It was a lovely night in Georgetown but beginning a gentle spring sprinkle  - the crowd had gathered,
 we were mostly in our forties and fifties - I wish there were more younger people who were involved.
 We got to the entry point just as it started to rain.  I was talking to Bartcop and someone brought him
 a Chinaco and I held it while he and some others were moving the table out of the rain.
 (Guess he was lucky I don't like tequila - ha ha!)  Earlier, we had gone down into the regular bar
 and my friend and I met some interesting women while we were waiting to get in  - one had been
 in the inaugural protest.  It was a long wait getting in, but not unpleasant.
 
 At the bar they were serving up the great tequila to folks right and left, well, I got a beer.  We were
 supposed to help with the t-shirts but when we finally made it to the table a very pleasant guy with a
 foreign or European accent said he hadn't heard about our help so we let it go.  We mingled into the
 audience. We had a great time just talking to people.  The place was packed and it was a bit
 overwhelming for someone who lives a very quiet life.  My friend and I struck up a conversation
 with a couple and she was talking when James Carville walked into the room.  See there was a guy
 through out the whole thing who was very tall and bald and everybody kidded him about being a
 Carville look alike but there was Carville shoulder-to-shoulder with my friend and I nudged her to
 tell her when he slipped up to the front of a "stage" that had been set up.  And of course he made
 his famous speech.  It was really exciting to hear from him and to hear him introduce "Smoking"
 Joe Conason (someone in the crowd conjectured that he really was "smoking" a lot in the bar)
 - regardless, what a prince of a guy.  Then we had Bartcop, and many thanks to Christian for all
 her organizational talents - without her we know this won't have taken place.
 
 Well on to Julie Hiatt Steele, my hero.  Julie is so astute about the political things that are important.
 1.)  Human Rights - That's the most important
 2.)  Political partisanship - not important - move to the center.
 
 I couldn't help it, I shouted out, "Thank you, Senator Steele,"  (see I live in Virginia and won't it be nice!!!)
 
 Later in the receiving line I got to meet Julie Hiatt Steele, as Bartcop had promised
 (see I was the second person to contribute to this effort not that this is a big thing but Bartop said,
 "(Nancy, you're going to meet Julie Hiatt Steele)  and I did!!)  and that wasn't the best part,
 the best part is that she had remembered our conversation from last fall.  We had a great conversation.

 What a wonderful woman she is.  I was so happy to be involved in this effort to help her.
 What a memorable evening it was.
 
 Nancy M

 Note: When news first hit that Julie was being thrown out of her home,
 Nancy wrote to me and said, "I live in Virginia and all I have is a couch,
 but Julie and Adam are welcome to it as long as they like."

 I thought that was a tremendously generous offer.
 I'll never forget that.

 Thanks, Nancy.