My Celebration of My Wonderful Men - Part 1: My Husband

Last week, on February 21st, was the 30 year anniversary of meeting my husband and we have pretty much been together ever since. We did not have a chance to celebrate on that day, but I am fine with that because my husband was spending his evening making sure that the poorer families in our town would continue to have a place to live.

One of the council member had intended to improve the living conditions of the poorer renters in our town by drawing up a specific code for the condition of the housing in our town. On the surface, it seemed like a good thing. However, while her intent had been good, she had not really considered the reality of it. If the property owners were forced to do improvements, some of them would simply kick out the renters and sent them on their way. Other property owners would complete the improvements and raised the rent to offset the costs. This, too, would mean that families would be forced out of their homes. When questioned about how many families it would impact, she could not say. She had not done any actual research. (That kind of blows me away - how can you put forth a proposal for a law that you don't even know the scope of?) How many people would this impact? Five families, fifty? Turns out it would have possibly displaced 300. That is a significant number in a town our size (1 square mile.)Through a series of inquiries and communications with the city, as well as the council members, my husband was able to help them see the bigger picture. In the end the council woman withdrew her law from the table, tearfully. While it is unfortunate that she was upset, (it is embarrassing to see that you have been sloppy as a representative)it is a good thing that my husband did. He spent a lot of time and effort to make sure that the families who are happy in their homes can stay there. Now, I imagine that none of those folks even know that my husband went to bat for them, but I am so impressed. We are not impacted or personally benefit from this action. It was all about helping to reduce the stress families and people feel; it is about letting people stay where they are happy. Not many of us go out of our way to do such things. As I am sure you can see, I am a lucky girl to have married such a wonderful man.