The rest of the Story

Todays post comes from my mom (or Grams as you may know her) - I hope you enjoy!

The Rest of the Story……..

We all heard about the Banker from Miami (Leonard Abiss) who sold his bank, received a Sixty Million dollar bonus from the sale and gave it away to all of his current employees. He even went so far as to find 72 past employees. He gave it out based on a percentage of length of time employed at the bank. He did this in November, 2008.




He was invited by Michelle Obama to sit with her during the State of the Union address this year. Prior to the event he was asked by the First Lady to provide her with a list and brief description of the recipients of the money. The first lady chose one of those recipients to be at the event with him.



That guest was Geneva Lawson. She is 72 years old and has been with the bank for 51 years.
She is from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She hasn’t traveled much. Went to Michigan twice, and returned occasionally to Chattanooga to visit her sisters. She and her three sisters grew up in a very loving, but very poor home. Her dad was a coal plant worker and died in his early fifties from an accident in the plant. Her mother worked in the millenaries making socks. Geneva left home right after high school, went to Miami and soon went to work for that bank.

Finding out the night before, making the trip to Washington D.C. on a private jet, staying in a “fancy” hotel, receiving a tour of the White House from the First Lady was a once in a lifetime experience for her. She was the Banker’s boss in the print shop of the bank, when he first started at the bank. She held several teller positions with the bank and is now the Safety Deposit person. They didn’t want her to retire, so when she said she might, they offered her that position hoping she would stay, and she did.

Geneva, (Nita is what she is called) has always been a caring, fun loving, positive, person who has lived a simple, happy life. She makes you happy to be around her.

Nita is my aunt. My mother’s baby sister!

And that my friends makes her my Great Aunt - I think this story is sweet, inspiring and selfless. The part my mom left out is the part about how Nita went without dinner one evening while at the State of the Union - she did not know how to "do room service" as was agreed upon by her traveling partner. We sure take a lot of life for granted. The monies she recieved from her boss for her 51 years of service and the trip of a lifetime were truly life altering for her - smile and make someones day today!