Remembering Magic Isles and so very much more.....

I came across this picture and this article in the Corpus Christi Caller Times doing a Throwback Thursday about my sister Irma and her husband, my brother-in-love Len amusement park called Magic Isles that was written in October 2017.

And it got me thinking about people that I love and the lessons in life and in business that I have learned from their example.

Since I was 7 or 8 years old I have grown up knowing Irma and Len's love story and being a firsthand witness to their powerful example of love, fidelity, dedication to family and community, hard work, generosity and wisdom individually and as a couple. 

 And their love story is an ongoing tribute to love and legacy as they celebrated 52 years of marriage this August, their unity in all things and Leonard's trail blazing, innovative and intuitive spirit that has not only made him a successful businessman and entrepreneur but his influence that has been passed down to his children providing a beautiful legacy for them, their children and our family as a whole.

My sister Irma is 15 years older than me so growing up, I had the benefit of older siblings that in many ways were like additional parents.  This gave me the opportunity to do so many things I may never have gotten to experience.  As I spent summers with Irma and Len in Texas and sometime traveling the mid-west with them to so many states and places in our beautiful country.  And I was equally blessed with similar experiences with my sister Anna and her husband Rich and my brother Jack and his wife Carole traveling and working in family businesses from a young age,  All benefits of being the little sister when your siblings are much older. 

And one of those blessings included working at Magic Isles during the summers after it was built in 1978 and going back every summer right through my college years. I was even able to share the joy by bringing a dear friend to Texas for the summer who also worked at the amusement park.  We worked hard, but we had so much fun and have so so many wonderful memories.

After my college graduation my parents, grandparents and brother and his family and I moved to Texas. I got my first full time job out of college as a Technical Writer and continued to help out at the amusement park on weekends and on special occasions, like those big Halloween events Len was talking about in the video.   

My dad a retired chef helped out in the kitchen, my brother used his skills as a general contractor to design and build structures in kiddie land similar to so many that you see in Storyland in the White Mountains, our whole family and extended family was involved in one way or another.  And the Amusement Park was a great place for the local community to hold events and parties. They even filmed the final shots to a movie there.  It was a grace filled time and I made wonderful friendships that remain treasures today.  And as a proud  Aunty I loved spending time with my nieces and nephew taking them on rides in the park.  It truly was a special place to spend time with family and friends and the friendships I made and the experiences we shared during that special time make my heart smile. 

So this morning, when I saw this come up in my memories on facebook so many wonderful memories came flooding back.  And with them a nod and reminder to me and to aspiring entrepreneurs to follow your heart, use your intuition and good common sense, know your stuff , lead with integrity, honor and steadfastness, have a solid plan, be flexible, make time for family and above all value people.

This quote from Maya Angelou that I love sums it up perfectly " At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel."

Yup, it's the value people piece and spending time with family and those that you love that really makes the difference in this life that we live. 

To me the value of time is so much more precious than anything else.  And as I look back at the longevity of friendships, business relationships  and experiences in our family and extended family that spans decades and businesses that have come and gone, that for me is the big takeaway!