Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. Mattie was playing Candy Land with his big buddy, Brandon. These two buddies were different ages and yet they both got something out of their connection. They understood what it felt like to have cancer, to be under treatment, and how to be a friend to each other while dealing with a life threatening illness. As you can see from this photo, Mattie wasn't thrilled with my picture taking and stuck his tongue right out at me. I nonetheless snapped the photo!
Quote of the day: Is there an answer to the question of why bad things happen to good people?...The response would be…to forgive the world for not being perfect, to forgive God for not making a better world, to reach out to the people around us, and to go on living despite it all…no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it has happened. ~ Harold S. Kushner
I have been preparing for this day for weeks. What happened today? I went to Alexandria City Hall to file for permits for our annual Foundation Walk. You may be asking yourself, how difficult can this be? One application?! The answer is it is challenging because of the documentation needed for everything we offer at the Walk. If we use tents, I have to provide the manual of the assembly of the tents and a certificate that they are fire retardant. The list goes on.
Last year when I found out I had to complete permits I was overwhelmed. Keep in mind that the Walk takes place on private property, not city land! Planning the walk is complex in and of itself but factoring in more paperwork, bureaucratic loop holes, and fees to process each permit, and I find it makes me aggravated. Thankfully, my friend Tina connected me with her local city council member in hopes that he could help me. When I wrote an email to the council member last year, he immediately responded and also connected me with the director of the permit office at city hall. The director got his staff jumping last year to help me in every possible way! Which I assure you is CRUCIAL since applying for special event permits is NOT easy and NOT every permit specialist truly understands the process. If your specialist doesn't get the process then the chances of completing extraneous permits which causes additional permit fees increases.
After my experiences last year, I decided to email the director of the permit office and alert him to the fact that I was coming into city hall today and would need help again. He remembered me from last year, mainly because after my written complaint the application process was overhauled. I was connected to a wonderful woman named Sonia today. I may never forget Sonia. She worked diligently with me for TWO and A HALF hours! She did not work with anyone else during that time. The permits needed for the Walk are: an electricity permit, a BUILDING permit (you heard me right for a rock climbing wall..... don't get me started on that), a fire permit, an amusement ride permit, and a noise permit. Each of these permits is managed by a different group in the office. So Sonia literally had to walk each permit from one group to the next in order to get the permits filed. It was labor intensive. Mind you I still need to file a permit with the health department to serve food at the Walk. I visit that office on Tuesday. Without Sonia, I wouldn't have gotten all these permits filed and with reasonable fees today! But the fun doesn't end here, on the day of the Walk, we also get inspected for fire issues, stability of amusement rides, and food before the event can open.
Sonia and I had worked so closely together that while she was helping me I sent her boss an email about her. She was so moved by my words, she started crying. I guess not everyone takes the time to give appreciation and positive feedback! Upon leaving we gave each other a hug and she is committed to helping me again next year. She even wants to work with me electronically next year so I can submit paperwork ahead of time to streamline the permit process. Just an amazing woman!
I suppose after a horrific week of watching the cruelty of humanity at the Boston Marathon, interacting with a selfless person like Sonia refreshes and restores my faith in the human spirit.
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