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The fact that Sara Atwell has far too many irons in the fire is no excuse not to grab another.
She is a powerhouse health care consultant who doubles as a pilates instructor and sits on the board of many community organizations such as Ronald MacDonald House, Catholic Social Services and Steven Ministries.
Sara is also a mother to two great kids, Amanda (27) and Alea (23), a dedicated wife of 27 years to Bill, and an avid bicyclist and hiker. And if that weren’t enough, she is currently in Arizona helping a friend out by administering COVID vaccination shots.
Busy or not, if it’s the right thing to do or if it can help someone she loves, Sara is there in an instant.
“I love her integrity, her work ethic and her commitment to the family, and not just to the family, to work and everything else she does,” Bill said. “She’s on so many different boards, I can’t even name them all. She tries to help within the community, and she’s always got her hands in everything.”
Sara is back to regular travel through her work with Watson/IBM Health System after she changed roles for years to be closer to Amanda and Alea when they were kids.
All the mileage she’s racking up now did nothing to deter her from lending a hand to the vaccination effort, which was a heroic task in its own right and a chance to be there for a friend.
“That’s just kind of what she does,” Bill says.
The same expression could be used over and over again as Sara takes a machine-like approach to accomplishing more in a day than many do in a week. When the girls were younger, she would juggle her job with caring for the home, doing community work, and guiding and supporting her daughters.
Sara “couldn’t take being away from the kids,” Bill says, so she did what she had to do to be closer to them.
And while she cared for them and taught them every chance she got, Sara also gave Amanda and Alea a gift through her incredible work ethic. If the kids needed a role model for working hard and doing good deeds, they didn’t have to look far.
“She has always supported the kids and pushed them to do anything they want to do,” Bill said. “She raised them to be great members of society. They contribute.
“Our oldest is a purchasing agent for a large automotive firm. Our youngest just finished up getting her masters at Texas A&M and is managing a store for Enterprise Rentals. Everything Sara has done, these kids have watched and learned from her.”
Bill sometimes wishes he didn’t have to watch Sara step away after dinner most nights to get back to her work, but that’s part of the package and he loves her for it. Sara will work into the night if she must, because often she does pilates or contributes to one of her many causes during the day.
From the moment Sara wrote “Happy birthday, Bill!” in pink lipstick on the mirrored wall at Powerhouse Gym to now as partners and parents, they’ve been through it all.
Bill has learned from Sara what it means to work hard, to care for others, and to truly value time with family.
For that, and so many other reasons, he and the kids have immense love and gratitude for the whirling dervish of a woman who makes such a happy life possible.
“I just want to express to her how much I love her and what she means to me and the kids,” Bill said. “I wouldn’t be here without her today.”
