Many years ago, my husband and I purchased a beautiful 2 story home with white shutters, and 4 colonial columns adorned the front of the house.This home was built in 1974 had lush greenery surrounding the drive, and was accented with a lake off the backyard. It was in one of the most sought after neighborhoods in Virginia.
This home was not only aesthetically beautiful, but it was going to be the place where we were going to raise our children and create fantastic memories. My family owned a construction company for years, and my husband and I realized that we needed to take care of several issues with the home, but it was going to suit us well.
We bid accordingly, and the sellers accepted our offer.
The outside looked lovely and well maintained. As we walked down the hall, we noticed the floor of the house was not level. As we continued through the kitchen we noticed the floor shifting down slightly. If you dropped a ping pong ball at the refrigerator, the ball would accelerate until it came to rest in the corner of the kitchen.
On the second floor, the closet and bedroom doors didn’t work smoothly. There were also several cracks in the walls and doorways. I knew this all pointed to one problem…the foundation.
As we were descending into the damp crawlspace under the home with one of the contractors we were interviewing to repair our foundation, with flashlights in hand and sweat dripping under our hard hats, we recognized the severity of the issues. Many of the posts that were under the support beams were too short and rotted.
Essentially, our house didn’t have the strong bones necessary to hold itself up. If we didn’t take action quickly, our house would be degraded beyond repair. The work that needed to be done wasn’t a beautiful new mantle we could show off to visitors…it was in the bowels of the home.
The company we hired let us know that the repair process would include a bit of short term pain. It would be messy, loud, and expensive…but in the end, our home would be able to withstand the test of time. The company cleaned out all of the bad items that had been there for decades.
One crisp October morning, four strapping young men who looked like body builders worked for five full days rebuilding the foundation. All with the goal of creating the right support necessary to last long after we are gone.
Every day as we walked across floors we felt them becoming more level.
Each step of the way we checked the work with our outside expert to see if we could feel the changes in the structure by walking across the floors and checking under the house each day. You could feel the floor rising and evening out. The doors to the closets and bedroom were now easy to open.
It took 5 days to replace the foundation of our 45-year-old house. The parallel between our broken foundation and the foundation of American government is striking. The work reminds me of our sagging government.
On April 30, 2025 it was President Trump 100th day of office. He gave the Commencement speech for the graduating students at the University of Alabama
President Trump said, “that the University of Alabama’s spring graduating class is the first of “the Golden Age of America,” .. the students could become “the greatest generation” of Americans.”
“You’ve done a lot of winning. Winning is a good thing to do,” Trump told the class of 2025 at the university known for its powerhouse athletic programs. “But today I’m also asking you to look forward to something very, very bright and more promising.”
President Trump shared with graduates what he and his team have accomplished in 100 days. Whether it was closing the invasion at our Southern border, protecting women’s sports, rebuilding the military, or repairing the morale of various law enforcement organizations which had been prevented from keeping their communities safe; America was back.
The president was introduced by legendary former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban. Trump’s address marks the first time in 18 years that the University of Alabama has brought in a commencement speaker for graduation festivities.
The commencement address was not a mere campaign speech. He shared stories, life lessons, and wisdom from others. He spoke about the importance of Common sense.
"President Trump offered almost a dozen pieces of life advice during his Thursday evening commencement speech to graduating students at the University of Alabama.” He inspired and motivated his audience to build and develop themselves and others to help develop and strengthen their country!
President Trump “ suggested to the students not to waste their youth, because success can come at a very young age. “I was 28 when I took my first big gamble to develop a hotel in midtown Manhattan, the Grand Hyatt, and it worked out incredibly well. But I was very young at the time. I was like a very young person in sort of an old-person business.” He also recounted other successful people in business and politics, including Steve Jobs, who founded Apple at age 21, and Walt Disney who founded Disney at age 21.
“James Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, they were no older than 25 when they began the journeys that etched their names into the history books for all time,” he said. “So, to everyone here today, don’t waste your youth. Go out and fight right from the beginning from the day you leave this incredible university.”
“I know a lot of people that thought small. They’re very smart. I know others that weren’t nearly as smart, but they had a better picture of the big picture, because it’s just as hard to solve a small problem as a big problem, and it’s just as much energy and everything else except the result is going to be a smaller one.”
However, Mr. Trump cautioned the 2025 graduating class not to lose their momentum.
He told the sad tale of a fellow real estate developer, William Levitt, who became successful and decided to retire too early, sell his business, but later went bankrupt.
He recounted talking to Mr. Levitt at a party about what had happened to him.
“I went over and talked to him, and I said, How are you? He goes, ‘Donald, I’m not well.’”
“I said, ‘so can you come back?’ He said, ‘No, son, I lost my momentum. I shouldn’t have done it. I lost my momentum.’ And I never forgot that expression. He lost his momentum. If he would have kept going instead of selling and relaxing, he probably would have been three times bigger than he was, but he lost his momentum,” the President concluded.
“Other pieces of advice Mr. Trump gave the class of 2025 University of Alabama students were: have the courage to be an outsider, trust your instincts, think of yourself as a winner, be an original, and never give up.”
President Trump shared life lessons through true stories, common sense, doing the right thing, asking questions, and learning from others. He also said be a builder and developer.
If you could talk to the 23 year old version of you, what would you say?
Have you let the doldrums of life snuff out the sparks of passions and ideas in your world? You are never too old to reignite them. Embrace the uncomfortable, and get in touch with the 23 year old version of you with their whole lives ahead of them. You do have your whole life ahead. Make it count.
Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, concert artist, and parent. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. Contact Madeline Frank for your next live or zoom speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com
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