Coincidence vs. Influence

When he was six, Joseph asked if we could visit the Alamo. I don’t remember exactly what prompted his request (Davy Crockett, perhaps?), but everyone was interested in a trip to Texas, so later that summer we headed south. We visited all five San Antonio missions, strolled the River Walk, toured the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi, traveled briefly into Mexico, and took Hanna to a campus visit at Concordia University – Austin.

Also in Austin we indulged my hobby of touring state capitol buildings. On our way home we did the same in Oklahoma City. During our tour of the Oklahoma State Capitol, we encountered the lieutenant governor, who invited us into her office, encouraged the girls to become active in politics and offered a photo op. Hanna and Joseph passed, but Laura took her up on it.

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Laura with Mary Fallin, August 2004.

I hadn’t thought about this in years, but was reminded of the incident last week when Laura received an invitation to attend Missouri Girls State this summer. Only a couple of junior girls are selected from Helias each year, and the selection process includes an application with an impromtu essay and an interview with an American Legion representative. Phil and I are so proud of Laura!

Out of curiosity I looked up Mary Fallin; she is now Governor of Oklahoma. Now I’m not saying that our encounter with Governor Fallin eight and a half years ago directly led to Laura’s selection to Girls State. But interestingly enough, just as soon as the 2013 Missouri Girls State session wraps up, Phil and I will be taking Laura to meet her youth group for the National Lutheran Youth Gathering.

It’s in San Antonio, and we will be following the same route through Oklahoma City that we took back in 2004.

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