World Health Day

Today is World Health Day and this year it takes on a whole new meaning. It’s hard to believe the entire world has basically been self-quarantining, social distancing and on high alert because of COVID-19. Here in the U.S. we are bracing ourselves for a tough few weeks as cases and deaths are expected to increase.

But you know what else has increased? The American spirit. We are all jumping in to help where we can: from those at home making face masks and getting food for immunocompromised family and neighbors, to the first responders showing up at the hospitals, to the grocery store workers stocking shelves, to Delta Air Lines providing free flights to first responders who volunteered to go to our hardest hit cities, to Ford and General Motors making ventilators for General Electric. This is who we, as Americans, are in the face of adversity.

While we are scared and facing an unprecedented situation, we are also strong and resilient. Our scientific community is moving at an unparalleled speed. They are pulling together to find treatments and a vaccine for COVID-19 while working and sharing information with other scientists around the world.

We have all been busy. So, today on World Health Day 2020, take a few moments and take some deep, deep breaths. Hold it in and then let it out, all the way down to your toes. Hopefully you feel a little more relaxed.

My grandmother lived through the Great Depression as a child, and World War II with three young children while her husband was fighting in the South Pacific. She knew the very fiber of this country as well as anyone. When times were tough she’d give us a hug and then say, “Back to the salt mines!” We do what we have to do. We pull together, we work hard and we get it done, because this is truly the home of the brave.