Pitbull

It was the, eventually, terribly cliched throw away line of the late presidential election campaign: Sarah Palin's "joke" about how one might tell the difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom -- "lipstick." Groan...

But, when it is all said and done, sometimes it is a good thing to have a "pitbull" in your corner.

Just ask my Master...

I know that my moniker tends to bring to mind a very graceful, very calm, very serene, and usually lovely creature. My swan personna is the one that most people hearken to when they try to describe and explain my way of being in the world.

But, like most of us, I have a many-faceted personality, and one of those "faces" is probably very closely aligned with the common perception of the aggressive pitbull terrier.

One of the places where I get to let the pitbull range relatively freely is in my role as vice president of the board of directors for the advocacy agency that Master directs. No one on the board knows of the nature of my relationship to Master. To them, I am His neighbor, but more than that, I am the parent of a child with a developmental disability, and I am an advocate with a growing history in the local DD community. I have earned some significant credibility within that circle for being dedicated, reasonable, intelliegent, considered, and well-informed. That is a foundation of which I am very aware, and from which I move to advace the cause, but also from which I work to protect His interests and advance the welfare of our own family. Some might see that as an ethical "issue," but I am convinced that His continued success in His role with the agency is absolutely essential to the well-being of those we serve and to the continuing advancement of our cause.

Over the last few weeks, I've had occasion to speak to the board on a variety of issues -- and my input has influenced the direction that we have chosen to take the agency. It is one of the very interesting, and somewhat odd parts of my role within our family's life. Precisely because I am, by definition, prohibited from having a "legitimate relationship" to the Man I call Master, I am able, from a position of being alone (in the eyes of the world), to make real impacts within His world. It is good for us, gratifying to me, and I sincerely hope, helpful in very concrete ways to the people we seek to support and serve.

So, maybe the "throw away line" is more like this: what is the difference between a slave and a pitbull -- the pitbull is "off the leash." GRIN!

swan