PARDON ME ..... I KNOW MY OWN REALITY

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "HOWEVER SMALL THE CONTRIBUTION, IT IS ABOUT THE FU...": 

But your "reality" is merely a perception, an opinion, a point of view. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 12 July 2016 at 09:14

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If I had time, I might take up that argument.

As it is ,my three year old  great- grandchild Emma,just bounced off my lap to jump into the pool into Aunt Stephanie's arms. She calls me Granny-Granny.

I was watching her sleep earlier. She had pushed the towel off her body. The sun moves fast. The chair had to be shifted regularly to keep her in shade as she slept. The occasional fly had to be waved away 

Her long blonde hair is damp and tangled and  dark curling eyelashes lie on her cheeks. She uses her fingers a lot when talking. She points her forefinger to emphasize a point and it curls down. Like when she ordered me to get out of the pool and get a towel. 

It's not everyone who has time for such an occupation. 

Sisters Cheyenne will be fourteen on July 31st and Abigail is eleven. Emma too will be fourteen in a flash. 

Parents tend to view child-raising as a lifelong task. It's not. It is but a moment in time.

Over before it hardly began. Hardly long enough to influence but long enough to cast a shadow. 

My correspondent reduces my reality to 

" merely a perception, an opinion, a point of view"

Over years, I've had mixed response to my service as a member of Aurora Council. 

It's suggested I can only speak of the past because I don't have a future.

So far as the future is concerned , it's not something everyone can rely upon. 

I've had a longer future than most and that tends to give one confidence.

After all .the only certainty in life is death and taxes. We are all familiar with that maxim. 

53 years ago I ran for office. Before that I was writing letters to the editor. 

I didn't hold office throughout but there are people who have voted for me since the beginning. Their  children and grandchildren vote for me still. 

It sounds like a boast. It's really just quiet satisfaction. We never broke our trust. 

I worked as a reporter during "rest periods" and covered school board and a rural township during times of dramatic political upheaval. 

I know what was and I know what is. No university provides the opportunity to learn that I had as an

acting councillor. I've met a legion of Councillors over the years, quietly slogging away in the background,true to their principles, just content to be making a difference. They might be the only ones who notice. 

They are appreciated by those who know them or who have had occasion to ask  for help 

or advice. 

I served nine years on a Board of Review and acquired skills in weighing evidence and writing 

decision. A handy asset in a decision-making function. 

An equal investment of time in academia would be more than sufficient to earn Summa Cum Laude.

But politicians are not able to claim such affectation. There is no collegiality. 

In politics,the job is harder. Recognitionis more likely or grudgingly acknowledged and  of course ...no tenure. 

I did it because I was the only one I knew who would represent me the way I wanted to be represented. 

The Reward was being given the opportunity. That's all there is.

My reality is informed, weighted and experienced. 

It's as good as the best-n- better than the rest and it's shared. 

We all need to know, we are not alone. 

We need to know, we are not strangers in our own place. 

I'm past irritation when someone feels compelled to say; 

"I don't always agree with you but " 

Like it would cost them something to acknowledge unqualified agreement.