LA VITA E’ BELLA

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And why not? Every year in Early November the agency, my agency and my daughter’s home Suffolk AHRC has a fundraiser called the Candlelight Ball. It is an evening of music, dancing, fine foods and great joy, as we raise funds for the continuation of our agency with as little help from the government as possible.

Board members come in gowns or tuxedos, and staff and parents and siblings join us, as we celebrate the years of work we have all put into making the agency prosper, grow and help those we serve.

But there is another group of people that come also, the people we serve. They dress up, wear makeup and join us in the celebration. It is this special group of guys and dolls that always steal my heart and the show itself. It is a day that they know they are not alone, that someone in this world loves them and wants them to know it.

A real sense of importance comes over them as they sit at their table, enjoy the night’s festivities and get to dance and show off on their own. They will take their sweetheart and go onto the dance floor, and dance, swaying to the music, and smiling like they have never smiled before.

There are many that go to the DJ or band and stand to listen to all the music and express themselves in dance. I will visit their tables and sit and talk for a while, and feel like I wish I could belong to this camaraderie of happy people and they invite me to their world. It is beautiful. Simple life at its most pleasant, good loving people that I love and admire, with no pretense they exists. They don’t know the importance of protocol, but they do know the importance of love and sharing it.

One of life’s greatest tragedies is visited upon them, and I look in frustration as they try to make their lot better. They are not angry, I am, they blame no one, I blame the luck of birth, they love everyone, and I love them.

I will dress up for the ball this year, not for the formality of it all, not for the protocol, not for myself, but in deep honor and respect for those I serve, my people.