Hope is a journey, not a destination

When reports of COVID-19 began to surface I was focused on other aspects of my life so I paid little attention to it.  As the news media began to provide more coverage of it I found myself thinking it was little more than over-hyped speculation.

For a time I also rationalized my lack of concern by sharing posts of diseases that were making far more human beings sick and dying than what COVID-19 was doing in the world.

Then, as my Daughter and I made our way back from Pennsylvania from a re-routed trip to the Minnesota Twins/Boston Red Sox Spring Training, I began to feel the gnawing concern that maybe this was going to be more trouble than I had assumed.

As we pulled into the driveway of our home it was almost as a living fog rolled over us and the two of us, along with my wife and son and our smelly dog, found ourselves, like millions of Americans, living in an isolation that was intended to protect us from the disease.

In the matter of weeks, literally, the world economy came to a near standstill.  Seemingly overnight millions of Americans were suddenly out of work, companies shuttered and all we saw and heard for days and days were headlines blaring out the number of sick, the dead and the dying.

Analysts and experts predicting a dystopian future, a permanent “New Normal”, offered little in the way of hope for a way forward.

As the angel of death has passed by more American homes than had been predicted — guessed– imagined — America has begun to find its balance.

We have also begun to look for somebody to blame.

Anybody.

Everybody.

It is human nature, to be sure, to place blame somewhere for our pain and suffering.

In the smoldering heap of lost jobs, dreams, income, savings, homes, businesses, school years, graduations, proms, weddings, and funerals there will come a raging fire of recrimination and blame.

Who is responsible for all this pain and suffering?  Who failed to take care of all of this?  Who didn’t do their job?

Who caused the world to stop?

Which is where I need to stop.

I can’t.  I really….can’t.

What will it do?  What can it do?

If all I do is find somebody to blame, I won’t find somebody to work with to make sure all of this doesn’t happen again.

Blame isn’t going to repair the economy, bring people back their job, restore hope and confidence in the future for my children.

I didn’t know better than anybody else what to do, or should have been done, and if I claim now that I did, I am a liar.

People we elected to lead did what they thought was the right thing to do, made the decisions they thought were the right ones to make, chose the direction they felt we needed to go with the best information they had available when they made those decisions.

Oh, it is so, so tempting to second-guess all of it.  So easy to say, in the growing moments of hindsight, that they shouldn’t have done this and shouldn’t have done that.

I so badly want to do that.  I want to point fingers.  I want to scream out “Why?” and “Why not?” and “Why did you?” and “Why didn’t you?”

I find myself falling into that river of blame and the current is fast and furious.

I have to swim hard to get back to shore and get out of the water before it sweeps me further downstream.

It’s so easy, though, to let the current carry me along.

Somehow I have to find the courage to get out of the water and get back on my feet and focus on what matters now, more than anything else, and that is:  “What do I do next?”

The blaming is easy.

It’s the “What’s Next” that’s so much harder to do.

 

 

 

 

 

“We can opt to throw caution to the wind and spoil the fruits of our sacrifice…or we can continue to tend the soil as we wait for the crops to flourish.”

Governor Tim Walz reminded Minnesotans this weekend that despite the best efforts of the citizens of our state, and the political leaders who have guided us over the past several weeks, there will still be hard days when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

More Minnesotans will get sick.  More will die.  More jobs will be lost.  More businesses will be shuttered.

But, we already know this.  We’ve known this for weeks.

Yes, there will always be hard days ahead.

Most importantly, there will also always be easier days, too.

This is something that gets lost in the wall-to-wall coverage of this insipid virus.

Humanity cannot live in isolation forever even if it appears to be the solution to what ails us at the moment.

Frankly, I withhold any judgement on those businesses and their employees who feel that they are in a position to re-open their doors and return to work.

If they believe, in good conscience, they can do so safely and protect themselves and their customers then that is their right and they should do what they think is right.

Yet, there’s no question that the directives given to Minnesotans by our Governor to stay-at-home over the past weeks has had a dramatic impact in saving the lives of our fellow citizens.

It has, of course, come with a cost and a heavy one at that for hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans.

Given the choice the vast majority of unemployed Minnesotans due to COVID-19 would rather be at their job, working, rather than collecting unemployment or a “stimulus check.”

Perhaps beginning today that return to a sense of normalcy will begin for those Minnesotans returning to work as their businesses cautiously re-open.

And, perhaps within those stories there will be stories shared publicly of the powerful antidote that regaining that sense of normalcy will have on their lives and those of their families.

There will be more hard days ahead but there will be easier days, too.

There will be good days.  There will be bad days.

We know far more than we need to right now about the bad days, I believe.

That news doesn’t inspire, motivate or empower people to move forward.

Governor Walz and more than a handful of other Minnesotan political leaders — Democrats and Republicans — have been the leaders we needed at this time of our lives.

Because of them, and because of millions of Minnesotans and tens of thousands of health care professionals and those that support them, the bad days will soon be outnumbered by the easier days.

It’s hard, these bad days, but they will not be the new normal.  They are the current normal.

The new normal will be what we choose to make it in the days, the weeks and the months ahead.

We’ve gotten this far with a strategy of containment and isolation that has been implemented by men and women of good faith.

They implemented and implored us to follow these policies with words, conviction and information — not at the end of the barrel of a gun.

Now, with the apex of COVID-19 nearing its logical conclusion we must make an educated decision as citizens of this state, as well as this nation.

We can opt to throw caution to the wind and spoil the fruits of our sacrifice over the weeks we have experienced isolation from one another or we can continue to tend the soil as we wait for the crops to flourish.

There are more bad days ahead.

But by continuing to work together there are, of this I know to be true, many, many easier days ahead, too.

On Friday evening one of my fellow Dads, John Krasinski, hosted a 2020 Prom Event for America’s youth who hadn’t been able to experience one because of COVID-19.

With a focus on America’s High School Seniors, I know that throughout America there were young men and women of all ages who joined the virtual event hosted by Krasinski.

Incidentally, Krasinski has been hosting an online celebration of Good People Doing Good Things called “Some Good News.”

During the evening Krasinksi hosted The Jonas Brothers, Chance the Rapper and Billie Eilish.

Krasinski, 40 years old, joked several times about being an “old” Dad who was just trying to be a good Dad in pulling together this fun, virtual event for a Friday night.

John Krasinksi did a good thing.  A Dad thing.

In doing so, he reminded how ever many young American men and women, boys and girls, and Moms and Dads, that there remains no shortage of kindness and generosity in America.

My Daughter and one of her friends prepared in advance for the electronic prom hosted by Krasinksi.  When the time came for it to start they had their computers on Krasinski and their iPhone’s on one another and danced.

And danced, and danced and danced some more.

For nearly three hours Maisie danced.

No time during those three hours did politics matter to her, her friend, her life or her future.

I have a lot of opinions about politics in America today, and the men and women engaged in it and who has been a leader in this nation, and who has not, when it comes to COVID-19.

I’ve learned that, increasingly, nobody cares about my opinions.

I’m okay with that.

What matters to me most right now, and for as long as I can see into the future is who are the good people doing good things to help others.

Men and women who have put their lives on the line to care for the sick and injured and dying.

Those who stock the shelves of the stores – prepare the food for the restaurant — drive the trucks with the supplies — and patrol our neighborhoods to keep them safe.

The political leaders who toil at their jobs without seeking recognition or credit or attempting to take advantage of this moment of time in our nation’s history.

The Dads, like John Krasinski, who took a moment in time and made it matter to the lives of countless American children — of every age — and shared joy and fun and silliness and purpose and memories.

There is pain and suffering in America today the likes of which most of us have never felt before.

There has been pain and suffering in America before the likes of which those generations had never felt before.

A Civil War.  Slavery. Pandemics.  World Wars.  Depression.  Dust Bowl. Energy Crisis. Terrorist Attacks.

All of these have been moments in time in our nation’s history in which we rarely could find light at the end of a very long, dark and cold tunnel.

Time and time again we found the light and came to the end of the tunnel and found the warmth of a better world.

I believe the light is coming.

It is dim for now but it is starting to shine through.

I think the tunnel’s end is closer than its beginning.

And, one can sense the faint warmth that is closer each day.

For a few hours on Friday evening, in the dim light of her room, with the flashing of lights, an iPhone and a laptop, my Daughter danced for joy to a brighter light that is to come at the end of a tunnel in which the warm glow of the future is going to be for her and millions of young American men and women.

Leading the dance was a Dad named John Krasinski.

Hero Dad.

A good dad.

For one night, America’s Best Dad.

Thanks, Dad!

Years and brown hair ago I used to have a cheesy mustache similar to that which porn actors from every decade used to sport.

I want to be clear:  I have never been a porn actor.

I had a nervous habit of plucking that mustache until it would have bald spots in it that would then require me to shave it off — and grow it back again.

It was a vicious cycle.

Of course, at the height of my cigarette smoking days I also consumed four packs of them a day until I mercifully found myself fortunate to kick the habit almost 21 years ago.

It’s been a quarter of a century since I had a mustache.  And, while the current state of our quarantine has me threatening a reprisal of the hideous spot of hair above my upper lip, I am determined to resist the urge to have a repeat performance of that chapter of my life.

And then there are my fingernails.

I am admitting publicly for the first time ever that I chew my fingernails.

That is, up until the COVID-19 virus interrupted my content nail chomping life!

It’s been a horrible habit of mine since as long as I can remember.

Probably the same habit of when I would grunt for no reason and annoy my Mother so much she would say “Erich, you’re grunting again.”

I still do that today.  Especially when I am anxious and nervous.

With COVID-19 I also do it more often.  I do it to test out whether I have a sore throat.

And, if I think I have one I grunt even more.  Which, of course — you guessed it — makes my throat hurt and then causes me to think I have been infected with COVID-19.

I’m the guy who reads the side effects label on over-the-counter drugs and invariably gets them.

Before a pill even gets into my mouth I am drowsy or irritable or nervous or itchy or have a stomach ache or convinced I may be having a seizure.

It’s not the most pleasant side of my otherwise completely in control of myself personality.

Well, except for the chewing of my fingernails.

I have been terrified to chew them and as if to mock me they are growing like the beanstalk Jack so unexpectedly grew into the sky.

I look at them longingly.  They look perfect for chewing.  I know I shouldn’t.  I know I can’t.

For now.

I am learning how to trim my fingernails with a clipper.  Clearly a skill I should have learned years ago.

In fact, as I type right now my fingernails are hitting the keyboard before the tips of my finger and causing me an additional level of stress I don’t need in my life right now.

The other day I delivered some masks to a friend and jokingly told him to wash his hands and not touch his face.

His response, “…hardest part of this is that I have discovered that I LOVE to touch my face….because I do it all the time without thinking about it.”

My problem exactly when it comes to my fingernail chewing.

Except I knew I LOVED to chew my fingernails!

Now I can’t.

Yes, I know there are posts about what the first thing people are going to do when this vile interruption of our life is over with.

Some are going to eat so much at every restaurant they like until they burst.  Some are going to go hug everybody they know.  Others are going to find a crowded store and shop until they drop.

Not me.

I’m going to pour myself a drink.  Turn up some soothing music. Turn down the lights.

And slowly and lovingly chew every single fingernail until it’s down to the nub.

Don’t judge me.

 

 

On my best day as a Dad I can be found thanking God for two children who wake up healthy and go to bed knowing that their parents are focused on getting them and our family through a life they have never before experienced.

On my worst day as a Dad I can be found thanking God for two children who wake up healthy and go to bed knowing that their parents are focused on getting them and our family through a life they have never before experienced.

And, so it goes in this blink of any eye experience that is currently the “new normal” in our lives.

There’s nothing normal about this current moment of “new normal.”  And, I would hardly attempt to speak to my life being the life anybody else has to live right now anywhere in the world.

There’s enough people telling other people how to get through the days and nights of the “new normal” and I am not going to be another one attempting to do so.

There are three areas of focus for me as I do what I have to do to get through these days.

I focus on my work at http://www.sparekey.org

I focus on my family and their place in the world.

I focus on my faith and do what I can to make a difference in the world around me.

Beyond that there’s not much else I can do or control despite my internal hard wiring that makes me think I can.

I’m a Dad.  Dad’s think they are in control and in charge of everything.

But, in reality, we’re not.

What we are in charge of, though, is being what kind of Dad we are able to be at the moment in time we are called on to be when our kids need us to be their Dad.

And now, at this moment in my children’s life, they need their Dad to be the kind of Dad they will remember me to be at the end of my life.

I will be the Dad that tries valiantly to keep up with his 19 year old son as we train for his first marathon in July.  I won’t run as fast as he can but I am determined to be able to run as far as he will be when we take to the course in Ireland in July.

The miles I run compared to the miles he runs are slower and remind me that I am every single one of the 56 years I am today.

But when I write my miles on the chalkboard and look at how far he has already gone I am reminded just how far he will go in his life.  Farther and faster than his Dad and for that I am grateful and proud of who and what he is and always will be.

I will be the Dad that plays catch with a Daughter whose passion for all she does makes me smile, laugh and beam with pride.

I will be the Dad that does Tik Tok because it make her laugh to the point of tears and because right now she doesn’t need me to tell her that it’s silly or makes me feel old and out of shape.

She needs me to be the Dad right now that she will remember years from now.

In this time together we have played catch.  We have taken walks.  We have had long conversations about the future.  We have sewed and delivered masks together.

With my son we have watched movies together while building Lego ships and challenged one another to see who can run farther (he will) and run faster (he will) and I have learned to make nachos that rival anything he says he has ever had before.

I have work to do.  And, I do it.

I have a Team at http://www.sparekey.org that needs me to be the kind of leader my Board of Directors wants me to be, that donors insist I be and families depend upon me to be.

That this is new territory to me doesn’t matter to the world around me.  The world around me has enough problems and challenges.  It doesn’t need me to add to its burden.

It needs me to figure it out.  It needs me to be part of the solution not the problem.

It needs me to do everything I can do, know how to do and am capable of doing as well and as often and as urgently as it needs to be done.

That’s the Dad in me.

And, that, above all else, defines who I am and ever have been the moment that my children arrived in this world.

And so, on this early morning when I cannot sleep because my allergies won’t allow it with my snoring dog at my feet and the rest of the world as silent as I want it to be, I know this to be true:

I will remember most was that I was the Dad I needed to be for them and for me.

 

 

In August of 1988 George H.W. Bush in accepting his party’s nomination for President pined for a “kinder, gentler nation.”

Nearly 32 years ago his plaintive plea was met by derision by many and seen as shallow political rhetoric by others.

Yet, in this age of what we are told is the “New Normal” I wonder what will happen when we are back to the “Old Normal?”

It will come  As sure as the sun will rise and fall and rise again the “New Normal” we are experiencing today will become a thing we remember years from now.  Stories will be told of how we coped being cooped up with one another — that people hoarded toilet paper — and tragedy struck nearly every corner of the globe and hurt and killed people no matter how powerful or weak or rich or poor they may have been.

The stories abound online of great generosity by so, so many.

People making masks — delivering food — caring for one another’s dogs — singing to one another from afar — and just getting on the phone to check on how somebody is doing.

We have seen remarkable acts of bravery, as well.

Men and women in health care who are going to work each and every day to care for those who have been stricken in a desperate race to save more lives and be prepared for when the peak of this pandemic reaches our communities.

Law enforcement and EMS and a host of public servants, including our nation’s military, are doing the things right now that they do every single day — yet they are doing it with more burdens and challenges than they have faced ever before.

Our nation’s political leaders are doing their part, too.  Not always without bitterness or finger pointing or snark but they understand they will be judged — not for what they did before this moment — but what they did during this moment.

So, then, when it becomes a moment in our nation’s history, as bleak and as awful as it may be, what next?  Who will we, all of us, become?

When the “New Normal” goes back to being the “Old Normal” will we have found ourselves chastened at the foot of nature?

Will we find a place in our hearts and our heads to recognize that all of this goodness during all of this sadness doesn’t have to stop just because the virus was stopped?

Can our politics get better and less polarized?  Will politicians return to an era where, despite their differences, they understood that their responsibility was to govern our cities, our states and our nation?

Will our treatment of one another on social media become less brutal and vicious?  Can the temptation to post the snarky comment on someone’s page or the glib quote against someone because of their beliefs or political affiliation be deleted before its shared online?

The wave you made while walking in the park to the person of color, or the smile you shared with a young person and the simple “How are you doing?” you said at the store to the grocery clerk bagging your groceries — why does that all have to end when the “New Normal” returns to the “Old Normal?”

Over the past two weeks I have deliberately refused to post or comment on anything on social media except to be as positive and supportive as I can be.

I’ve snoozed or unfriended those who continue to offer political commentary, criticism or crude or hurtful remarks on my social media pages.

Don’t get me wrong.  I have plenty of opinions on many things and have never been known not to find my way to a sharp quip or pointed rejoinder.

But, in my “New Normal” I can’t be that person.  For myself.  For my family.  For my friends, co-workers or community.

When the “New Normal” becomes the “Old Normal” I want to know that what I did, how I conducted myself and the way I treated others during this time is something I will be proud of at the end — and that my children will respect in the years ahead as they reflect and remember their Dad.

Why can’t America be a “kinder, gentler Nation?” in the future that we find ourselves being in the present?

Maybe it can be.  Perhaps it could be.

For our children and their children it should be.

 

 

From the moment we made the decision to work remotely nearly two weeks ago the entire staff at Spare Key http://www.sparekey.org has remained focused on three things:

• Staying safe and healthy
• Ensuring others are staying safe and healthy
• And building out the capacity of our http://www.HelpMeBounce.org platform

After a quick review of our finances with our accountant and with our Chief Administrative Officer Alexia Sebesta we made another decision, too.

Spare Key would not be asking donors to contribute money to Spare Key.

Yesterday, on our Spare Key Team Meeting we reconfirmed that message:  Spare Key doesn’t want your money.  We want you and your family to stay safe and when you are able to we want you to consider serving another family.

Spare Key does not want you making donations to Spare Key.

We want you to consider — when you can — making a donation directly to a family at our http://www.HelpMeBounce.org platform.

And, if you know a family facing a medical crisis — perhaps being directly impacted by COVID-19 or some other critical illness or serious injury — direct them to http://www.HelpMeBounce.org and get them signed up now.

This platform is a fee-free way to create a community of givers who can help families avoid adding a financial crisis to their medical crisis.

It is 100% free to families.

Spare Key receives nothing.  Zilch.  Nada.  Zero.

For donors, you get 100% assurance that your donations are going SPECIFICALLY and ONLY to those areas of family need you have chosen to donate to.

For donors, 100% of your funds go SPECIFICALLY and ONLY to those areas of family need you have chosen to donate to.

Spare Key receives nothing.  Zilch.  Nada.  Zero.

The platform is live in 41 states.  To find out which ones go to https://sparekey.org/program/our-impact

That means we are in front of nearly 240 million Americans — millions of them waiting and willing to be ready to help others in need.

Spare Key has operating needs, of course.  We have staff to pay.  Health insurance to cover.  And other monthly expenses we have to address.

But, for now, we are looking elsewhere for those funds — we are not asking individual donors to help us address those needs.

The first priority, for us, is to make sure that you and your family stay safe and healthy.

Deal with you financial needs during these challenging times.

There will come a time and a day when you can and want to be able to financially support others.

When that time and day comes.

Don’t give your money to Spare Key.

Give your money directly to a family at http://www.HelpMeBounce.org

 

Here’s what I know about the times we are living in right now — there’s a lot of experts providing us with analysis that the times we live in are the permanent “new normal” in our lives.

I refuse to believe them.

I’m not naive.  I don’t live under a rock.  And, I am not a Pollyanna.

I am a realist.

This thing we’re dealing with right now in our lives will be a blip when our children reach the age I am today.

It will be a blip they remember and a time they will recall and share with their children when they reach the age I am today.

How they remember that blip and how we, as adults, behaved and acted towards one another and towards our children, and other people’s children, is what they will remember.

Were we so terrified and frightened and scared that we hunkered down in front of the television or online and spent every waking moment seeing updates of new cases of COVID-19 or did we find the time to nourish our relationships with one another?

Did we allow our anxiety to spillover in how we conduct ourselves with strangers and our own friends and family or did we redirect our fears to pick up a ball and play catch with our Daughter or share funny stories and play games with one another?

Did we cook a meal with our Daughter – play cards with our wife — walk our dog — or make sure that our Son was doing okay with this not so normal time in his life?

Was the moment our children — those of our own and those of others — needed us to assure them that the cancelled school — dance — competition — date with friends — was a temporary set-back in life and did we encourage them to reach out and connect with them in whatever way they are able?

Did we take a moment to just stop.  Just stop.

A moment to say “Kids, how are YOU doing? ”  

And when you asked that you listened closely — making eye contact — and reminding them of this important truth:  “It’s Going To Be Okay!”

It IS going to be okay.  It’s going to be scary for awhile.  It’s going to bring out the best and the worst of who we are as human beings.

But, it IS going to be okay.

I am not an expert at anything.  I am not an analysts that is paid to provide content to a website or to be provocative or to “think outside the box” as to how this current moment in our history will redefine who we are as people.

I’m just a Dad with two kids who understands that my principle function right now is to be the kind of Dad they recall when they are my age was honest with them and was the strength and courage and conviction they needed to know that “It IS going to be okay.”

I’ve chosen to stop watching the news or to receive updates online or read the newspaper.

Trust me, I don’t live in a closet — I am still getting plenty of updates from people in my life.

I am doing responsible things.  Washing my hands.  Not touching my face.  Getting outside to get some air.  Distancing.  Trying to make sure that my kids are doing the same.

I don’t need anymore updates from friends on their social media pages so when I see them I snooze them.  I don’t need texts from friends who “heard” something or people I know who claim they have “inside information” from somebody about something big coming down.

I need updates from my kids, my family and my friends that they are doing well — or if they need to talk that we can talk — or if they need food, or medicine or something else-THOSE are the updates I need.

Our government, health, science and medical leaders don’t need the world of all of us making their job harder by deliberately making our lives more difficult.

They need us to take care of ourselves right now so they can focus on how to take care of all of us as soon as they possibly can.

Tell your kids and somebody else’s kids that “It WILL be okay!”

Tell them that because they need to hear it.

Tell them that because you need to say it.

Tell them that because it’s true.

 

Nearly a year ago we booked our trip to the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox Spring Training in Fort Myers.  On the heels our trip the previous year we were excited fly to the Sunshine State and enjoy a week of baseball!

As COVID-19 began to expand its place in our public consciousness and create anxiety in the hearts and minds of Americans, including parents with children, my wife and I had the conversation about whether we should fly or drive The Daughter and I to Fort Myers.

In the end, we made the decision to drive and avoid any unnecessary issues associated with being in large crowds, dealing with TSA security lines or being stuck on a plane with others who weren’t as focused on “social distancing” as we might have been.

My Daughter, Maisie, who serves as the Co-Captain of the http://www.therobettes.com Team at http://www.visitation.net School and I hurriedly jumped into our car at noon on Thursday, March 12th and pointed our car south.

Within an hour of our travels she received news from http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc that her season was cancelled.  Tears followed.  After all, so much hard work and passion had gone into this season along with her peers and colleagues.

As Maisie is wont to do, she recovered and we continued our trek.

Barely an hour later we got the call — not Strike Three — but Strike Two — and it didn’t feel any better than being called out at the plate!

Spring Training was cancelled!  And, the Major League Baseball Season’s Opening Day would be delayed.

More tears and sadness and despair!

We drove for a few more miles barely talking, with Dad asking a couple times if she had any thoughts about anything else we might do?

We had a hotel booked in Fort Myers — did we want to go there?

We quickly dismissed that idea as we really didn’t have any good idea of what else we might do for a week in Fort Myers that didn’t involve her passion of baseball.

Eventually, I pulled off the freeway and we chatted about our plans.

We decided to make lemonade from lemons and began to point the car to Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Not long after that Mom suggested we might want to look at visiting the Louisville Slugger Museum.

So, with a bit of review of the Google Maps App we re-routed to Louisville via Indianapolis.

We made memories on this trip.  Maisie saw places of America she had never seen before, as did her Dad.

We also saw a lot of good about the America we live in today — even in the midst of what feels like the worst times we have faced in our country, and the world, for as long as any of us living can remember.

It feels like the worst times — I don’t know if it is the worst times.

Which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare as thought it could be.

But, we should also remember who we are as Americans and a country.

It’s the people on Social Media who are offering to bring food to people — care for their children — run errands for people who need the help.

It’s the person at the Starbucks outside of Pittsburgh who jumped out of his car to let me know I hadn’t shut the door on my gas tank and gladly did it for me.

The two delightful ladies at the Derby Hat store in Louisville who shared The Daughter’s joy (and her father’s horror) at the boots that she tried on that went nearly up to her hips!

The woman managing the Cincinnati Reds Store who shared Maisie’s joy in talking about the prospect of creating positive change in fashion choices for women fans of Major League Baseball.

People who held open doors at Rest Stops — who smiled at the gas pump — who laughed at nearly any joke that sounded remotely fatalistic about the world we live in today.

I’m like every other Dad in America today with kids:  I’ve got my fair share of anxiety.

But, like every other Dad in America my anxiety needs to take a backseat to the belief that no matter the rocky road we are on today the adults in the room have to make every effort to assure our kids that everything will be okay.

It will be.  I don’t say that to make you or myself feel better.

I say that to make my kids feel better because I believe it to be true.

We got home last night shortly before midnight.  It was a long 14 hour drive.  A lot of that drive was spent inside my head.

It’s in my head how I ultimately decide to respond to a world that seems spinning out of control.

It’s in my heart how I decide to treat the human beings I come into contact each and everyday.

And it’s up to me to remember who I am as an American and if matters enough to make it matter more.

It does.

“Powerful enemies must be out-fought and out-produced…It is not enough to turn out just a few more planes, a few more tanks, a few more guns, a few more ships than can be turned out by our enemies…We must out-produce them overwhelmingly, so that there can be no question of our ability to provide a crushing superiority of equipment in any theatre of the world war.”

 

–  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 

The strongest, most powerful nation on Earth defeated the greatest threat to humanity in the 20th Century because it made the decision to bring its vast and overwhelming might to bear to vanquish tyranny and fanaticism.

The Leader of the free world, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when finally confronted with the demons who wished to destroy America’s way of life and deprive free humans around the globe their liberty didn’t waver and he didn’t wobble.

He made the decision to wage total absolute war.

In the end, total absolute war won.

He directed the building of the arsenal of democracy and democracy won.

History shows — time and time again — that victors do not win with half measures and wishes.

As a war worker from times, Jeroline Green, said it best when it came to explaining why she and others committed to America’s cause worked as hard as they did to crank out needed war material:

“You felt that you had to get this done as soon as you can and as fast as you can.  You wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.  And we did whatever was necessary.”

“…we did whatever was necessary.”

Here’s the thing.  To beat Coronavirus — or any other public health threat facing America — we must adopt the same perspective that America had when we chose to win the war against Germany and Japan.

Bring total and absolute and overwhelming force and resources against it.

We must do whatever is necessary to get it over with as soon as possible.

If we don’t have enough testing equipment — invent them.

If we don’t have enough hospital beds — get them.

If we don’t have enough medicine and vaccines — make them.

If we don’t have enough machines to save the lives of people with coronavirus — build them.

This isn’t rocket science.  This isn’t complicated.  This isn’t difficult.

Invent.  Get.  Make.  Build.

Instead of an Arsenal of Democracy let’s build an Arsenal of American Health. 

American politicians — those on the left and those on the right — those in Congress — and those in the White House — have all sorts of excuses about why we haven’t made it, gotten it, or built it.

Not a single one of their excuses would have defeated facism and totalitarianism — and not one of them will defeat this public health crisis or the next one or the next one after the next one.

America’s not equal to Italy or China or Iran when it comes to our greatness as a nation or our ability and capacity to overwhelm our enemies.

We are better than Italy and China and Iran and we should show the world that we are in our response to coronavirus and every other public health emergency the world will face in the future.

If it takes the President of the United States to declare a National Emergency to do all the things we should have been doing long before Coronavirus even became a social media sensation then fine.  Declare a National Emergency and let’s get at it!

It’s not Obama’s fault anymore than it’s Trumps fault — or Bush’s fault — or Clinton’s — or every other President and Congress that has failed to use their imagination to prepare America for what was likely to come and is likely to come again in the future.

Donald Rumsfeld, one of America’s worst war leaders in modern times, once had the audacity to say that “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” to justify his ineptness in providing American troops with the armor they needed to protect themselves and defeat the enemy.

It wasn’t like Rumsfeld woke up one morning and America was at war.

He had plenty of time to equip America’s warfighters with the resources they needed to vanquish the enemy.

It’s not like political leaders woke up one morning and America was dealing with a public health crisis.

They, and we, have had plenty of time to equip America’s virusfighters with the resources they need to vanquish the enemy.

We know there will be another virus after Coronavirus.

We know that America’s current capacity to respond to that virus and public health emergency is not worthy of a great nation like ours.

Let’s start acting like the Superpower that we are.

Let’s begin to behave like we are the nation that has saved the planet and people in the past and is capable of doing so again…and again…and again.

Build an Arsenal of American Public Health and remind the world of who we have been, who we are and who we will always be:  The strongest, most powerful and most essential nation on Earth.