I want to share two amazing people's stories...Rudy and Virginia Smith
Rudy passed away on July 5th,2010. He will be missed. I know no other employer will ever treat me the way that Rudy and Virginia. They were more like a mom and dad that you wanted to please. When Virginia passed away in 2006 this is what I wrote in her guest book.
Virginia...what an inspiration...
2006-08-17
When I heard of Virginia's trip to Heaven I was so sad to know that the world had lost her. What an impact she had on my life-the impact the Smith's had on my life. I was barely 18 (ok 17 at the time of training~they let me slip by) I worked at Mission Viejo which is where Virginia and Rudy worked out...often.....lol...we worked hard to keep that chrome clean knowing that any minute the "OWNERS" would be in. What I quickly learned was they weren't "owners" they were more like parents...Virginia's voice on the circuit training (10-20-30) tape played soothingly throughout the day. She took my aerobics classes often...usually in the front row...we chatted when she came in...I told my supervisor Gary Graydon "I want to be just like her". He said "you want to have a hard body at 60?" and I'm like, well, yes a hard body at 60 would be great...but it was more than that it was her all of her that I wanted to emulate. I knew that at 18. What a family we had at Holiday Spa. It spoiled me. I thought all companies were like that. A sales contest was not really a sales contest...it usually was a family vacation with our surrogate parents...Rudy and Virginia...many of us who have never been in the position to have vacations like a Smith vacation and we were treated to life on the other side and gave us the inspiration to work harder when we got home. Rudy had my back. He never let anyone get away with treating me in any way that was less than I deserved. I got a bear hug from him at the Hollywood re-grand opening after the Northridge quake. I think about Cross Crawls and think of Virginia....balance your body!... Often...lol...even though I have not seen the Rudy and Virginia in years...I have thought about them often. Rudy I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Virginia...my heart aches for you and your family. But what a life she had...she had the steadfast love of a great man...awesome unaffected children who grew to be great people and had great children for Virginia to love. The Smith family was still a wonderful loving, together, and close family that treasured Virginia until her passing. Yeah, I still want to be just like her... XOXO to my family, Peg (Van Buskirk)
Pegi
