Friday, January 15th, 2010
Usually when I get invited to an appearance my mom is my chauffer, chaperone, and photographer, but when I was invited by Cheryl Greenawalt to give an inspirational speech at the Tarrant County MHMR (Mental Health Mental Retardation) monthly staff meeting; they also invited my mom to speak! Each MHMR case worker of Tarrant County handles clients that are all over the spectrum when it comes to age, mental health or intellectually disability.
After giving my speech to the group, it was my mom’s turn. Clearly my passion and ability to give a speech came from my mom. Her speech was very informative and equally emotional. I really enjoyed listening to my mom, but it was hard to hear some things about what my parents had to endure while trying to get a real diagnosis for my sister. After she successfully brought a tear to everyone’s eyes, we went in to a Q and A. The employees asked many great questions about my sister, my website, pageantry and my plans for the future.
After everyone heard a little about me, It was time to turn the table and hear from the group. Everyone introduced themselves and gave a brief description of their role and how long they had been with MHMR. I was impressed to hear that many of them had been there for more than 10 years! This was an amazing group of people who were obviously very passionate and dedicated to their jobs. Thank you for all you do for our community.
