The Queen and I

I'm on the train travelling between egos, listening to my ipod and trying to collect my thoughts. I've been wanting to write about a conference that was held in Rome on Tuesday where I met a member of the CI Circle for the first time. Anne!!!!!!! Kind of an emotional experience for me. As we speak, little Ci Circlers are convening in LA- Rachel, Naomi, etc. It is a great feeling to actually come into contact with people with whom you have shared so many virtual moments.

I'm working on three hours of sleep here, not good for the bags under my eyes. My friend called me at 4,30 from Dubai- she needed an on the spot interpreter..wonderful, I thought someone had died- never a good thing, a phone call at that hour of the morning.

Anyway, back to Rome. It was a conference sponsored by the Swedish Embassy on the cochlear implant...in attendance: THE QUEEN OF SWEDEN!!!!!

I shed tears. First of all, we watched the procession of her arrival at the hospital via wide-screen in the conference hall. Gracious, beautiful. Never in my life have I ever seen a woman look good in orange- she wears her title well. She stepped up to the podium and proceeded to speak the most melodic English I HAVE EVER HEARD!!!! She said how deaf children hold a special place in her heart, how she has been working to support cochlear implants and a deaf child's right to speak. I don't know how to explain this, but the idea that a QUEEN could actually care about my son's disability...touched me immensely.

Then...SHE arrived: Ann-Charlotte Wrennstad Gyllenram. From the moment she opened her mouth, mine was on the floor. Now THAT is a kick-some-ass for my kid- take on the political sytem...NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER MOM! Many times during her speech, I felt the strong urge to leap from my seat and run to smack her five. I controlled myself, barely. Every now and then I would turn around and look at Anne to say, "I WANT TO BE LIKE HER!!!" Her speech touched on everything I am trying to work on now in Italy and she has been dealing with political bullshit much longer than me in Sweden. Really, it was a revolutionary moment for me.

Emotional experience, exhilarating. The kind of conference that motivates you to take on the world...

*AND*

I just happened to meet the President of the FIADDA (which I guess would be the equivalent of AgBELL) and a representative of the ENS (which I guess would be the equivalent of NAD). So, obviously I requested their support for my project. They said, no problem, send me an email.

So, I did...only by mistake I sent the Pres. of the equivalent of AGBell, the letter for the President of the equivalent of NAD...

If I manage to pull this off...it will truly be miraculous.