One never-to-be-forgotten Rotary experience for my family and me was the year that we were counselors to a very special French exchange student.  In the ensuing 18 years, Christelle Neron went from being an adorable and delightful teenager to being a beautiful and charming young French woman with a wonderful husband, two adorable children of her own and a career as an English teacher in France. 

But there is more.  Our son, Colin, became quite attached to Christelle when she was here (it would be hard not to). He visited her home and skied in the Alps with her while studying in France several years ago.  While there, Christelle’s  four year old daughter bonded with him.  This blog post says it best.  http://colinmorris.net/post/109427530.

Regrettably, severe weather prevented Christelle’s planned appearance at Rotary.  Nevertheless, my family was thrilled to spend some quality time with her and her family, including parents and host parents, Michael and Lynn Saddleton.

Service above self is a pretty simple concept.  Not so simple, sometimes, is discerning who is doing the serving and who is being served.

This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder why everyone isn’t a Rotarian.

                                                        Christelle giving her year end talk
    Christelle and  Colin (1994)                    at Rotary in 1995

Christelle with Mr. & Mrs. Shechter    

Christelle with her husband and Cherie Shechter