FAST FACTS:
(Memphis 2/17/2010) For members of the State Senate in Nashville, the place where they meet can be called the Friendly Confines of the State Senate Chambers.
It's sort of a club. They all look out for each other...they all discuss items...not fight. It's this type of place that Ophelia Ford said she missed. "It's just wonderful to run into so many colleagues and others," she said, "...and they have made me feel so warm. Like I have really been missed. And you know what? I believe I have."
For a woman who sometimes would go days without saying anything to reporters, Ophelia Ford was just a little chatterbox in Nashville. She returned to work with no real advanced warning, just sitting at her desk for the opening of the session on Tuesday. "I'm here," she said to the senators, "...and I'm here to stay. And I'm so glad to be back." She received a round of applause as she introduced her daughter who she said was there to make sure she returned to Nashville.
Senator Ford won't say what her medical troubles were. "I had surgery," she said. Complications from that surgery were supposed to be so serious that Ford wrote a letter to Lt.Governor Ron Ramsey this year saying she might not be able to attend the entire session. Now, apparently things are different. "I am a miracle," Senator Ford says. "A couple of my doctors tell me the same thing."
Ford had missed the special session of the legislature held earlier this year on education. She now expects to be present for as many sessions as possible. "I have a 100 percent good bill of health. And with what I've gone through with all these little difficult things that have happened to be in the hospital, things I never would have dreamed would have happened to anybody, I'm here. It's amazing."
- Ophelia Ford was elected to replace her brother John Ford
- She has had health problems over the years causing her to mess dozens of sessions
- Ford won't say why she had surgery, but said it could have kept her out all year
(Memphis 2/17/2010) For members of the State Senate in Nashville, the place where they meet can be called the Friendly Confines of the State Senate Chambers.
It's sort of a club. They all look out for each other...they all discuss items...not fight. It's this type of place that Ophelia Ford said she missed. "It's just wonderful to run into so many colleagues and others," she said, "...and they have made me feel so warm. Like I have really been missed. And you know what? I believe I have."
For a woman who sometimes would go days without saying anything to reporters, Ophelia Ford was just a little chatterbox in Nashville. She returned to work with no real advanced warning, just sitting at her desk for the opening of the session on Tuesday. "I'm here," she said to the senators, "...and I'm here to stay. And I'm so glad to be back." She received a round of applause as she introduced her daughter who she said was there to make sure she returned to Nashville.
Senator Ford won't say what her medical troubles were. "I had surgery," she said. Complications from that surgery were supposed to be so serious that Ford wrote a letter to Lt.Governor Ron Ramsey this year saying she might not be able to attend the entire session. Now, apparently things are different. "I am a miracle," Senator Ford says. "A couple of my doctors tell me the same thing."
Ford had missed the special session of the legislature held earlier this year on education. She now expects to be present for as many sessions as possible. "I have a 100 percent good bill of health. And with what I've gone through with all these little difficult things that have happened to be in the hospital, things I never would have dreamed would have happened to anybody, I'm here. It's amazing."
