I NEED SOME INSPIRATION

I am disgusted. Quite frankly I am sick of what our City has become. It hasn't just happened under our current Mayor. The incompetence and poor leadership has gone on for some time now, and we just sit back and take it.

I have spent most of my adult life as a resident of the City of Hartford. I have become used to the all too often question of "Why the hell do you stay there?". I have been a victim of crime, I have witnessed more crime as a Hartford resident than most people see in a lifetime. But yet I choose to call Hartford my home. A city that I have embraced with open arms and fought hard to see change.

Hartford is my home .It is sickening to see my next door neighbor contemplating a move out of the City that I love and deliver a devastating blow to my hometown. It is even more devastating that the so called leaders of our City and State could be so ignorant of their surroundings to be caught off guard of the move. I warned the Mayor and his Chief of Staff over a year ago when a source at Aetna told me that a move was imminent.

I was aggravated last fall when a high ranking official at Aetna told me personally that their communications with the Mayor were "virtually nonexistent". Not a good way to treat anyone. especially a large corporate neighbor like Aetna.

Although Hartford has its warts and failings , it is still my home. I am extremely fortunate to have met so many people that I probably would have never met if I chose to settle elsewhere. My good friends, like Hyacinth Yennie who has been there to prop me up for years, even during her own trials and tribulations. If there was ever anyone to win the award for Hartford cheerleader, it is Hyacinth and her energy for the people of Hartford is incredible.

I would love to start naming everyone but I know I will miss many, But a few keep coming to mind.

Bob and Candy Killian I met relatively late in my Hartford residency. Judge Killian and his wife are two of the finest people I have ever met. Bob and Candy have both adopted me and have taken me under their wings.  Bob has taught me valuable lessons in a relatively short time about humility and thoughtful reasoning. Even occasionally having to put the brakes on me and saying "are you going to let me finish or do you want to talk?". I have not met anyone yet that knows more about Hartford and its history and is able to tell the story with anecdotes that only a lifetime involved in Hartford can provide.

Alyssa Peterson is someone else that has an extreme love for Hartford. Often misinterpreted due to her strong sense of right and wrong, often called a naysayer, but she serves a purpose in keeping Hartford from going off the rails regularly. Alyssa also has an uncanny knack or sixth sense of knowing when I land in the ER. She has a way of convincing hospital staff she is family to get her way beyond the locked hallways.

I have befriended my share of underdogs also, and they are far from anything close to an underdog to me, they are some of the most genuine decent people, if anyone took the time to appreciate them. Lt Rob Allan from HPD, Deputy Chief Dan Nolan from HFD, and quite a few others that are probably better unnamed because they still have time left to work at HFD and HPD. Sadly, Lt Allan announced today that he is calling it a career and moving on from HPD.

People like Shirley Surgeon, Angel Arce and Doug McCrory all have opened my eyes to life in Hartford and Hartford's odd way of politics and have helped me appreciate all that our City has to offer.

Chief Rovella is also someone that has taught me a lot about our City and both his and Chief Freeman's vision and planning to try to keep Hartford a great place have been underrated. One  major thing Chief Rovella has taught me is that when I am really pissed, stay away from the keyboard, take the time to breathe deeply before the venom starts flowing through my keyboard. That is why tonight's posting is not what many people expected when they called me today The upset and the venom can wait until tomorrow

And so finally, for anyone I didn't mention above, you already know if you mean something  special to me. And I wouldn't change my experiences  in Hartford for anything.

The video below is something I found on youtube tonight, and pretty much has nothing to do with the posting above, but I found it inspirational, enjoy,  and keep fighting for Hartford. If we keep trying, sooner or later we will get it right and elect some decent leaders for our City.