It's VeeGee's World

It's an amazing thing to be a part of a community.

Several months ago, on the eve of the Health Care Reform passage, my high school friend, local journalist and lightning rod Wendi Thomas , wrote a piece in The Commercial Appeal about VeeGee, and our struggle to get and maintain health insurance for her. I spoke to her only because I wanted to provide a picture for so many people, particularly in our community, who have a misunderstanding of just who it is that health care reform is aimed to help. I was careful NOT to use polarizing language -- to the extent that we can even talk about such things without polarization. Which is, apparently, not very long or deep. We were amazed at the vitriol that sputtered up in the comments section online. Utterly flummoxed. Who are these people?

All that is really beside the point, except that, defending my family from that outpouring of hatred and downright meanness were the many friends, and sometimes strangers, that are our community -- some from as far away as St. Louis. It was amazing, and was the genesis of an event that is coming to fruition tomorrow night.

Of course it is humbling to have people do for us, to admit that we really do need help. But, more than that (and it's been a slow learning process for me), it's so wonderful to feel the active love of our community, individually, of course, but really, mostly, for VeeGee. And, it's not just that people know her and know how cute and fun and silly and brave and tough she is, or even that they know the whole story of her adoption and her special needs. Some of the people that have RSVP'd have never met her, have maybe only seen her picture. Some have never met me, or heard my name. But they're helping, and generously.

We're overwhelmed. And we're grateful, not only for the physical help that it is generating, but the for opportunity to be a part of a community coming together for something important, something non-political (though, I suppose, it's all political), something that shows the best parts of ourselves. I've decided not to be embarrassed about it anymore, but, rather, to feel proud and happy that I've chosen this community in which to raise this special girl, to live my life, to become a better human. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts.