Giving my speech

I'm sorry it took me so long to finish this. I had to work this morning and had some things to do after I got home.

As I was making my way down the row to go to the front, all of the pro-choice women were touching my elbows and whispering that I could do it. When I sat down, two ladies sat down beside, one from the ACLU and the other from a health organization. They asked for my name, and I gave it, then began my speech.

In the back of my mind, I could hear my college speech professor (a class I got a C in) telling me to breath and slow down. I always gave speeches too fast, which is one reason I got a C in the class. I tried to look up at appropriate times. I didn't pay any attention to the audience, instead I looked at our representatives, focusing on Rep. Armstrong and some of the others who seemed to be pro-choice. I watched their reactions, seeing pity in some of their faces. When I finished, no one said anything for a minute, and then Rep. Armstrong thanked me for testifying and sharing my story. Another representative said, "I want to thank you, too. I know as a mother that had to be the hardest thing to go through, and it must have been equally as hard to share it."

When I sat down, everyone looked at me and mouthed what a good job I did. I looked at the representatives again and saw that some of them were in tears. I didn't really think I had done all that well, but I'm always harder on myself than I deserve.

After the hearing was over, Keri with Planned Parenthood came up to me and said my speech was flawless. She said you couldn't even tell I was nervous. One of the representatives, this one from Chattanooga, actually came up and hugged me and thanked me again for sharing my story. I talked with the lady from the ACLU, and another lady approached me and said she had read my blog and that I was a beautiful writer. I told her that I was a better writer than speaker. I told that to several people, and a lot of them said I did really good. That same lady told me that when the doctor mentioned Trisomy 18, the pro-lifers made some kind of comment, but she didn't understand them. I heard it, too, and I couldn't tell what was said either. She said when I spoke not one of them made any comments, that you could have heard a pin drop back there.

I still can't believe I did it. I am so proud of myself. After it was over and was thanked and congratulated by all those people, I felt like a rock star. I told Keri I would be willing to do it again, and she said she was going to ask me if I would. I guess that goes to show I really was good, even though I was really nervous.