Who me? A Lobbyist?

writing is different than speaking. today i spoke from 6:30 in the a.m. until 6:30 in the p.m. and when i wasn't speaking i was probly listening to 2 other mental health advocates as we lobbied for Senate Bill 251 to get out of committee and up onto the Pennsylvania state Senate floor. the bill promotes assisted outpatient treatment for the most severe of the mentally ill. i got involved accidentally and decided to go along for the ride. a long ride, that is, all the way from the willow grove entrance on the turnpike to harrisburg. jeanette drove. both of us were plunged into the heart of darkness of mental illness by forces beyond our control. her kids have it, both of em, and i HAD it.

we met ileen there. her brother had it. the three of us got along famously. all of us unmarried, we could've been on a riverboat up the mississippi in our long summer frocks flirting with gamblers and ship captains and mark twain and circus operators but we weren't. we were in harrisburg, pa, dressed in business suits and shoes that pinched (mine did anyway), carrying big pocketsbooks filled with stapled handouts and business cards, being ushered into fancy offices of state senators with huge windows that looked out over green lawns and trees while the rain ceaselessly poured onto the old cement city.

each office was elegant and fine. a lady senator had a collection of glass elephants. it never occurred to me she was a republican until my new friends told me. the lady senator whose name was vance was the personification of a senatorial, a female everett dirksen: regal, gravelly voiced, tremendous power emanating from her and her rapidly moving hands and fingertips.

the views over the inner balcony were spectacular. the ceiling seemed about 12 stories high and had painted mural squares up top, very grand, huge noble figures staring down on us, counseling us to Do Your Best, Be Your Best Self While You're Here.

The entry to each suite of offices had pretty secretaries behind computers and a huge bowl of candy. I contented myself with 2 pieces of Hershey chocolate which I let melt in my mouth, the crumbs, that is, after I chewed them to bits.