Your Monday Morning Update!

March 24, 2014

I had one of those rare and wonderful “ah-ha” moments a couple of weeks ago.

I have an incredible friend that I hadn’t been able to catch up with for a while, so we decided to meet after work for a bite to eat.  I will call her Do (as in doe). Do told me about her new neighbor and said that she’d like to invite her to join us. We will call her Re (as in ray). Previously, I had introduced Do to another friend of mine, Mi (as in me), so I thought “the more the merrier” and invited Mi to join us. So here we have Do, Re, Mi and me snacking on chicken fingers and nachos. 

As we all chatted and got to know each other, we found some major similarities.  Do and I met while on a United Way funding committee where we learned about various programs for folks with developmental disabilities.  Mi and I met at event hosted by a mutual friend. Do’s husband is a former senator and Mi’s gentleman friend had worked on Do’s husband’s campaign many years ago.  Re and Mi have both been involved in research for developmental disabilities and special education. They know many of the same people. Re is familiar with Mi’s gentleman friend through a professional organization and Mi’s daughter did a high school paper on Re (when she worked in a different profession).

Here we have four different people with very different backgrounds and experiences who discovered a common bond. That was my “ah-ha” moment -we are all tied together in some way; we just need to be open and aware.

April is the month that legislators come back to their home communities.  They will be hosting town halls, forums, and asking for your input. If they aren’t….they should be. With this happening, take or make the opportunity to meet with them, tell them your story, and develop a relationship with them.  We all need friends and you never know, perhaps they will have one of those “ah-ha” moments.  If you need to find out who your legislators are, go to www.openkansas.org for a little help.

By the way, as I left the restaurant after meeting my friends, there was a woman standing at the doorway waiting for her husband. I did a double take.  She was the mom of a young woman, who is in I/DD services in Johnson County. I’d met the mom and her daughter many times at advocacy events.

As I got in my car, I started humming at the top of my lungs “Doe- a deer a female deer, Ray- a drop of golden sun…”

Warm regards,

Lurena Mead

Community Relations Manager

Johnson County Developmental Supports

10501 Lackman Rd. Lenexa, Kansas 66219

Direct (913) 826-2212  Office (913) 826-2626

www.jocogov.org | @jocogov | F/jocogov

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  This e-mail, and any attached document accompanying this transmission, may contain confidential information belonging to the sender, which may be privileged. It is intended only for the use of the above named.  If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking of action based on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.  If you received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately