Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006 at Mattie's favorite restaurant. We took Mattie out that day to celebrate Easter. He was visited by the Easter Bunny while we were having lunch, and Mattie was thoroughly scared of the life sized bunny in the room. I remember when I was Mattie's age, I would hide under a table when any of these life sized characters would approach me. Mattie handled it a lot better than I did. Mainly because I served as interference between him and the bunny and in this particular case, I told him that this bunny was not real, that there was a person dressed up as the Easter Bunny, because the real bunny couldn't make it that day. He was busy delivering too many eggs!
Quote of the day: When people repress grief, the grief finds its way out, typically as guilt or anger. Certainly using a hammer appropriately can be a way to exorcise their anger. ~ Steve George
Today was quite the day! I literally had an eight hour counselor licensure board meeting! I knew it was going to be a long meeting, since I was presiding over an ethical violation hearing, but as more information was revealed in this trial, the matter became more complex and cumbersome. Naturally I am not a lawyer, but we are fortunate enough to have an outstanding board attorney who has been working with us for the eight years that I have served on this board. This attorney gives me a script to follow to conduct the hearing, however, with human dynamics, scripts have to be somewhat flexible. It is funny, because the board staff and many of the board members view me as feisty. I am okay with feisty and competent honestly and sometimes feistiness and passion are needed to get tough jobs done. For some reason I feel as if I am accomplishing big issues this year for the board, and I can't quite explain why that is happening. Nonetheless, I continue to be proud of the work of the board and I very much appreciate this role. Not a feeling I harbor for most things these days.
It was another gloomy and rainy day in DC, but after sitting for so many hours, I welcomed even walking in the rain to get home. Peter has been trying to recover today from his extremely tiring and grueling plane trip home. However, despite being away for two weeks and having to adjust to different time zones, I can hear that his trip was productive. In addition to it being productive he was able to connect on a personal level with the people who report to him in Rwanda. In so many interpersonal ways Rwanda is far more advanced than we are in the States. I imagine our work culture used to be like this at one time, rather than how it has evolved into a completely impersonal experience. In Rwanda, listening to each other and human connections are vital to the level of work accomplished and the amount of respect received. In a way, these connections can enliven the human spirit and inspire creativity and more productive work. So I have been enjoying our dialogues about his business experiences in Rwanda.
This evening over dinner, Peter happened to tell me a story in passing about his trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles today. He took my car in for an inspection and while there, he could hear a man (who was out of his sight) cursing and was very upset. Peter followed the sound and found an older man lying on the ground. This man was getting his car inspected too, however, as he was walking through the facility, he tripped over a curb and landed on the ground. Peter basically sat with the man, talked with him, until they determined together that he was okay and hadn't broken anything. Peter also checked his mental status (got to love him!), and asked him questions about what day it was and where he currently was. The man eventually got to his feet and they parted company. On Peter's way out after the car was inspected, this same fellow approached Peter to thank him for caring and helping him. I was very moved by this whole interchange and yet very disturbed that no one else stopped to help this man. As I said to Peter......Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. I was touched by his good deed and even more amazed that he told the story matter of factly without seeing the act of kindness he performed.
No comments:
Post a Comment