A lot of time and energy has been spent recently on trying to identify and communicate member benefits. I think that the CFA staff has done an outstanding job of producing literature and contacting members in order to help them better understand and take advantage of what information and services that the association has to offer. As my term of president of this association is beginning to wind down, I have been doing some reflection as to what the CFA has meant to me personally. One particular story comes to mind that represents how my involvement with the people of this association has benefited me.

While flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia for a quarterly board meeting in the fall of 1999, my wife and I had a scheduled layover in Newark, New Jersey. During our flight from Indianapolis we were informed that the entire eastern seaboard was shutting down due to severe thunderstorms that had been pounding the area since early that morning. We were going to be able to land safely in Newark, however we needed to be prepared to stay put for awhile. As we were beginning to hunker down for a long night in the less than comfortable Newark terminal, I noticed a friendly face across the aisle way. Bob Sawyer had a similar layover and it turned out that we were awaiting the same connecting flight. For those of you who do not know or remember Bob, he was a founding member of our association and devoted a large portion of his life to promoting our industry; the highest honor and most esteemed award given by our association today bears his name. Back to the story; we sat down together and embarked on a wonderful discussion about family, business, and all of life’s experiences. The hours seemed to fly by and our conversation continued on throughout the wee hours of the night. My wife and Bob seemed to connect on a special level and they remained very close until his unfortunate passing in 2004. It was clear during our meeting that he was nearing the twilight of his life; however his passion for helping those in our industry shined brightly. That night he had no agenda, he had no product to sell, he was simply offering of himself and being a friend.

It was well into the next morning before we reached our hotel in Halifax. That night in that cold dreary airport was a very special night in my life; it is probably easy to tell from reading this article that it has had a lasting impact on me. Thank you Bob, and thank you CFA, for affording me innumerable opportunities to improve and enrich my life.