Don’t Let the Word “Never” Stop You

My lesson in perseverance is by ignoring it.

“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” ~ Winston Churchill

“It won’t happen,” they said.

They continued, “We’ve all tried for years. The answer is no. Conrail/CSX will never sell it to us.”

This committee meeting was held in the old converted and preserved Train Station. The first train to use the station was in 1870. It was architecturally beautiful and had a historical designation. However, it was not the answer we so desperately needed for our residents.

The issue on the table was ongoing. With the beauty of this Victorian town came the antiquated facilities that held our municipal services.

What can we do?

How do we retrofit these over 100-year-old buildings and make them ADA compliant? Many residents were unable to access the offices due to narrow or steep steps. Buildings were in disrepair and our senior citizens could not access services safely or with ease.

Every morning, my run took me past what appeared to be the perfect solution for our town and its residents. It was long, narrow, and ran parallel with the railroad tracks.

The land was at an intersection of the main street and the side street, which housed three separate town buildings. The police station, fire station, and municipal services such as the building inspector and tax office were nestled on the first block.

The Fire Station stood alone and was up to date. This was not an issue.

The issue was the other two municipal buildings.

Every single morning I ran past what was seemingly the perfect plot of land across from the Fire Station. By acquiring the land, we could build one building for all the services. Our Municipal Court, Police Station, and Tax Office would fit. Right there.

I looked at it daily.

I couldn’t shake the brain bubble, which was dying to be released.

I was a Council Woman at the time. Funds had been allocated to address a new building, but the available land options were limited. The Mayor had asked for public polling on which of the two undesirable proposed locations would be preferred.

It didn’t sit right with me. There had to be a better answer, and I was motivated to unearth it.

It was in the Public Buildings and Ground Committee meeting that I asked the fateful question.

“Why can’t we branch out and look into buying the land across from the Fire Station? It would keep our services consolidated, and it makes the most sense.”

Some laughed at me. The dumb girl that I am. Some just rolled their eyes and shook their heads as if I was a huge waste of their time. I was used to being ill-fitting in the old boy’s network. That didn’t make the sting any less. I refused to cower, though.

I was younger and less experienced, but I worked hard to work smart. Do things just once, the right way. This was smart, and I bolstered up the confidence to keep going.

“It won’t happen,” they said.

They continued, “We tried for years. The answer is no. Conrail/CSX will never sell it to us.”

Never?

“I will try.” I declared firmly, enthusiastically, and idealistically.

“Good luck!” More guffaws.

Calling a major Rail Company like Conrail is not easy.

After leaving many messages over the course of 10 days, I was irritated by the lack of response. How do they simply not call back, even if the conversation results in another denial? I am not a fan of rudeness.

I decided to abandon my efforts in contacting the Head of their Real Estate Division. I saw firsthand why my predecessors walked away from this quest.

This building plan on that site was worthy, and I wanted to fight for it.

I would find a different door to knock on and keep doing so until someone responded.

I switched gears and called the Public Relations Department. I clearly, but respectfully, explained that the lack of response was extremely poor PR. Is this the image the company is proud of and wants to promote? Is it acceptable practice to ignore calls from the public?

Lo-and-behold, the Manager of the Real Estate Division called me within 24 hours with apologies for not answering my many previous messages.

This truly was all I needed.

Contact.

Human contact.

I explained our worsening situation in providing our residents the services they were entitled to and how the Conrail/CSX land would be an ideal fit.

He wanted to meet.

Wait, what? Really?

“Absolutely, let’s meet and walk the ground so you can see our needs and why we are interested in purchasing it.”

I put on my hiking boots and walked the tracks with Zenon J. Drzewiecki, Manager of Real Estate at Consolidated Rail Corporation known as Conrail.

He was an unassuming gentleman with a genuine interest in helping our town. He agreed that the location was ideal for us. He wouldn’t commit to anything but would get back to me once he ran it through the proper channels.

And I believed him.

He didn’t tell me it would “never” happen like the others.

Within weeks, we received our answer.

Conrail/CSX was willing to sell us the land we needed.

They did not need the land. In addition, the negligible purchase price would also include the mirror image plot of land across the main street. Apparently, we had been paying rent to Conrail for years to supply a parking area for the surrounding businesses there.

We hadn’t even asked for it. But for Zenon’s keen eye, the town would probably still be paying rent today.

The joy of being part of the signing of the settlement documents, though I wielded no real position of authority to do so, participating in the construction of the new building, and joining in the ribbon-cutting, all pale in comparison to the most important lesson, ever.

Never say Never.

I thought about that land every day on my runs and knew it was our future.

I didn’t let go of my dream.

There are always more doors to knock on until the right one opens.

Never say Never.

• I was inspired to tell this story because 2 days ago, as I stood in the Offices of my Neighborhood Community Center, the General Manager answered my request about a playground with, “That will NEVER happen.”
• He doesn’t get a vote on the HOA board, and he’s not the King, so this may be another golden opportunity. The gauntlet has been thrown. I feel a follow-up article is brewing already.

Join now ~

Join Medium here and for just $5/month you’ll receive unlimited, ad-free, stories from thousands of writers in a wide variety of publications. This is an affiliate link and a portion of your membership goes to support my endeavors. Many thanks!

Connect with me and say hello!

Substack | Simily | Click Below for Amazon Kindle Vella Anthologies:

Nonfiction Inspirational | Thrills and Chills Fiction | Mental Health