Lisa Collis recalls being drawn to the scene like a moth to flame.
In the state Capitol rotunda she saw the governor's wife, Susan Allen, surrounded by applauding legislators and lobbyists. It was George Washington's birthday in 1995. Allen had just unveiled a portrait of the first president, donated by candy manufacturers, made with thousands of brightly colored jelly beans.
As Allen was stepping up to speak, Collis could barely stand the suspense. "What is she going to say?" Collis remembers thinking. "What could anybody say in a situation like this?"
Collis, a small, unpretentious woman with a deep dread of public speaking, soon will face similar moments herself. She's the wife of Mark R. Warner who, on Jan. 12, was inaugurated as Virginia's 69th governor.
Being first lady is a role Collis never envisioned in the 1980s when she worked to improve public health for migrant workers, spent time in Guatemala studying nutrition and worked for the World Bank crafting AIDS policy for Third World nations.
But friends say Collis — the daughter of a Navy flier who grew up everywhere, including Norfolk — is remarkably adaptable.
"She's always been very confident and sure of who she is," says Heather Stroup, a former roommate at the University of Virginia. "She'll find a way to do things in her own way and make a great first lady."
Collis, 46, will be the first governor's wife in Virginia to go by her maiden name. "I always envisioned that I would keep my birth name, and Mark is fine with that," she said. "I have a lot of pride in my family heritage."