The two-page statement

The statement I had prepared was only two pages long, yet I kept imagining the moment when I would lose my place. Everyone in the waiting area appeared to have a thicker folder. I wondered whether my objection would sound trivial beside theirs. Then I looked again at the photograph of the crossing my mother used each morning. It was the reason I had come. I folded the statement so that the first sentence was visible and asked the clerk how long I would have to speak.

In your own words, explain the writer's thoughts and feelings before speaking at the planning meeting.