“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it.
It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”

A recent article in the Washington Post carried the following headline, “The Coronavirus Death Toll Just Surpassed Vietnam: Here’s Why that Comparison is Fraught.” The author provides a chart showing the number of American soldiers who died in conflict, beginning with the American Revolution and ending with Post-9/11 conflicts.  The data reveals that in a period of three months, the COVID-19 virus has taken more lives than American killed in the Vietnamese War. …

“The future is now. Roll up your sleeves and let your passion flow. 

The country we carry in our hearts is waiting.”

— Bruce Springsteen

It seems like yesterday that I paused on the sidewalk in NYC to enjoy the morning sun while having a cup of coffee.  People hurried by on their way to work or to meetings, like the one I was about to attend.  Finishing my coffee, I joined the parade and within a few moments arrived at my destination. …

“There is only one time that is important – Now!  It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.”

                                                                                                                       L. Tolstoy

Merriam-Webster defines the term, “Comfort Zone” as a place or situation where one feels safe or at ease and without stress.  Suffice it to say that very few of us, if any, are currently in that place.  It would be better said that we are in the moment, and that moment is unique to each of us. …

“Dare to reach out your hand

into the Darkness,

to pull another hand

into the light.”

In 1970, after ten years as the lead singer with The Supremes, Diana Ross recorded not only her first, but one of her most popular and notable singles, Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).  Fifty years later, our current reality limits our ability to physically touch hands , but it doesn’t mean we can’t touch a life.  (Why not listen as you read?) According to Vivek Murphy, former Surgeon General of the United States, loneliness is a growing health epidemic.

…

At any given moment

we have the power to say,

“This isn’t how it’s going to end!”

It’s been five weeks since the quarantine began, since the phrase “non-essential work” took on a whole new meaning, and since parents developed a new appreciation for what happens daily in our nation’s classrooms.  Our days are different.  Much of what we took for granted is gone.  For too many it was their job, for others there is no longer a commute; they work from the dining room or kitchen table.

…