Hey friends,
I think it’s funny that back in April I was like, Now Listen Maxine would be a good title because I can tell people what I think just like Helene did Maxine, and now it’s seven months later and pretty much every question that comes to mind I’m like, Heck if I know.
I sent a late night holiday edition on Thursday so if you missed it, check your spam folder or wherever the Interwebs is hiding things these days. There were two wonderful poems and a spectacular cloud formation and some musings because hot damn even when a holiday is lovely it sure brings up a lot of feelings. Writing y’all helped me process mine.
I am not a morning person, but this morning I got up and did laundry even though I really didn’t want to and then I walked 3.5 miles in some glorious sunshine down to the clear and sparkling waters of the Hudson River and I did some thinking, listened to a podcast, and felt like myself again, but I could not get an image out of my head, one I saw yesterday that well and truly broke my heart.
This is Dr. Joseph Varon comforting an elderly COVID patient on Thanksgiving, his 252nd day of work at a hospital in Houston. You can read Dr. Varon’s story here, along with other healthcare professionals whose choices about coming in contact with the disease are far more limited than the morons loudly proclaiming their freedom throughout the land.
I believe that Donald Trump is not the cause, but a symptom of the greed and selfishness in this country, but the fish stinks from the head and his actions, along with those of the GOP Death cult have emboldened a cruelty that is breathtaking in its scope, particularly among people who profess to be religious. When the leader of the free world decides that he doesn’t give a f*ck whether the citizens he serves live or die, he gives his followers permission to do the same. As usual, our most marginalized neighbors - Black, Latinx, elderly, and poor are paying the highest price.
In the wake of Joe Biden winning the election (and winning it again and again don’t you love to see it?) there’s a lot of talk about “listening to both sides” and “understanding the Trump voter” right now and my hope is that it quickly goes the way of all flesh because there aren’t two sides any more. There’s one side with a whole lot of diversity and a wide swath of opinion and another side that believes in stolen elections, QAnon, and giving billionaires tax breaks while the unemployed starve. Yvette Simpson says this so well in less than a minute. Please watch.
“Unity is great, but freedom is better and there’s a part of this population that has sacrificed their freedom time and time again for unity.”
Here’s a great explainer if you or someone you know thinks Yvette is being unfair!
And yet, even in the midst of tragedy, people are finding a way to be of service, to care for others, and do the right thing. This op-ed by Elizabeth Bruenig about an organization that was founded (BY TWO FORMER DEBT COLLECTION EXECUTIVES!!) in order to relieve people of crushing medical debt made my heart soar. If you’re as inspired as I was, then please, in the spirit of this upcoming Giving Tuesday, make a donation to RIP Medical Debt if you can.
Speaking of people doing the right thing, I recently posted this after reading about the $1M donation Dolly Parton made that was a boost for the new Moderna vaccine.
Little did I know, until I read this article however, that the gift went to a friend. Dr. Mark Denison is a professor at Vanderbilt University where he also runs a lab that has been studying corona viruses for years. I know that he’s barely slept since January, that he and his team have not seen their families nearly enough, and that his wife Laura, one of my dearest friends and a faithful reader of this newsletter is totally the sort of person who wouldn’t feel the need to boast about a beloved superstar partnering with her spouse so that we can all survive this plague. Reading it reminded me how many people are fighting against this disease on a daily basis - frontline workers yes, but also their partners and children, parents and friends. May we throw them parades worthy of heroes when this ends.
One final note - Next week I’m going to do a gift-giving guide and share some small businesses and artists with you. If you’ve got ideas to pass along, PLEASE SHARE. I’d love to include as many options as possible.
Kate, loved this. I so look forward to these. I’m still smiling. I do have some questions for you one day. I’d like to start writing. Maybe I could title it Those Who Can Do and Those Who Can’t Teach but no idea how to start:)
Kate, I am so grateful to have you for a friend and to read your words when you share them so generously with us ... I spend a lot of time feeling dread and pessimism about the future, but your musings can always give me a new and more hopeful way to look at things ... love you so much.❤️