Meet The First Cousin

This picture was taken out in the front yard of the office, and the First Cousin is showing us a color board for houses at Highland Groves, which is only one of the areas to which she gives her artistic input.

The First Cousin (think First Lady, not to mention ONLY Lady much of the time) is the only daughter of Kenneth and Bunky; which, obviously, makes her and her two brothers first cousins to the Mister and Bias For Action. She was born on Halloween, and she still "dresses up" for her birthday every year. Hanging out with all the boy cousins contributed to her being a tomboy growing up; but by the time she hit high school, she had evolved into a cheerleader and was selected as the FFA Chapter Sweetheart (you know, the girl that got to wear the white FFA jacket). She and the Mister are the same age, and so they often embarrass our kids by remembering when they took accordian lessons together (I've tried to organize a reunion concert, but the Mister no longer has his accordian, and the First Cousin says something about holes in her bellows) or learning the Fox Trot together at Junior Assembly.

The First Cousin married right out of high school and had two children (boys, of course). Their dad was later killed in a car accident; they have grown up to be fine young men, married now and with 5 grandbabies for the First Cousin to dote on. They are carrying on the family farming tradition by providing farming services for the Morrison Ranch ground that is not yet developed, and farming their own spread down in Gila Bend, where they hope they will be able to continue for a very long time.

The First Cousin has had a veritable cornucopia of career experiences. She did payroll at Gilbert Schools; managed the Luhrs office building in downtown Phoenix; she has loaded baggage, pushed back airplanes, and performed secretarial services for the VP of America West Airlines; she managed 2 different Victoria's Secret stores and received national honors for her store's increase in sales performance; and in her spare time, she got her realtor's license. She also drove Jeep tours in Scottsdale, and her favorite job was working at the Farm and Ranch Supply store in Fallon, NV because she was able to meet everyone in the small town. She is currently the only woman on the RWCD (Roosevelt Water Conservation District) board. But I think she's used to being the only girl.

She has lived in Gilbert all her life, except for the few years that she lived in various places that her naval husband (the Water Expert) was stationed. When she joined the team at the Morrison Ranch office, she and the Water Expert were living in Fallon, Nevada, and she actually commuted to Gilbert for a year or so.

The First Cousin heads up Public Relations in our office, and she is also our retail expert. She travels each year to the International Council of Shopping Centers, which is a large expo style event where folks looking to place their stores meet the people hoping to find some stores. The First Cousin has a good grasp of style, and she helps scrutinize color schemes (like the board in the picture) and other details around Morrison Ranch. She is also quite good at family biography, which is really helpful when dealing with a family as large as the Morrison family. The First Cousin is as comfortable at Walmart as she is at Nordstrom's, and her ability to relate to everybody makes her the perfect PR person. She claims that she is like a child whose favorite part of school is recess; her favorite part of the job these days is going to lunch!

So if you see her walking from the office to the shopping center, which she does frequently, stop her and say hi; I guarantee you'll be dazzled by her smile and warmth.