#106

Saturday started out slowly for Elaine. She had such a great time at dinner the night before with her close friends from the desert. That made her pretty tired this morning. She thought that the optimal plan would be for her catch up on some much needed rest.  So, Elaine and Christi relaxed in bed this morning while Fred, Staci, and Ben played golf in the heat. After golf, Ben and Staci took the girls out on a shopping expedition so Elaine, Fred, and Brian could get some rest in peace!

It was a good thing she was able to rest up because the remainder of the day and night were incredibly busy! Her dear friend Barbara stopped by the house. They had a terrific visit talking about old times they had and good times ahead.  It was great for everyone to catch up with Barbara!

A little while later, Pat came by to check on Elaine and say hi to everyone. We all always love to see Pat. Elaine absolutely cherishes their friendship and enjoys their visits. 

After a couple of nice visits, Elaine had to get ready to receive a very special honor. Fred and Elaine were honored this evening by Palm Desert High School as the inaugural recipients of the PDHS Supporters of the Year at the high school's 25th anniversary function. Teachers, coaches, and alumni thanked them for all of their support over the years. 

The best part of the evening was when Fred was saying a few words to the audience. He made a nice donation to the newly formed PDHS Foundation and announced that he had created The Elaine Smith Courage Award to honor the courage that Elaine has shown over the past 100 days. The idea is to give a scholarship award to a student who has shown extreme courage in the face of adversity. It was an incredibly moving speech about Elaine and her inspiring battle that stirred the emotions of entire gymnasium. 

Here is a video of a portion of his speech where he begins to speak about Elaine.