Fast and Furious

I titled this week’s blog “fast and furious” because that’s how my life feels right now: fast and furious. I am fully integrated into my office, and handle a whole slew of tasks on a day-to-day basis. I am called upon to carry out important tasks, such as delivering sensitive documents to offices all over Capitol Hill, and helping draft correspondence regarding issues. This week was not all about work on the hill, however, as my family paid me a visit, and I got to go on an awesome tour of the FDR Memorial. My parents and sister were on vacation in Virginia this week, and spent a day in DC so they could see me. It was great to get to spend time with them in our nations capitol, especially since it was my dad’s first time there. It was great to get to take them on a personal tour of the Capitol Building, and get to show them where I work. I’m really glad I got this opportunity, it’s not often you get to play tour guide for your family at such a historic site. I also got to visit the FDR Memorial with the rest of the AAPD interns. I had seen the memorial before, while wandering the mall, but Saturday’s tour was incredible. Jim Dickson, who has knowledge beyond compare about the memorial, led the tour. We started the tour by getting to see an exact replica of FDR’s wheelchair, which was much different than any in use today. The original wheelchair could only move forward and backward, but could not turn. I can’t imagine how hard it was for FDR to get around! As we moved through the various outdoor “rooms” which make up the memorial, Jim was able to point out flaws in the memorial, and we even took time to sing a song about FDR together. It was a truly eye-opening and inspiring experience, and I can’t thank Dana and Jim enough for putting it all together. Right now it’s the fast and furious life for me in DC, but I couldn’t be happier. Everyone has been great, and I’m already dreading having to leave. Until next week, Paul