are now laughed at. They are even getting calls from constituents and handling it with grace and politeness that the person on the other end deserves. Bobby and I are very proud of them.

The girls' “When is dad coming home?” is because they miss him pinching their cheeks and telling them how cute they are. Well maybe just the cute part. They do get to do things that dad is just  not that into, like watching Never Say Never  (Justin Beiber movie) 2 times in the same evening!

Every time Bobby comes in the door he whistles a certain tune that none of us can imitate. Sam (our six year old) is real close to getting it, but not quite. Every time they hear it they yell, “DAD!”

Anthony (our one and a half year old) loves to see daddy on “face time”. He does a little happy wiggle squirm move and reaches and waves his arms toward daddy. Sophia (our three year old) loves this too! She shows dad a twirl and sings her abc’s. (She gets her Yellow Mellow p’s mixed up) It is kind of funny to watch the two of them fight over getting in front of the eye camera. “Face time” has been a blessing. Bobby gets to see the happenings in the house and we get a sense of his surroundings and it really makes us feel well connected!

Because of all the activity and respon­si­bil­ities of the family, I have not been able to travel to DC as much as I thought I would. Initially, I thought that I was going to be more involved with the
congres­sional spouses and clubs. With our large family and the added respon­si­bility of our restaurant it just has not been prac­tical. Oh - and the expense!

Yikes, when I have tried to fly  to DC the flights have been running six to seven hundred dollars. I did make it out to DC to cele­brate our 25th wedding anniversary. I decided to surprise Bobby. I dropped him off at our local airport, swung around, parked and took a flight thirty minutes after his on another other airline. I surprised Bobby by making lunch reser­va­tions for him at a DC bistro. He thought he was meeting friends and when he turned and saw me, he stared for a minute, then his mouth dropped and he got a big grin on his face! He asked, “How did you do that, you just dropped me off at the airport?”

We did not get to spend a lot of time together because he was in House Armed Services Committee meetings all the next day and night. It was okay because I under­stand how important the work is that he is doing.

Our family all really enjoyed the 4th of July parade in our hometown this year.  Our "float" had the fifty US state flags displayed along with a 12×16 foot American flag. On the back of the float, our son Joe played the Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle Dandy and other songs on his guitar. It is a joy to see the crowd remove their hats and place their hands over their hearts as they show respect to our flags and give honor to our country.

As tough as all the chal­lenges are, I would not trade this crazy adventure of a life for anything! Even in the midst of all the craziness we find joy!

Navi­gation is tricky and adven­turesome. On one of our first trips to DC, I brought along our daughter Isabel (14) and Anthony, who at the time was 8 months. On the first morning there we decided to go to the Basilica National Shrine of The Immac­ulate Conception.

At the time I was not familiar with the Metro train system and the thought of it was intim­i­dating, so we took a cab. It took longer than I antic­i­pated to get there and I was getting a little worried about cab fare. It was a $15 dollar ride plus tip. That meant I would be spending the same amount on the way back…or so I thought.

No matter what your reli­gious beliefs, the Basilica is a beau­tiful place to worship God and marvel at the love that mankind has for him. The main cathedral is a rendition of the church described in Reve­lation. 

My favorite part of the church is the Church Crypt, which is the church under the church. The warmth of the earth tones was so comforting, I wish that I could go there everyday. While in the Church Crypt I was marveling at a large stained glass wall and saw that it had a door handle. I had to see what was on the other side of that door! As we slowly walked in I realized that it was a confes­sional. Oops!

I slowly started to back out when my conscience kicked me and asked, “How long has it been?” Ugh, ok I’ll go. I love the way I feel after confession with a smile and a spring in my step that I didn’t realize had left me. 
I recommend that everyone visit this wonderful Basilica and try to take in as much as you can. Pay attention to the details. There is so much to appre­ciate and visiting the confes­sional is, of course, at your option. If you can not go there in person please visit it on line. You will get a sense of the Basilica’s magnif­i­cence, but you will not get the sense of just how small we are compared to it.

Isabell, Anthony and I were getting hungry so we decided to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We walked out of the Basilica and I called for a cab. No answer. I tried another company, but still no answer. After trying four other cab companies, we still could not get them to come and pick us up. So I punched  ‘Wash­ington Monument’ into my Sprint navi­gation and it showed us only 3 miles away. I discussed this with Isabel and she was OK with walking. Until…

...We were about six blocks into the walk and we noticed that the 
neigh­borhood houses were blocking our view of the Capitol building. It seemed that we were moving away from it instead of toward it. So I tried to hail a cab. He wouldn’t stop. Tried again, nope. And again.

As we walked, it was hard for me to keep focused because we lost sight of the Capitol building and Isabel started to panic. This is very unusual for her and her emotions were making my heart race. I grabbed her arm ever so calmly and looked her in the eye and said, “Isabel, if you want me to keep my composure I am going to need you to calm down.” She took a deep breath and quickly calmed herself.

I knew that Bobby would be busy and unable to help us, so I called my son Terry who is very familiar with DC. He was quick to tell me what I already knew - that we were lost and getting further from the Capitol. So I changed the navi­gation to get me to the nearest Five Guys restaurant. This was only a mile from where we were.

For the most part this was a stressful but uneventful adventure. At one point I was approached by a man who asked me if I would marry him. I told him that I was sorry but someone else had already beaten him to that proposal. We finally arrived at Five Guys and enjoyed the best burger ever made!

Next door to Five Guys was a place called Pound Coffee. This was the best espresso I have ever had. While we were there, I noticed that cabs were pulling up to a hotel across the street and we were able to get one back to our hotel. We were very close to our hotel so the cab fare was under $10 with the tip.

Since this trip I have studied the layout of Washington DC a little more thor­oughly. I have consulted a real map so that I have a sense of what is beyond the GPS navigation instructions.

When our whole family was in DC for the swearing in, we quickly learned how to navigate in the city with the Metro. Wow, was it easy and 
conve­nient! The Metro is rela­tively clean, inex­pensive and seem to always have plenty of room for all of us to sit in the same area. There is a station  right at the Cannon building where Bobby’s office is located.

Of all the ways to get around DC, my favorite is my own two feet. While walking I can get an intimate feel of the city, taking in the grand sites as well as the tiny details.