Making my way through the crowded room towards the serving table for wine someone in the crowd grabbed my butt. Turning around in mid-stride I saw Jenny's gnarled black hand suspended in the air above her wheelchair. Her body is twisted to one side as she flashed a dazzling smile. Wearing a black evening gown with long black dregs that draped her shoulder, she was a thing of beauty condensed into a rolling platform.
"Micheal Elliott," she said in her squeaky little girl voice, "I need you."
So I dropped to a knee beside her wheelchair in the middle of a crowded room.
"What's Up Jenny? You look fabulous!"
She laughed as I touched her arm and this photographer appeared out of nowhere and started snapping pictures. Neither of us paid him any attention.
"We've lost all of our government funding," she wistfully explained. "Will you help?"
"Aww that's what all the girls say to me," I reply.
The gnarled hand slaps the side of my head.
"I'm being serious," she scolded.
"Of course I'll help. Can I get us some wine first," I ask standing up.
"No," she snaps, "get back down here."
So I got back on my knees in the middle of a crowded room with the wine table way onthe other side.
"Will you help me?" she asked looking me dead in the eye.
'Who can tell you no?" I say.
"The Government," she fired back.
"Touche," I nod.
"Most everything to help facilitate handicap accessiblity and to train folks to be independent has been slashed from the budget. We've morphed into a volunteer driven organization but need operating captial. Advise me," she demanded.
"Now?"
Her garled hand hit my head again and she laughed her squeaky little girl voice. "No not now! Let's talk tomorrow and work something out."
"Stop hitting me," I tell her with a smile. "Tomorrow then. Can I get us some wine now?"
"Bring me red," she laughs.
I stand, bow in homage to a lady who has made her city a better place for those who live in wheelchairs.
Her twisted head regally nods back and I kiss her forehead before turning and making my way across the room.
Tough times can get tougher sometimes and that certainly seems to be the case for many these days. Jenny is a nationally recognized hero for thousands of people who are too intimidated by their disabilities to speak out for themselves. Congress can't pass a budget and State legislators balance theirs by passing the buck on to others. People fall through cracks such "leadership" creates.
I've never met a Republican who doesn't believe any problem can be solved with a tax cut and I've never met a Democrat who doesn't think one can be fixed with a new program. The Tea Party People are mad as hell about all of this and the Occupy People are squatting everywhere these days. It's all gone crazy.
I find myself getting asked if I can help a lot on this trip. The answer is always the same. We "get by with a little help from my friends," prophecy the Beatles and its more true now than ever.
I help them. They help me and that is how things get better.
