Tonight's picture was taken on Peter's birthday in 2009. Mattie was in the Hospital recovering from limb salvaging surgery. Yet wanted to make something for Peter to celebrate his birthday. Ironically it was the last birthday they celebrated together. Mattie worked with his art therapists and created a wonderful card and special cake made out of model magic for Peter. This birthday gift was special then as it is special now. The cake still sits on the dresser in our bedroom. Whenever I see it, which is daily, I think of this exact moment in time.
Quote of the day: As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
Special thanks to Officer Dylan Lemley and the Alexandria City team who responded to help us! All are amazing people committed to helping the community!!
An older adult, who spoke no English, was wandering around the sidewalk and walking in the middle of street. She approached me. She tried talking to other people in the neighborhood who were jogging or walking a dog, but no one gave her the time of day. After interacting with her I deemed she had dementia (which wasn't easy since we couldn't verbally communicate). Peter got out Google translate on his cell phone and tried to figure out what language she spoke. He tried everything from Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc! So I called the police! I was so impressed with how this was handled, that I wrote a letter of commendation to the Officer's superior. Here is my letter:
Dear Sargent Weinstein,
I have great respect for police, fire, and all first responders. My uncle was an officer in NYC, and I am always in amazement with how some people just have a calling and can walk right into harm's way, to bring law and order, and civility to our communities. Today I had a first hand experience working with your police department and felt the need to write to you personally and let you know that Dylan Lemley represents your Department beautifully.
I am not an Alexandria City resident. I live in DC, but was visiting my friend who lives in the Seminary Ridge neighborhood. While I was loading things from her garage into our car, I noticed an older Asian woman wandering around on the sidewalk and in the middle of the street. People were walking their dogs and passed her, but no one stopped as she was frantically talking to them. When she saw me, she immediately approached. At first I wasn't sure whether she was mentally stable and had to assess her and the situation quickly. She spoke NO ENGLISH, which made this challenging. My husband pulled out his cell phone and he tried Google translate to see if he could communicate with her and help. But she did not respond to Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. Given she seemed disoriented, I decided to call Alexandria City police. I have had other issues in Seminary Ridge which is why I have your number programmed into my cell phone.
Within five minutes of calling and reporting the issue, Officer Lemley arrived. Typically we all have an expectation for the police when a crime is being committed, but there was no crime here. So I got to see Officer Lemley literally work a major problem out with us and in the process observed his kindness and compassion for the older woman who was lost and out in the cold. I could tell that the woman wanted to write down something and communicate to us, so I gave her paper and a pen before Officer Lemley arrived. She kept writing down four numbers. When Officer Lemley arrived, we brainstormed, he called your translator service, but despite best efforts they couldn't understand her nor could she understand them. So literally it was me, Officer Lemley, and my husband working this problem. Officer Lemley understood given her age and the cold that she needed a medic, so the fire department also responded. Once she was safely inside a truck and warming up, we literally started to use google map and find all addresses that started with 4*** (the number she wrote down). Your police officers (now at least two others responded to support Officer Lemley) drove to each of the houses with a 4*** address to see if a missing older adult was reported. Honestly watching your officers tackle this issue was very inspiring.
I had to leave on an errand after being with this woman for 90 minutes. But I knew she was in good hands. Nonetheless, Officer Lemley is took it upon himself to call me on my cell phone to give me an update about this woman and to let me know she was returned safely home. This meant a great deal to me, and I frankly think this is a human interest story worth reporting. In closing, we strongly recommend Officer Lemley receive a commendation for going above and beyond his duties of being a police officer.
Needless to say, it was a long day that involved getting the truck, loading the truck, driving 90 minutes each way back and forth, unloading candy at each site and then coming back to Alexandria to load my car for tomorrow's deliveries, and then returning the rented truck. A WEEK long of deliveries..... OH MY!
