A Day at the Capitol

On the gentle urging and encouragement of a dear friend, I headed to Austin early yesterday morning with about 50 other March of Dimes volunteers to lobby the State Representatives and Senators for continued support of issues impacting our tiniest Texans.


In small groups, we had fifteen minute appointments with various Reps/Senators (or their aides), where we explained three main programs already in effect in Texas. We then asked them to continue funding these programs when they vote later this year.
At each meeting, I made sure to explain my personal connection to the March of Dimes and why it is so important to me that all babies are born healthy. I introduced them to Nash, by briefly telling them his story and then connected it to the Texas Birth Defects Registry, which monitors and keeps track of babies born with birth defects in this state.  That information is then studied and monitored to discover any patterns in defects across the state, to help families dealing with infants born with defects, and to do further research.


One of my appointments was with an aid of Senator Shapiro, who actually lives here in Plano. This gave us an instant connection. She asked me specific questions about Nash and seemed genuinely interested and concerned about what we had to say, as did the other people we met with.


I have to admit that I was VERY leary about going to lobby. After all, I was by myself, put with a bunch of people I didn't know, had never done ANYTHING like this before, and let's face it, "lobbying" isn't something that I ever thought I would be able to do...But I can't tell you how proud I am that I did it.


To calm my nerves, I just kept telling myself that this was my opportunity to introduce people to Nash. And by telling them our story, I am very confident that they were impacted in one way or another.  When they left their offices yesterday, and I'm willing to bet that at some point, their minds drifted to the picture I showed them of Nash's sweet face.


The long bus ride home felt like such a huge relief. I just kept thinking, "I did it. I did it. I did it for Nash." I hope I made him proud.


Love to y'all,
Tracy