Editor’s note: The Sandwich Life is Cynthia Voelkl’s wonderful blog about “life as a 40-something juggling children, a great husband living with cancer, and all the various challenges and joys of life as we live it.” On Wednesday, Cynthia testified at the State Capitol in Springfield at a legislative hearing on prospective changes in the health care insurance options that will be available to State of Illinois employees and retirees.
The boys aren’t going to school today. I have no good reason except that as we went into the fifth hour of the health insurance hearing last night and they were still sitting there being well behaved it was all I could think of to give them…. It probably makes me a lousy mother but I was so immensely proud of them and I was tired and I love them and God knows I can’t bear to give them any more Lego so I just whispered in Owen’s ear “you don’t have to go to school tomorrow.” His response? “what about Friday too?” I said, “just tell your brother about tomorrow.”
Geesh.
Ernie and the boys picked me up from work yesterday around 1:00 and we took off for Springfield. As we drove I read my little speech to the guys and when I finished Leo just gave me a sparkling smile which meant he was proud of me and Owen said, “that sound SO good Mom….and really believable too….I’m not kidding”
We got there, went into the Capitol Building and found the room for the hearing. We went and sat down around 3:30 because it was already starting to fill up. I’m too weary to try to recount the whole thing here. You can read here and here. The room was packed, with a lot of frustrated and angry people, and overall I felt the hearing was a kindness to let us express our stories that but it did not give me any hope. In fact, honestly I feel less hopeful after hearing the attorney for HFS basically say there was no way it could be overturned. This is crazy…it makes no sense. Lately all I can think about is the Emperor’s New Clothes…. Everyone wants to make sure they’re saying the right thing….it doesn’t really matter whether there are clothes or not….
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