Cita Sadeli saw the start of the pandemic from a different angle than most: standing on an articulated lift, hovering 120 feet above street level. She spent much of early March 2020 painting a mural on the exterior of Hotel Xena in downtown Washington, DC, watching from above as the coronavirus outbreak slowly caught the city in its grip.

“I started March 1, and the city shut down around mid-March,” she said in a phone interview. “I got to see the whole city change from that very high vantage point, people were dragging their office chairs across the square to take it home, because they weren’t going to come back to their office. Everyone was freaked out.” (CNN)

From her Position 120 feet in the air while painting a mural, she was able to be an eyewitness to the sudden transition of America’s workforce from office to home.

We are still adjusting to home versus office and companies are trying to decide what to do next.

What is the answer?

With all the negative things going on in the world, pessimism abounds.

How about you?

There are two kinds of pessimists: PERMANENT & SITUATIONAL.

The permanent pessimist takes a negative view on  almost everything all the time.

It’s just a state of mind.

When you propose a new idea the pessimist will tell you why it won’t work.

And they do that all the time.

They can’t wait to point out the flaws.

A situational pessimist, however, is not pessimistic about life in general.

They will evaluate an isolated issue and perhaps take a pessimistic view of its chances for success.

If I am proposing a new idea, I would put a greater value on the advice of the situational pessimist rather that the permanent pessimist who sees something wrong with everything.

Be careful whose advice you rely on!

(Above photo is of the D Day landing on Omaha Beach.)

What does the term, “Memorial Day” mean to you?

Picnics, a day off from work, family gatherings?

Or, does your mind go back to Omaha Beach, or Okinawa. or Bataan.

Because this holiday was named “Memorial Day”, it was intended to remind us of something.

In my younger years, I had a barber who was in the first group to hit Omaha Beach.

His friends were being killed all around him.

He and the other survivors were crying as they continued to advance on the German gun emplacements above them.

I’ll never forget him telling me of his experiences on that beach.

This “Memorial Day”, please remember those young PATRIOTS who gave their all and lie under a white cross in an American cemetery above Omaha Beach.

Yes, it is a day to celebrate and have fun.

It is also a day to remember.

My son, Pat, was in New York yesterday and took a cab to La Guardia.

He met an amazing 25 year old cabbie named Jewel.

He immigrated to the U.S. from Bangladesh when he was 19.

His mother died when he was 12.

He left his two sisters and father behind to join his uncle in the U.S.

He worked in a restaurant for a year and then was able to drive a cab.

He has been robbed and beaten as a cabbie.

In the last four years, he and his uncle saved $365,000 working 10 hour days, six days per week.

The money will be used next month to buy licenses and cabs for him and his uncle.

He came on a green card and has applied for U.S. citizenship.

This is another story of immigrants willing to work hard and build a better life in America! 

We attended the high school graduation ceremony of one of our grandsons yesterday and will be attending another one tomorrow.

As I sat there and watched those young people marching off to an unknown future, I wondered how they’ll cope with their future world.

There will be even more dramatic effects of climate change.

The political divide in the U.S. will probably continue.

The new world will provide them with surprises, both good and bad.

I think the answer to today’s question is: How did we raise them?

What values did we instill in them?

What personal example did we provide for them to follow?

Will they believe in GOD and practice their faith?

How will they live when their ancestors are no longer here to lean on?

I think everything depends on how we prepared them for the struggles that lie ahead.

The 51-year-old is in a select group of United States Navy officers: The commanders of the 11 aircraft carriers in the US fleet.

Amy Bauernschmidt is the rarest of the rare.

Capt. Bauernschmidt is the only woman in that group. In fact, she’s the only woman ever to command a US aircraft carrier, the largest and among the most powerful warships afloat.

“(It’s) easily one of the most incredible jobs in the world,” she told CNN in Tokyo.

Most people would consider that an understatement.

Bauernschmidt commands the USS Abraham Lincoln, a 97,000-ton, 1,092-foot Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. With around 5,000 people aboard, it’s the equivalent of a small city at sea. (CNN)

It’s about time!

That job demands brains, judgement and people skills.

Obviously, those skills are possessed by males and females.

Hooray!

Another barrier is broken!

As we know, millions of employees left their existing employers to seek better opportunites.

They were seeking better pay and better benefit packages.

After making the move to a new company, however, some have begun the process of returning to their old jobs.

Well, if they got higher pay and better benefits, why did they return to their previous employers?

CULTURE!

They just didn’t feel comfortable either with their new co-workers or the ways things were done there.

So, as we all know, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”

Well, I guess, not always.

Be careful!

See you tomorrow!

Yes!

After 80 years filled with ups and downs and a few crises, that seemed to have no solution, my experience says the answer is “Yes!”

People sometimes equate a good thing that happens to them as a lucky coincidence.

I don’t believe in coincidences, either!

No, I don’t believe this whole life of ours is an accident of nature.

Doctors are the most likely to have faith in GOD, I hope.

This is true because they see miracles occur that are not of their doing.

If you think you can sail through this life completely on your own with help from nobody,

I wish you well.

The blessings I’ve experienced from above are too many to count!

Have faith!

If not today, when?

The Statue of Liberty was built in France between 1875 and 1884.

It was disassembled and shipped to New York City in 1885.

The statue was reassembled on Liberty Island in 1886, although the torch has been redesigned or restored several times since its installation.

Does SHE still represent our values?

Are we living up to HER expectations while living our daily lives?

Each of us must answer those questions as an individual.

Many of your ancestors and mine came through Ellis Island which is the actual facility that received new immigrants.

Ellis Island resides alongside Liberty Island upon which stands the Statue Of Liberty.

Peter Max (the artist) has painted many renditions of the Statue.

You should have one in your home as a constant reminder:

“FREEDOM ISN’T FREE!”