What does it take to get me to write a post? How about a trip to the Pentagon, complete with our own guide, an awards ceremony honoring that guy I married, little mini hamburgers on toothpicks, and shooting the breeze with the Secretary of the Air Force?
A couple of months ago, Derek called me from work, which is a pretty rare occurrence. He had just been informed that he had won the Harold Brown award, which is the highest individual award for scientists in the Air Force, for achievements in research and development that have led to, or demonstrated promise of, a substantial improvement in the operational effectiveness of the Air Force.
Yeah. We had no idea how big a deal this would be. Derek’s only been working for the Air Force Research Labs for a little over two years. But boy do they like him.
We took the whole family to Washington DC this past weekend. Derek’s parents, some siblings, an aunt, and Grandma came too. We planned for several days exploring the Mall, the Smithsonian museums, adventures in dining, etc. The reason for the trip, though, was pretty stunning.
We had to be at the Pentagon a couple hours early, to get through a couple of layers of security, get visitor badges, walk several miles into the vast building, shoot the breeze with the Chief Scientist of the Air Force and the Chief Technologist of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We mostly discussed our mutual hatred of squirrels.
While the rest of the family stayed in a waiting room bigger than our house, Derek and I, with the two boys and Derek’s parents, were escorted into the office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael B. Donley. We were accompanied by the official photographer, who shot many photos of various configurations of handshakes, including ones with my two little boys. Secretary Donley was gracious, smiled a lot, praised Derek for being so awesome, and was just way more affable than I expected. Though, to be honest, I didn’t really expect to meet him myself.
As we were leaving the office, the Secretary’s secretary had some souvenirs for the boys, and we later learned she had already met Kiki, who was entirely too wild to come with us into the office. It kind of seemed like they don’t see too many kids in there. (Especially fantastically beautiful ones like mine.)
The award ceremony began with everyone standing for Secretary Donley and Derek, then an introduction by the Secretary, wherein I learned the real reason Derek won this award. If you’re curious, it’s because of his work with teams of ultralight air vehicles and detection of roadside bombs. So actual life-saving going on.
Anyway, then Derek got to accept the award, get presented with the trophy, or whatever that giant hunk of glass is called, get more photos, and give flowers to me, his mom, and his grandma. Did you know they have a florist in the Pentagon? I didn’t. I also didn’t know they have a pharmacy/mini-mart where you can get leftover halloween candy for $1 a bag. There’s a jewelery store, dry cleaners, optometrist, and I don’t know what else. It’s pretty self-contained.
After the award was presented, there was a reception. Like a receiving line kind of reception. Derek stood, while all the other guests who weren’t related lined up and shook his hand.
And then there was food. They had told us there would be cake, but instead, there was a full buffet of wonderful things, with caterers and invisible waiters. One of the highlights for me, besides the indescribable unexpectedness of having Secretary Donley approach me to chat, with the official photographer shooting away like a paparazzo, was when the Chief Scientist Dr. Werner J.A. Dahm saw me looking for somewhere to put my plate and came over claiming to be a waiter. I was a little tongue-tied most of the time. And possibly even a tiny bit more dippy than usual. It was all kind of dream-like.
Any questions?
November 11, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Wow! That’s exciting. And while I already knew that Derek was really awesome, now a lot more people know.
I’m gonna have to pull out my yearbook and see if I have Derek’s signature in it. I mean he is famous now, and he is only in his early thirties. Where will he be 10, 20, 30 years from now?
And I don’t want to neglect to mention that Sarah I am so impressed that you inspired and supported your husband through so much school.
November 11, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Woah, woah, woah! And also Wow. How awesome is that? What a fun family adventure and what a great husband. This is super cool.
Also, I hope more super cool things like this will happen so we can hear from you more often (although I haven’t been blogging much myself, lately. . .)
November 11, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Way to go Derek!
November 11, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Flippin’ W00t!!
Life saving stuff huh? I applaud your husband as well!
November 11, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Very, very cool.
November 11, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I hope you didn’t just give away any military secrets on the internet! π
Congratulations to all of you! I assume the prize also includes a cash award of several hundred thousand dollars. π Not that the thought of saving even a single life isn’t reward enough.
November 12, 2009 at 7:17 am
I didn’t share anything that wasn’t already available on the internet. And no, there is no cash award. I think the fact that he won this award, and is the youngest person ever to do so, will likely help his career in some small way, though.
November 12, 2009 at 1:27 am
so cool. congrats!
November 12, 2009 at 9:37 am
Dude. You keep us hanging for months at a stretch, but when you do update, you mean business, dontcha?
What an awesome adventure and what an honor for Derek congratulations to him on his achievements, and to you for having had the good taste and foresight to marry him!
November 12, 2009 at 5:33 pm
That is great, Sarah! What an honor!
November 13, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Sarah and Derek, what a special recognition, and having done R&D for the Air Force for 44 years, I know how special it really is!!! Derek, you are super for what you have accomplished; and Sarah, you were great to give all of us such a fun description of the ceremony. We are very proud of you both
Stan
November 23, 2009 at 12:24 am
I came here not expecting to see any new news and look – new news! And awesome news at that. Congrats. It makes me want to re-watch the first 3 seasons of The West Wing for no real reason.
Now if Derek’s little air vehicles could detect what my kids are doing in the bathroom right now when they’re supposed to be sleeping, that would REALLY be something. I’d give you a bigger hunk of glass and hamburgers AND hot dogs on sticks. Beat that, Pentagon guys.
November 23, 2009 at 1:14 am
I am giddy, GIDDY, about this. This is fantastic.
You should put his name up on that wikipedia page. π
November 23, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Yo, Derek…you rock, as always. I am proud to know you. Thanks for your hard work in preserving precious lives.
November 24, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Well, that’s what happens when you don’t post for months. I kept clicking the address for your blog “one last time” for months and, finally, at last: TA-DA!
Such fabulous news! And I only found out about it 2 weeks later! So, here, belated congratulations to your husband and also to his family. I am sure you all did your best to inspire him to excellence. Too bad that little Kiki missed out on some of the party because of her wildness.
Ii sounds like you had a wonderful and very unique experience. You have every right to be very proud of it. Best wishes to you all,
Mama
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