The words in bright colors on the balloon by the porch told me everything I needed to know about the door I was approaching. I knocked gently, in case there were sleepers inside and only half expected a response. When the proud and exhausted Mom answered I congratulated her and thanked her for the new constituent. We enjoyed a very brief conversation, and I went on my way.
After that first encounter whenever I was in the neighborhood I would check in with the young family. Over the years I noticed first the baby buggy parked outside, and then it was the swing hanging from that tree, followed by the tricycle and then a child’s two wheeler, all of which had found their way to park under that tree.
After leaving the Assembly I no longer had occasion to visit that house with the baby buggy and swing and bikes. But I imagine there were baseball gloves and basketballs and hockey sticks on the porch that once had a balloon hanging from the tree close by. Eventually other balloons, maybe “It’s a Girl” or “Congratulations Graduate, Class of 2016”
A pretty lame story you say, and when I tell someone else it’s hard to convey the sense of place and people and life that it evokes in me. But one of the true pleasures of running for and serving in office is the sense of being grounded in the district that I represent. Thanks to all of you for making this possible.