Last week, I received a wonderful email from two of my favorite people in Peace Corps.

The message read, “… deepest gratitude and heart felt appreciation for you and for joining us during the special events that took place during our 60^th Peace Corps week! …

… You are such an inspiration and a wonderful story teller and having you as our panelist made Joshua’s very unique JFK Legacy event, and my Story Slam event even that much more of an impactful event.”

Wait, there’s more! Earlier in the year, I received an email that read: “Dear KJ, I would like to nominate you for a President’s Volunteer Service Award for Lifetime Achievement.”

“Depending on the amount of service hours completed, individuals can receive the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and/or the President’s Call to Service Award (also referred to the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award).

The Call to Service Award is the most prestigious, and it has been awarded to few Americans to recognize over 4,000 hours of extraordinary service.”

I am, of course, speechless. No one signs up for the United States military, Peace Corps, Americorps, or American Red Cross, to win awards. I enlisted in the Air Force at age seventeen and I’m currently, in Alaska, serving with Americorps at age 64.

For the awards ceremony, yesterday, I made sure to wear an American flag (for my military service), Peace Corps pins from Armenia and Ethiopia (there was no such thing, during my service in Kenya), and my favorite pin from the American Red Cross.

I suppose I could say that volunteering is a way to make a statement, a statement about who you are and what you believe is important.

#FREE Britney! —GGT