THE HILL WE CLIMB

During the Inaugural ceremony of Joe Biden last week, the nation and world were introduced to the nation's Young Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Ms. Gorman recited a new poem that she was inspired to write after the Republican-led insurrection of the Capitol on January 6th entitled, "The Hill We Climb." You can watch it here.

In this five minute address, Ms. Gorman tells the story of America and how we are an unfinished project. This interview provides some background about the 22 year-old Ms. Gorman and what inspired her to write, "The Hill We Climb." She provides an aspirational view of how we can break through from hatred, division, and the past. First, and foremost, it starts will an acknowledgment of our history and a willingness to confront the injustices of the past as we seek to make a more perfect union. She closes with a stirring line that I, myself, have often thought of and phrased in my own way. My version goes like this, "Sometimes when it is dark, we cannot wait for the light to come. Sometimes, we must be that light for all those around us living in darkness. Her version is even more poignant, and I leave you with those words:

When day comes we step outside the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it,

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it,

if only we're brave enough to be it.

46

This week Joseph Robinette Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.  It was a long time coming with Joe's first presidential run in 1998 and his second in 2008. However, Joe was made for this moment in 2020 where the soul of the nation - as he put it - was on the ballot.

Joe's election means that decency is back, truth is back, and problem-solving is back. He faces the three challenges of a global pandemic, racial injustice and our long history of inequality, and an economic crisis. However, he has assembled a very capable team to take on these challenges simultaneously.

In his Inaugural address, Joe clearly did not shy away from the challenges ahead. However, he also made it clear that the antidote to all three crises is unity. If we socially distance, wear masks, and coordinate the federal and state response to COVID, we will hasten its end. If we accept that our nation has a history of white supremacy and that people who espoused that philosophy of hate were responsible for the attack on the Capitol and so many other incidents of domestic terror, we can defeat it. If we invest in getting schools back open, forestall evictions, and get people the financial support they need in this pandemic, we will lift individuals and families out of poverty and hunger. In sum, we are the ones we have been waiting for to solve what ails us as Americans.

I, for one, am ready to report for duty. Godspeed Joe!

ONE DAY MORE

 One day more. 

Another day, another destiny. 

This never ending road to Calvary.

So begins the song “One Day More” from the musical Les Miserables set in the backdrop of the French Revolution.

Today is the last night of the Trump Presidency. However, it is not revolution we seek. Rather, we seek evolution and a restoration of dignity and sanity.

We lost many things these last four years - an appreciation for truth, democratic norms, cooperation, and common decency. These things were not so much lost as they were stolen away from us by Trump and his many enablers in the Republican Party, social media companies, and his many followers who prayed at his altar. They are responsible for the carnage that has been inflicted on us all.

One day more. Three words I thought I would never utter in the depths of despair of the past four years when my faith in the America people and our institutions sat shattered. However, this country and its people have a way of making up for its past, for making amends, and for righting wrongs. How else can we explain the salvation that was delivered to us last November 3rd?

I will hopefully sleep better in the days and months ahead. If I do, it will be because we again have a true leader in the White House, a man whose life has been touched by tragedy, pain, and loss far too often. As James Clyburn famously said in his speech nearly a year ago that saved Joe’s candidacy in South Carolina and beyond, “We know Joe. More importantly, Joe knows us.” 

That is why I believe we have arrived in this moment, the final night of Trump’s Presidency. Three hundred and six electoral votes worth of Americans looked at the error of our collective ways from 2016 and asked who can fix the damage that Trump hath wrought? The answer was clear, my President, Joe Biden.

Let those of you who are religious pray for his success, but let us all do everything in our power to make his presidency and our country fairer, safer, kinder, and more equal. Then and only then will our American promise be restored.

Good night.

THREE DAYS IN JANUARY

On January 5th, Georgia made history by electing its first Jewish senator and its first African-American senator. It was a historic shift for a state that also helped to elect Joe Biden President of the United States two months ago, and winning these two senate seats now gives Democrats control of both the House and Senate!

There are many reasons the Democrats prevailed in those races: Trump's behavior, the activism of people like Stacey Abrams, and the quality of our candidates. It was a perfect storm, a blue wave, and I was rightly in awe of my country on the morning of January 6th when the outcome of both races became clear.

However, later in the day, my sense of wonder and hopefulness were shattered. During clinic, I received from numerous text messages that a violent mob incited by Trump had invaded the Capitol where Congress was meeting to certify the vote. These terrorists breached the barricades literally and forcibly entered the Capitol, vandalizing it and terrorizing all those in their path - all those except many of the Capitol Police who ushered them in or stopped to take selfies with them. 

It was a shocking, memorable, day in America's history. Undaunted, Congress reconvened later that day. After frivolous challenges to the Electoral College win by Biden by 8 Republican senators and 138 congresspeople, the election was eventually certified at 330 AM the next day. 

American history is complex with many examples of sin and righteousness. However, I have never seen the juxtaposition of two such polar opposite events in the same day - a day none of us will ever forget. What I take from yesterday is that we still have so far to go as a country. We took a giant leap forward by re-gaining control of both the executive and legislative branches, but that was matched by the step back when a sitting President and congresspeople attempted a blatant coup. In the end that coup failed, and our republic held. 

In his death bed op-ed, John Lewis famously said, "Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself." Let us remember the arc of John Lewis' life and his words, and let us never forget that democracies do not happen on their own. They happen when we fight for our lives to make our union more perfect. May we never forget that after these three days in January.

V-DAY

Today was like any other first day of a new year except today - Jan 1, 2021 - is the day I received the COVID-19 vaccine.

It is hard to remember a time when I did not fear death or disability from COVID-19, but today I feel a little more at ease. I do not plan to change my habits or behavior, but I will sleep more soundly knowing that preliminary results from the Pfizer vaccine trial show that the vaccine I received is 95% effective at preventing COVID-19.

Producing a vaccine for a new human pathogen using brand new technology in less than nine months is nothing short of a miracle. Indeed, as I sat in the lobby of Ford Auditorium at the University of Michigan and felt the needle plunge into my right arm, I was overcome with wonder and gratitude.

Arthur C. Clarke famously once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." This was my first personal brush with the magic made by science that has the potential to save my life and prevent me from sickening those for whom I care or about whom I care.

I hope that everyone is able to receive their own piece of magic soon. Thank you to the RNA biologists, the virologists, the pharmaceutical companies, the patients who volunteered for the trials, the clinical research teams who conducted the trials, and to the healthcare facilities and workers for making distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine a reality. I am forever indebted to all of these magicians!

WHAT WE LOST AND WHAT WE GAINED IN 2020

2020 was an unimaginably difficult year for so many reasons. The year was shaping up to be a challenging one even before COVID because we had just moved to Ann Arbor in the summer of 2019 and were still quite unsettled. Any sense of disorientation was magnified several orders when the COVID pandemic began to rage in March, 2020.

It might be easier to list the ways in which COVID has not affected our lives, rather than the way it has. Our clinics shifted to virtual using the "Lombardy Model" based on the strategy used in Lombardy, Italy, one of the regions hit hardest early on. In Italy, they staggered the workforce in order to avoid exposing their entire medical teams at once - kind of like sending in different battalions of troops to take enemy fire at the front in shifts. Our clinic moved to that model, and for several weeks Kathleen and I had no in-person outpatient visits. 

The kids school was shut down as they made the switch to virtual or "zoom" school. Greenhills was still able to provide a decent learning experience for Nicholas. However, Cate's experience in Ann Arbor Public was definitely affected, especially since her regular teacher went out on maternity leave.

Much of our year has spent in front of screens and apart from those we love. Movies, concerts, and so much of the fun we took for granted shifted to online.

Restaurants - those that were not shuttered - shifted to carryout or delivery, and I cannot recall the last time I ate out in person.

Our democracy and institutions decayed under Trump and his collaborators in the Republican Party, and he somehow survived impeachment despite damning evidence. Fortunately, the voters' voices were heard on November 3, 2020, election day, also known as one of the happiest days of my life. Somehow, various functionaries did not cave to his demands as of this writing, and Joe Biden is set to become the 45th President in three weeks' time.

The saddest week of my family's life took place in September, 2020 when my teenage niece Jasmine ended her life. Words cannot convey the grief and pain of that week and the weeks that have followed. I came to realize that the only way through calamities such as this is through the love and empathy of others. So many people I know or my family knows were there for us in so many ways. I will never forget their kindness, and I will try to never take my family and children for granted. 

Going down to San Antonio during COVID to support Joselyn was the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is one of the things in my life that I am so glad to have done. Whatever small degree of comfort I may have provided to her and my family was far outweighed by the love I felt from them. Fortunately, I was able to see my mom, brother, and my dad - whom I had not seen in almost two years, as well.

Finally, we were plagued by power failures in 2019 in Ann Arbor. Therefore, we broke down and bought a generator for our house in 2020. However, fittingly for 2020 and the Michigan power grid, we experienced a power outage on our last night in Glen Arbor in our rental home for approximately five hours. 2020, man!

These are many of the things we lost, but we also found many things this past year. I worked on being a better husband and dad. Though, I still have a long way to go, I am encouraged that my family has stuck together and been a source of strength for each other.

Three of our federal grants were funded, and we added a new person to our lab. I made new friends at work and took on new leadership roles. 

My friend Kate introduced me to Marilynne Robinson and her Gilead series, which I have loved. My friend Pam introduced me to Mary Oliver, and I have begun to devour all of her poems. 

I think this Mary Oliver poem captures the essence of this tragedy-filled year. I can only hope that we come out of this year stronger and that we never take for granted our freedom, our health, and those we love. What else is more important in life?

THE VIEWS FROM UP NORTH

We recently wrapped up our trip Up North. It was breathtaking, and we will definitely head back there - hopefully with the pandemic well behind us next time!