a short story (that's not so short)

Hello All,

I have been unable to visit the bb as often as I like these days, life’s obligations have kept me quite properly occupied. Besides getting ready to change work environments (leaving current employer for a better one), I have had to shake off the old sword and battle gear and thought the experience might be of interest to some of you.

Turns out our years of training in the special ed gauntlet has paid off in other areas that I never really could have imagined. Long story short, my wife’s brother is quadrapalegic from an accident 18 years ago. He has really been hard on himself and others and has been living in conditions, by choice that have made his life pretty isolated and yet he lives right next door to us and his mother. Anyway, he has to move, and yet he has never received any help from HUD (Housing and Urban Developement) and now he requires the financial assistance to make rent. I offered to step in and go down to the office and find out what needs to be done and he was concerned that I not tick anyone off (like I could or would do that?).

Anyway, last Friday evening I grabbed a beer and began surfing the HUD website and started looking for the highest level person with an e mail address. This WWW thing is incredible, in case you all didn’t realize it! I fired off a letter and let it go at that, gentle, yet requesting assistance, firm, but please respond.

Well, I’ll be… my wife called Monday morning that there was an e mail for me from some head of HUD from Washington DC! Anyway, got home, wrote back and copied the letter and cc’d my brother in law and printed a copy and walked over to show him the response. I’d hoped he would take it from there. There was a frail attempt of his to write back, but he struggles with the Draggon Dictate and then e mail snaffus and all. So I fwd’d what he asked me to do and then waited.

LD in me couldn’t wait past Thursday, so I asked him if he’d heard anything further. He said just a short e mail that they’d get hold of him. I said I was going to fire off another letter. Again, he asked me not to tick anyone off, he is nervous about getting bumped “down” the list. Again, I assured him this wouldn’t happen.

Grabbed another cerveza and fired off another one to the guy that was told to be John’s contact and me, and the origional lady at the top got a cc’d copy. Loaded the missle, hit “send” and went to work Friday.

My wife called me in the middle of the day, in a whisper, she wasn’t supposed to know, but her mom overheard the brother saying that Washington DC had called him twice, and things were getting done… he was trying to handle this himself and I wasn’t supposed to know until I got home. Hmmmm. Made it home and went up to see what was going on, with the premis that if he had not heard, I would be off work for a couple weeks between jobs and I would pursue matters in person.

Low and behold, for the first time in years he was really beaming! Said the guy called him at 6am our time (John’s obviously in bed and waiting for an aid to come to get him up), and then another call later in the morning. Appologies all over the place, assurance he is on “top of the list” and San Diego Office has been contacted and help is on the way!

Sorry this took so long, but like riding a bicycle, addressing the beaurocratic bs of government offices seems to not be a talent one forgets very easily! I do not write this for bragging purposes or for accolades, but to share with you all that for all the sweat, blood, tears and fighting we went through with our son, the lessons learned have also been of great value. And, as an adult LDer, there are truly times where sometimes my learning disablities actually come in handy!The same impulsive, lack of fear and retribution urges to immediately jump in and deal with the consequences later, once tempered with a little common sense (and old age, although some may call it maturity), has it’s advantages! I must tell you, I didn’t even bother with spell check, or letting my wife review and untangle the letters I sent (which was the law when we did the special ed dance), I just did it to see what would/could happen.

So, without having to awaken too many demons from the past, this little episode seems to be on the cusp of resolving itself without too much battle or bloodshed. I thank God for that. I’m not in the fighting shape I used to be in, but it sure is nice to know how if I had to.

Sorry I’ve been so absent from the bb, but I still do check in as often as I can.

Andy