Today I am going to be a “Ramblin’ Man.” It has been five weeks since I last sat down at this keyboard and must admit I never know for sure what will emanate from my fingers so here goes. The date is August 24, 2020, and five local tv interviews have now been completed in the on-going “Macomb on the Move” series. All of these extremely busy professionals at McDonough District Hospital took time from their hectic schedules to be interviewed by me in order to get the word out to the local community on the realities of Covid-19 and how to deal with it in order to save lives and defeat this horrible menace. These thoughtful concerned citizens are the following:
· Brian Dietz–CEO
· Dr. Ed Card–Chief Medical Officer
· Dr. Jack McPherson–Director of the Hospitalist Program
· Wanda Foster–Vice President of Nursing and Incident Commander
· Dr. Rick Iverson–Board Chairman
Our topics were many and diverse but the central theme throughout was the virus and what to do about it. At this point it just doesn’t matter how you slice things up, there is plenty of blame to go around starting with our government but let’s move on from there as this is not intended to be a political commentary. That leaves US to discuss. I can’t change the Constitution and I know about our right not to wear masks but personally, is that really too much to ask? Apparently so for folks who just don’t want to wear one.
I think back to the people who were “here” for World War II when we sent young men and women off to war, some never to return, and others to return with body pieces missing. Watching the first few minutes of Saving Private Ryan gives a view of how horrible it must be to serve in a combat role. Even today, we have Afghanistan and other hot spots and all WE are asked to do is stay six feet from one another and wear a mask. The mask is a nuisance but apparently a necessary one. If Americans in WWII could ration gas, nylon, rubber, cars, and food, can’t we be inconvenienced by a mask?
Today, we lambast young people who parade around not wearing one, exposing themselves and others to the possibility of death, the end, an early finish line. Then you walk into a store and see folks of all ages “exercising their rights” and you just shake your head. Or you see the videos on tv of Ozark partiers or ministers bringing the flock together to spread death, or wedding receptions that simply must go on, you get my point.
I want to return to the five gifted, highly-educated, well-informed, concerned health care professionals listed above. In total, we spent over seven hours of tv-time discussing aspects of the pandemic, and there was one central theme throughout and you know precisely where I’m going. To a person, all of them said the single most important thing we can all do is “Wear a Mask” so I will. I hope you will too.
Moving on, when Diane the editorialist, and her sort of able cohort were composing the last blog “Ozzie and Harriet,” we decided we were done writing about Covid-19. There would be no Ground Hog Day or Bill Murray references. We were wrong. It’s the same thing day after day as the numbers all continue to move in the wrong direction. Damn, where is the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel? It still isn’t visible and on multiple dimensions, Covid-19 is out there affecting the lives of everyone in ways large and small.
I walked through campus the other day and it was eerily quiet. Can you imagine what it must be like to be a college student today? You wear a mask everywhere, you have two to an elevator, you get your food and take it back to your room, you always sit six feet apart, student organizations are scaled way back, there are no football games on Hanson Field. I feel so sorry for the students of today as they are missing out on so much we took for granted. You have to admire their determination and grit and maybe years from now they will have fascinating stories about College and Covid 19.
And then we have our grandchildren. My kids are struggling with decisions on sending their children out in all this, home schooling, or maybe some hybrid classes. Of course, the issue of job security or even having a job at all are critical issues to be addressed. Sort of makes you think. In the final analysis, all Diane has to do is “live with Gordy Taylor.” Maybe she doesn’t have it so good after all. What concerns many of us is what to do or can we do anything and when will this end. It is exasperating, and we just want answers.
This has been a troubling week for me—I wrote six notes of sympathy or compassion. My college roommate died from Parkinson’s, the 24 year-old daughter of a friend died from ovarian cancer, another friend’s dad died, the wife of another friend died from Covid and he has it now, the younger brother of one of my WIU mentors died after a long battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and finally a good friend from college who has spent the past 11 years in prison has symptoms of colon cancer and they won’t give him treatment. This is the world we deal with today. I can’t go to prison to see my friend or visit the others in their time of need so a note has to suffice. That’s just the way things are and that personal touch is just not there. We took it for granted for so long; now it has been taken from us.
When all this finally does get mitigated or at least becomes manageable with a vaccine, our lives will still never be the same. We will fly less, possibly require Business Class, eat only at restaurants we “trust,” think twice about taking a cruise, rely more on home delivery for our shopping needs, and rethink the whole idea of maybe living close to one of our kids as the 4th Quarter moves forward. Dr. Mehrdad Ayati, who teaches geriatric medicine at Stanford University writes that we boomers, “Never calculated that a pandemic could totally change the dialogue of our lives.” One of his observations that really hit home was that “older folks will disengage at a cost” meaning that if we don’t do our best to at least try and interact with others, even in a necessarily reduced manner, it will be bad for us. So, there you have it–wave to people, enjoy a “distanced meal,” make a phone call or several, take a walk with mask on or “in hand” and do your best to live life as normally as you can.
Jeepers, I said I would be “ramblin” and guess I have. Maybe tomorrow that damn groundhog will be gone.
mask everywhere, you have two to an elevator, you get your food and take it back to your room, you always sit six feet apart, student organizations are scaled way back, there are no football games on Hanson Field. I feel so sorry for the students of today as they are missing out on so much we took for granted. You have to admire their determination and grit for still going to college and maybe years from now they will have fascinating stories about their experiences with Covid-19. And then we have our grandchildren. My kids are struggling with decisions on sending their children out in all this, home schooling, or maybe some hybrid classes. Of course, the issue of job security or even having a job at all are critical issues to be addressed. Sort of makes you think. In the final analysis, all Diane has to do is “live with Gordy Taylor.” Maybe she doesn’t have it so good after all. What concerns many of us is what to do or can we do anything and when will this end. It is exasperating, and we just want answers. This has been a troubling week for me—I wrote six notes of sympathy or compassion. My college roommate died from Parkinson’s, the 24 year-old daughter of a friend died from ovarian cancer, another friend’s dad died, the wife of another friend died from Covid and he has it now, the younger brother of one of my WIU mentors died after a long battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and finally a good friend from college who has spent the past 11 years in prison has symptoms of colon cancer and they won’t give him treatment. This is the world we deal with today. I can’t go to prison to see my friend or visit the others in their time of need so a note has to suffice. That’s just the way things are and that personal touch is just not there. We took it for granted for so long; now it has been taken from us. When all this finally does get mitigated or at least becomes manageable with a vaccine, our lives will still never be the same. We will fly less, possibly require Business Class, eat only at restaurants we “trust,” think twice about taking a cruise, rely more on home delivery for our shopping needs, and rethink the whole idea of maybe living close to one of our kids as the 4th Quarter moves forward. Dr. Mehrdad Ayati, who teaches geriatric medicine at Stanford University writes that we boomers, “Never calculated that a pandemic could totally change the dialogue of our lives.” One of his observations that really hit home was that “older folks will disengage at a cost” meaning that if we don’t do our best to at least try and interact with others, even in a necessarily reduced manner, it will be bad for us. So, there you have it–wave to people, enjoy a “distanced meal,” make a phone call or several, take a walk with mask on or “in hand” and do your best to live life as normally as you can. Jeepers, I said I would be “ramblin” and guess I have. Maybe tomorrow that damn groundhog will be gone.
Gordy and the Fourth Quarter 