A Day in Politics
Yesterday was a bizarre day. In a good way. My Dad was asked to give the invocation at the opening of the Arizona 49th State Legislature. He agreed to do it and asked me if I wanted to come with him. So I dug out my dress clothes, put on a tie, and went with him into the unknown.
I say the unknown because neither one of us really had any idea what to expect. I confess, I’m not the most seasoned political mind out there and so I honestly had no idea what awaited us. The only instructions we had were that we were supposed to meet up with someone named Kirk Adams when we got there.
We soon discovered that yesterday was the day that Kirk Adams (pictured right) became the new Speaker of the House. Surprise #1. Apparently, he personally selected my Dad to give the opening prayer. Surprise #2. We then made our way into the floor of the House of Representatives (the picture above) and realized that we were sitting with Speaker of the House Kirk Adams’ family. Surprise #3. I was sitting next to his young daughter Emma and was laughing to myself as I realized that we were right in the middle of the action. His family was absolutely amazing to us. Very welcoming, sincere, and fun. A testament to what they’ve been through recently.
Once the event kicked off I realized how out of my element I really was. My Dad did the prayer (which he nailed, if it is possible to “nail” a prayer). There I sat, amidst the Speaker of the House’s personal guest section, as I glanced around to see people I recognized like Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Attorney General Terry Goddard. Janet Napolitano would speak later in the day. The most humorous element to me of the whole experience is that people were trying to figure out who I was (my Dad was sitting a row in front of me–as a result, it wasn’t obvious that we were together). They knew who my Dad was because he had given the prayer, but they looked at me like I was some secret celebrity that they just couldn’t seem to recognize. After all, look where I was sitting! At one point, the Mayor of Phoenix walked by me and gave me a little pat to acknowledge that clearly I was someone to be acknowledged. If they only knew…
Look for me in the pictures from Monday’s State Legislature, I just might be in them.
This is the personal blog of Jeremy Jernigan. Husband, father, teaching pastor, and student of truth.
What a wild and surreal experience that must have been! Too funny about the “secret celebrity” thing…I’ve been in a few of those situations myself and it really is rather amusing especially when you know they’re trying so hard to place you, but they can’t! And you’re right, if they only knew… ; )
The Mayor of Phoenix is probably a closet 3F fan. He probably has a t-shirt he wears and a sticker on his laptop.
Z
You’ve finally arrived!!!
That’s awesome! What a cool story!
This is pretty cool. I love politics. They’re dirty, messy, and every politician faces daily decisions on whether or not it is worth compromising themselves.
I got to hang out down there once when my dad was “doc of the day” – meeting the different politicians was crazy.
I love that you put a “secret celebrity”…isn’t that an oxymoron? I do feel excited that I am the wife of a secret celebrity. The whole thing does sound like a great experience…was Sheriff Joe scary?
you, or your dad for that matter, in a tie? interesting. what? no one asked you how you enjoyed you rmission?