Tag Archives: new york times

ok so who wants to go see n.c.wyeth’s “apotheosis of the family” this fall?

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Apotheosis of the Family used to hang in a bank.
Photo from 52 Pieces Blogspot

OK, sign me mind blown. The huge mural, Apotheosis of the Family by N.C. Wyeth, newly restored, will be available once again to be viewed thanks to his grandson, Jamie Wyeth, as per the amazingly fabulous article in the New York Times this morning.

A friend of mine sent me the article a little while ago. And I’ve just been sitting here, reading it and almost gasping to myself about the crazy story of this mural.

CLICK AVOVE ⬆️ FOR NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ⬆️

I remember years ago hearing about this mural. Then it came off the wall when the bank, Wilmington Savings Fund Society now known as WSFS, literally took it off the wall. That was 2007, and I remember reading that at the time and it was crazy to me because well the bank had restored it in 1998. BUT and it’s an important but, according to the New York Times, the building was sold for development. Art vs. real estate profit?

Can you imagine owning a building that had a giant mural painted by a Wyeth in it and then just taking it off of the wall and selling the building?

It’s a huge mural. It is 60‘ x 19‘. So 60 feet wide and 19 feet tall. I never saw it when it was in that bank branch for all those years, but it’s one of those things that pops up on postcards and coffee mugs and you can buy a replica of it.

According to the Fifty Two Pieces Blogspot which wrote about this in 2009:

Commissioned in 1932 by the Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS) in Wilmington, Delaware when N C really wanted to do something other than be “just an illustrator”, the mural is made up of five canvas pieces that span a total of 60 feet by 19 feet…..The mural depicts a family standing in front of a house, surrounded by neighbors….Some say this is a theme N.C. Wyeth may have borrowed from his son-in-law, Peter Hurd. Done in the grand manner style of murals from the 19th century, N C also used bright colors, unusual perspectives and powerful abstract forms of clouds, smoke and sea, reflecting Wyeth’s interest in avant- garde Russian art, and works by Marc Chagall.

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So again, according to this blog, it was removed off the walls of this bank building in 2007, after being restored in 1998. The work to pull this giant piece of art off a wall and I guess store it was done by some company called Ely Inc. (I found a website for the company. They do some kind of museum services. )

Here I interject a little bit of my own opinion about WSFS. They like taking things off of walls. When they acquired the Bryn Mawr Trust Company a few years ago, they yanked the name and letters embedded in the wall of the historic bank building in Bryn Mawr off. Yeah, sorry that sounds a bit snarky, and I kind of meant it that way because I remember when it happened, it struck me as petty, because so many banks keep the original things of the bank building they acquire on it as part of the history. Wells Fargo did this in Paoli, for example. But I digress.

However, I guess everyone’s lucky that the mural was saved, and now will be able to be viewed at some point this fall. I guess I just feel at this point, that this country in general is somewhat disposable with various aspects of its history at times.

So fast-forward to the New York Times article of today. And apparently this giant mural went into storage for a bunch of years. Now, remember it’s oil on canvas, and paintings can crack and stuff as they age. If you read through the New York Times article, they had to do more restoration as the canvas was unfurled to be prepared for hanging.

According to the New York Times and their research, this is the largest mural in US history ever created for a public space. I like looking at murals, and if you think about it, it’s pretty cool that an American treasure of an artist also did one. No, this was done during the depression, and apparently the money received at the time translated to today’s dollars was fairly significant.

Now thanks to Jamie Wyeth, soon if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to take a shuttle bus from the Brandywine River Museum of Art to a special round barn on his property to view it. The farm is called Point Look Out Farm.

Apparently, this work of art celebrates family. N.C. Wyeth’s family is worked into the mural. His son Andrew is the naked boy with the bow, and interestingly enough, the Times reports his sister Carolyn is portrayed as a little girl, although she was eight years older than Andrew. According to Jamie Wyeth, as recounted to the New York Times, point of the mural was to depict two things that were very important to his grandfather, a deep love for family and the land. (OK, I’m going to interject again. What would N.C. Wyeth think of all the development in the area he calls home today?)

I think this is very exciting. And I’m going to hope I can get a ticket to see this in person. N.C. Wyeth was known first as an illustrator. He illustrated a lot of children’s books for example.

N.C. Wyeth’s ‘The Giant’ Is a Moving Tribute to a Friend

One of the favorite things he ever did that I have seen hangs at the Westtown school – “The Giant”. We actually have a print of that. It’s beautiful.

The Giant

This if you like art, and you appreciate the art from the various members of the Wyeth family, is pretty freaking amazing. the Delaware Historical Society had this mural before it came back to Jamie Wyeth’s farm. it sounds like they could never find a place for it. I think from a restoration point of view it’s probably very lucky for the world that this place has been made for this giant mural because it sounds like it wasn’t rolled up right when it was stored. Thank goodness it was given to the Wyeth Foundation.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-untold-legacy-nc-wyeth-andrews-artist-father

The Wyeth family has had a history of fabulous art and great tragedy. After all, the creator of this fabulous mural, we are all about to see for the first time in many years, N.C. Wyeth died in a tragic accident in 1945. His grandson, Newell, who was four at the time also died with him in the crash.

Of course, this is not the only tragedy that this family suffered, as there have been many twisted tales of complicated lives of this often larger than life amazingly talented family of artists whom we loosely call our own in this area. And thanks to the generosity of Jamie Wyeth will be able to see this mural now.

There is actually a giant Wikipedia page devoted to N.C. Wyeth which is pretty interesting and has many links about his life and work. I really wish I could meet Jamie Wyeth and ask him what it was like growing up in this family except how many writers and reporters and others have done this over the years?

I’ve also never become a member of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art. I think this might just inspire me to do so.

Anyway, read the article in the New York Times. It’s amazing from start to finish and it’s also kind of sad that a New York paper is breaking major art news from this area.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/arts/design/nc-wyeth-mural-wilmington-delaware.html

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hey saguache county, colorado why not leave little villa grove alone? they don’t want a giant cell phone tower and why won’t county officials talk to a denver tv station if this is all above board?

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Villa Grove, CO

I’m rambling west for something that interests me. And it has nothing to do with Pennsylvania or Chester County Pennsylvania.

Today, I am taking my readers to a place I have never been but want to see some day. It’s a place where it is literally one of the last great open spaces of this country in the American west. It’s in a state where a few Pennsylvanians I know have settled. Including in some of the historic parts like Fort Collins and Villa Grove and elsewhere. Some came for the larger suburbs near Denver, other near resorts like Aspen. There are actually quite a few Pennsylvania ex-pats who call places in Colorado home that I can think of.

Someone I know in that part of the world sent me this story. Remarkably, a news station in Denver covered it. I say remarkably because this is Villa Grove, Colorado. In Saguache County. Population? According to my research literally like 260 – 300 people, but maybe only 30 full time residents. It’s a tiny frontier town 4.5 hours from Denver I believe so a news crew covering this is huge.

Residents in this tiny town don’t want an almost 200 foot cell phone tower taller than any tree a few hundred feet front where they live and less. Can you blame them? No one wants to live in the shadows of those wires here . Think of it as a giant abstract metal penis on a plain.

As Denver’s NBC affiliate Channel 9 news says:

VILLA GROVE, Colo. — Nearly a third of the full-time residents who live in the small town of Villa Grove in Saguache County are now suing county commissioners after the approval of a 195-foot-tall cell phone tower in town. The county wants to build a massive telecommunications tower right on the edge of town, just a few hundred feet from the few homes there are in the picturesque town outside of Salida. 

“Even our trees, which are the tallest things in town, are only about 60 feet,” said Paula Maez, one of the plaintiffs suing the county commissioners. “I’ve never sued anyone in my life, but I felt strongly enough about this that I stood up and will continue to stand up.”

Maez said there are only around 30 full-time residents in Villa Grove. There are no stoplights and only a handful of stores. Most people who live here have been here for decades…. “We recently had our Saguache County commissioners approve conditional land use for a cell phone tower that’s going in just to the northeast of here, basically right on top of our little town,” Maez said. “195 feet of metal monstrosity.”

Commissioners and the cell phone company both say that the tower would help with cell phone service in the rural area. However, the lawsuit hoping to stop the tower states it would only impact cell service within a five-mile area. 

9NEWS wanted to talk to the Saguache County Commissioners about why they approved the cell phone tower even after more the half the town showed up to commission meetings to speak out against it. Their attorney said they won’t be talking about it. 

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/residents-villa-grove-sue-county-proposed-195-foot-tall-cell-phone-tower/73-ee21be1e-2704-4552-9b78-2544681092c6

So Saguache County, you don’t want to talk about it to the affected residents, media, or anyone else about a MAJOR decision to affect a small tight knit community that I bet you ignore as often as possible? Gosh, that’s so wonderful of you! (Yes, dripping sarcasm here.)

And this tower will have limited practical impact or value since it will only improve MAYBE a five mile radius?

Seriously ? Makes you ponder another question doesn’t it? Exactly WHO is getting paid WHAT to shove this cell tower in, Saguache County, CO?

Given this website (link right after this paragraph) I have to wonder since Villa Grove is an unincorporated town if this county is getting ready to tart the town up for their profit? It sounds very Yellowstone the TV series as a motive, but heck most things like this are about money, aren’t they?

Villa Grove has hot springs nearby they say, and beautiful vistas, why not fill the county coffers and make it super tourista, right? County profits? And I’m not saying that to be anti-progress, I’m saying that because progress that works needs resident input and participation. Duh.

https://crestonecreations.com/saguacheorg/towns/villagrove/index.html

So how did this tiny blip of a town that just wants to be as it is get its start?

Well as per Wikipedia:

The town of Garibaldi was established by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1870.[2] The town served as the southern terminus of the Rio Grande’s narrow-gauge Poncha Pass line from 1870 to 1890.[2] The town was named for Italian revolutionaryGiuseppe Garibaldi.[2] The Garibaldi Post Office opened on June 13, 1870.[5] The town’s name was changed to the less political Villa Grove on January 19, 1872.[5] The spelling of the town’s name was changed to Villagrove on October 12, 1894, and back to Villa Grove on July 1, 1950.[5]

http://www.townofsaguache.org/

Saguache County Colorado has issues if you dig around for articles, so maybe the thought that it is all about the money in the San Luis Valley is not so far fetched? And Villa Grove is considered the northern gateway to the San Luis Valley?

A couple of years ago there was a Live Nation music festival around Villa Grove called Seven Peaks Music Festival. Supposedly drew thousands of people to this tiny town? But then Dierks Bentley got fickle and moved it? Or does he always just move it around? Or was trendy Red Rocks his goal all along?

Seven Peaks music festival won’t return to Colorado’s San Luis Valley

But back to the county. Because anywhere you go in the US if a town has a problem, first problem stop is always the county, right?

The Crestone Eagle: Proceeding with caution in developing Saguache County

January 6, 2023

Well, that article makes you wonder doesn’t it but again I ask and it’s a pretty simple question: if an idyllic tiny frontier town in Colorado doesn’t want a cell phone tower in that town where else can I go? And is it really necessary RIGHT THERE?

And as is the case in any article in any paper across the country, politicians will talk a good game, but are they actually talking to and with their constituencies? It seems like in this case, the Saguache County commissioners here are merely ignoring these residents. If these are residents living there and paying taxes, why do they have to play mother May I with everything ?

And let’s talk about the natural beauty of the area as well as it being one of the last frontiers. I point out to you an article from 2009.

https://www.chieftain.com/story/lifestyle/2009/10/20/grave-images/8707984007/

Allow me to quote:

A Pennsylvania photographer is among the souls who’ve been branded by the high valley’s exquisite light.

Kathy Hettinga – who grew up in Alamosa and now is a professor of art at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pa. – has returned to the San Luis Valley year after year, responding to its mystical lure and desolate beauty. She’s taken more than 10,000 photos in the valley’s historic cemeteries, recording the graves of generations of residents, some of them prosperous, most of them poor. She’s captured the plastic flowers, the plaster and enamel saints, the wood and metal and concrete crosses that mark the graves, and the churches that bear silent witness to the mortal comings and goings of the faithful.

A fraction of Hettinga’s 15 years worth of photos has been compiled into the book, “Grave Images: San Luis Valley.” She wrote the text and also helped design the book…. “I have a studio in Colorado (near Villa Grove). I still do consider the valley home,” Hettinga says during a phone interview. “I go there every summer and last year I was on sabbatical and spent a lot of time in the valley. I got to see the aspen and the beautiful light.

“The light in the San Luis Valley is really special: There’s the big sky, the 8,000-foot-elevation valley floor, the clear air – there’s a lot less atmosphere. Growing up, I loved it.

I think there’s a lot going on here. And I think, keeping a community the way the community wishes to be kept is not high on the priority list of Saguache County. To that end, they offer zoom meetings and I encourage nationwide media to attend it September 3 and anyone else who is interested in helping a small town preserve their way of life without a close to a 200 foot metal penis plunked in their town. Take a peek at their agendas and see how you can register. They can try to deny you but legally they cannot. It’s a public meeting.

https://saguachecounty.colorado.gov/

Saguache County Board of County Commissioners Agenda September 3, 2024

Saguache County Commissioners

Preliminary Agenda

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

Join Zoom Meeting 

Meeting ID: 823 7485 1681

Passcode: 793384

https://saguachecounty.colorado.gov/board-of-county-commissioners-agendas

Here is the information on the Saguache County Commissioners:

Commissioners 

Liza Marron – District 3 (Chair) 

Email: lmarron@saguachecounty-co.gov 

Phone: (719)-937-8423 

Lynne Thompson – District 2

Email: lthompson@saguachecounty-co.gov

Phone: (719)-221-1881 

Tom McCracken – District 1

Email: tmccracken@saguachecounty-co.gov 

Phone: (719)-221-1822 

Address 

501 4th Street 

P.O. Box 100 

Saguache, CO 81149

Phone: 719-655-2231

Fax: 719-655-0152

I searched the county website for Saguache and came up virtually empty as to information on this cell tower. I guess I’m just used to the websites around here that when you have a land use issue like that, the municipality or the county will have documents up that people can look at as to who wants to do what basically and where and how you provide input. I found mentions on one agenda, but I don’t find meeting recordings after the fact unless I’m not looking in the right place. Except, I don’t think this is the most sunshine, friendly county government is it?

I’m not quite getting the executive session on an issue that’s kind of public? Does the county on the land in this little town where the cell tower is going up?

As for the two LLCs mentioned – I didn’t find too much either, which is not unusual. There are LLCs all over the place.

Mountain Tower & Land LLC was founded in 2010 unless I Googled the wrong thing.

Industrial Tower West LLC has its own website: https://www.industrialtowerwest.com/

Googling Industrial Tower led me to this guy : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-becker-90204a20

Then I found this site which I guess shows where these folks put up towers:

https://towers.induscom.com/tower-site-locations

So that’s all I’ve got and this is literally a Nancy Drew mystery and it’s kind of concerning because this is the kind of thing that happens in more places than anyone wants to acknowledge. But I think a little frontier town in Colorado deserves a little sunshine here because this will affect their town and their properties and their way of life. And if people are saying yeah, we have cell phone service why do we have to have this giant tower? It makes a person wonder why the crickets as in political crickets as in no one is telling these people that are about to be directly affected much of anything? It’s only going to affect 5 mi.² or something than what is actually being planned for this area by that county?

People wonder where series like Yellowstone and 1923 and more get their inspiration. Isn’t the inspiration from life, history, current events?

So Taylor Sheridan? I think we have a new story for you. 👇 Yeah Villa Grove, Colorado why not contact him?

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my inner foodie awakens…

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My husband is always finding cool food things for me to try. And I am very excited about the package that arrived today from American Vinegar Works in Massachusetts!

Here is their story:

Modern vinegar production has come a long way. In our opinion, it has come a little too far. Even ‘premium’ labeled vinegars are often produced at an industrial scale that short-cuts the fermentation process to hours instead of the needed months or years. While the bottle may be pretty, often the end result is a one-note vinegar lacking depth of flavor and overwhelmingly acidic.

We have gone a different way. We have embraced the value of time and revived a production method from the early 1800s to create vinegars that are naturally fermented and deliver complex flavors. All of our vinegars are produced, aged and bottled by us in our vinegar works here in the Bay State. No outsourcing, no co-packing, no short cuts. It takes more effort, it takes more time… but the results are brilliant.

How We Make Our Vinegar

Our process is really unique and we believe it produces the best small-batch American vinegars you will find.

We know we are unique because we literally had to custom rebuild the machines we use by consulting historical records and partnering with local universities. The old academic etching you see at the top of this page is a graphic of how our machines looked when they were invented.

Our fermentation process dates from the early 1800s and this was how many quality vinegars were made centuries ago. The problem is that there was a wave of ‘innovation’ in vinegar manufacturing in the 1900s and this led to faster and cheaper vinegar. You will notice that I did not say it led to better tasting vinegar—in fact quality and flavor both suffered materially and this is how vinegar became the one-note acid bomb we now find in most supermarkets.

Our vinegars are fermented in small-batches and take two to three months just to ferment. After fermentation we age our vinegars for up to one year. Our aging process varies depending on the flavor profile we are looking to achieve. The vast majority of our vinegars are aged in 25-gallon American oak barrels previously used to make rye whiskey and bourbon. Aging in old barrels gives our vinegars complexity but does not add a woody or whiskey flavor. We source all these barrels directly from a craft distillery from our neighbors in New York.

What about ingredients? We only use quality American beers, wines, ciders, and sakes as our alcohol base to ferment our vinegars at our vinegar works in New England. Why? Because the taste of the underlying alcohol used directly impacts the flavor of the vinegar. Beyond that we are focused on creating great vinegars with a sense of place. We do not think there is something better or worse about an American wine or beer versus one from Europe for instance. We do, however, think it is important for real food like our vinegars to reflect where it comes from. In this way American Vinegar Works is building great vinegars on the shoulders of the craftspeople that are creating great and uniquely American wines, beers, sakes, and ciders. We are immeasurably grateful to them.

To find the right beer or wine for our vinegars we go through an extensive taste and test process to ensure it has the best taste profile. 

~ American Vinegar Works

I’m very excited to try these. I will let you know what I think.

Another thing in this independent company’s favor? They sent a thank you note with the order. A little hand written note. Little touches like that make all the difference when you’re dealing with a company.

And here I thought The most exciting food part of my day was making dinner with Vadouvan French Masala Curry!

New York Times review

“bookshelf wealth”?

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(Bookworm here, laughing.)

Apparently according to the New York Times if you have bookshelves with books in them, you have “Bookshelf Weath” – it’s some TikTok interior design craze, apparently. I don’t really TikTok and books? We love books here. They aren’t in our lives merely for interior design cuteness.

When it comes to aesthetic trends, social media loves a catchy name.

Cottagecore. Dark academia. Eclectic grandpa.

Now there’s a new entry to the canon: bookshelf wealth.

On TikTok and other digital platforms, there has lately been much ado about people who own a great number of books and — this is critical — have managed to stage them in a pleasing manner.

If you’ve ever seen a Nancy Meyers movie, the look might ring a bell. Warm and welcoming. Polished, but not stuffy. A bronze lamp here. A vintage vase there (with fresh-cut flowers, of course). Perhaps there is a cozy seating area near the floor-to-ceiling display, with an overstuffed couch topped with tasteful throw pillows.

Kailee Blalock, an interior designer in San Diego, posted a video to TikTok last month that sought to define bookshelf wealth and school viewers in achieving the aesthetic in their own homes.

~ New York Times
By Madison Malone Kircher

We have “bookshelf wealth” because we come from families of readers, and we are readers. Our books are here not because they look cute, but because they mean something. I don’t know how you can have a house without bookshelves or books, truthfully. I guess there are that many people that don’t read books anymore they just have them for decoration?

And I have had people come into our home and look at the bookshelves and ask if we’ve read the books, which to me is the weirdest question ever, because why would you have a book if you weren’t going to read it?

And please ignore the tiny pixies on the shelves. They are going away today. 🤣

Now a pro tip: those rolling racks that you use for underneath dorm room beds that aren’t up on risers for storage are great locations for extra books. In my case it’s where my extra gardening and cookbooks go.

But I digress….

I’m telling you this “trend” totally cracks me up because it was like that book trend a few years ago that also showed up somewhere on social media of people carving /cutting books, and like making sculptures out of the pages which to me was like so sacrilegious because again, I love books.

And I love fairs like the Saint David’s Church Fair every October because you can get some amazing books in the second hand book tent! And that fair probably has the best used book selection you will see at any flea market setting.

They used to have books at Harriton Fair in Bryn Mawr, but the current Executive Director in her eternal wisdom of behaving like an idiot, got rid of them at the fair starting in 2023 I think. Ironically, because I volunteered for that fair for so many years, I know for a fact that was one of the biggest moneymakers.

Also, most libraries will have used book sales at some point in the year. Two of my favorites, historically have been when the Tredyffrin library and Ludington library in Bryn Mawr put out the used books for sale sign.

For buying used books in general, it’s always fun to go into a used bookstore, there used to be one years ago at Bryn Mawr College called The Owl that was fabulous. And here in Chester County we have Baldwin’s Book Barn, and if you’ve never been, it’s an adventure and it’s awesome. You can also find a great selection of vintage and used books at garage sales and secondhand shops even Goodwill. And online through ThriftBooks and Abe’s Books etc.

Yes, can you tell I love books? But I have them because I read them or I read them or they mean something. They’re not just decorations on a shelf.

let’s talk about cvs

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CVS used to be a super reliable chain pharmacy around here. But now it’s a hot mess.

I started using CVS 10 years ago, within days of my breast cancer surgery because Rite-Aid wouldn’t let my husband pick up my meds post surgery, and made me go into the pharmacy and wait 40 minute for meds that had been called in an hour before I left the hospital which was close to an hour away. I had to stand there practically drooling from anesthesia and in pain. There was no chair for me to sit on. So that is how I switched to CVS. (But I digress.)

My great uncle was a pharmacist. He was dedicated and beloved in his community back in the day. But that was before the time of chain store pharmacies eating up the market share, and small independent pharmacies have a really hard time competing, so there aren’t many of them left. Which sucks because (for example) if you have allergies to what binds and holds meds together, it’s really hard to find compound pharmacies. I miss the small independent pharmacies we all knew growing up.

But back to CVS.

CVS pharmacies are flailing, or failing, choose your descriptive adjective.  I do not believe it to be the fault of the employees, it’s a systemic corporate issue because I do believe they DO NOT treat their employees well as they seem unable to retain/attract them.   I used to think it was just our area, but given all of the media articles I have read I guess they have this issue all over?

I will only give a couple of examples locally of CVS issues although I can tell you Exton, PA and Berwyn, PA also are also having issues – just go on social media. Facebook and Twitter. Every day someone is talking about issues with CVS somewhere.


CVS located at 1450 Pottstown Pike West Chester PA (Store #3875) has had issues which precede COVID. Since COVID their pharmacy is closed more than it is open, and currently has no pharmacist other than floaters. It’s a new store, they can’t keep it staffed.


We switched to CVS in Frazer PA because of Pottstown Pike CVS issues. Frazer is located at 335 Lancaster Ave, Frazer PA (Store #5064).  I had to call THREE times to get my monthly prescriptions this month alone.  I am on automatic refill, only they didn’t fill them.  When I called, I sat on hold for quite a long time because they are seriously understaffed. When I asked why I didn’t get the text my prescriptions were ready when I actually called them into CVS a second time fearing they weren’t on automatic refill any longer, I was told they weren’t being filled unless people called in.  Then it still took three days to get them because both prescriptions were not ready when they said they would be. I am just lucky that I finished 10 years of breast cancer meds in September, not that the meds I still am taking are optional because they aren’t. And they are conditions related to having had breast cancer and had treatment and a decade of breast cancer meds.


Someone else I know has been trying for a week to get prescriptions refilled.  There are some days you go, and the pharmacy is just closed.  Then when you do go, the line inside is over an hour, and the drive thru some days without warning is your only option and during the work day can you personally afford to sit in a drive thru lane over an hour? They still do not have their meds.  Oh and our CVS in Frazer MAY have a pharmacist by tomorrow (Saturday), only people are all over social media saying THAT store will have a closed pharmacy until Monday or Tuesday of NEXT week.  And there is a CVS in Malvern, PA in the Target a few minutes away, which is also closed today.


So when people are off prescription meds because they can’t get them filled how does that affect efficacy? 


Again, I do not blame the staff CVS has, I blame the CVS corporate team.  They sit in the gilded tower, so perhaps they fail to see what is actually happening, except how can that be?


Thanks to a lovely New York Times article a while back, I know they mark certain patients via a form as “media threats”:

 …The specifics and severity of errors are nearly impossible to tally. Aside from lax reporting requirements, many mistakes never become public because companies settle with victims or their families, often requiring a confidentiality agreement. A CVS form for staff members to report errors asks whether the patient is a “media threat,” according to a photo provided to The Times. CVS said in a statement it would not provide details on what it called its “escalation process.”

~Ellen Gabler New York Times


I am sure after this post, I will be added to the list.

I am writing this blog post mostly because I took the time to TRY to reach executive escalations in their corporate headquarters yesterday,  and a very rude woman in in their corporate HQ could not be bothered with speaking to me, so she transferred me to some random customer service line where I sat for 90 minutes until the CVS end disconnected the call.


With health plans being what they are, many people do not have options for where they can go to get prescriptions filled.

(only locally they can’t even stick to those posted hours)


What does it take for CVS to wake up?


We can’t even count on CVS locally for COVID or Flu shots at most locations. 
Yes there are staffing shortages everywhere, but CVS is the worst.  And my local CVS is staffed by nice people who work hard, but they aren’t slaves on the CVS Plantation.

So CVS, what do you have to say for yourselves that doesn’t involve blowing smoke up the derrieres of your customers? Inquiring minds want to know.

For my readers, these are the email addresses I found for CVS: ExecutiveOffice@cvshealth.com , Matthew.Blanchette@cvshealth.com , neela.montgomery@cvshealth.com ,karen.lynch@cvshealth.com , shawn.guertin@cvshealth.com ,
Traci.Carter@cvshealth.com , michelle.peluso@cvshealth.com , customercare@cvs.com , CSS@cvshealth.com

I went Internet hunting and that is what I came up with, I like going to Executive Offices because it wastes less time and their regular vanilla customer service is somewhat useless and you can never get through to anyone.

As I close this post a reminder that I fell this is a systemic CORPORATE issue due to crappy corporate culture. The employees I have encountered from CVS locally have been very nice. So I encourage all of you to contact CVS at the corporate level. Take the time to tell them what is happening. I will note that CVS has been fined in other states for issues like this. (Refer to New York Times article CVS Fined for Prescription Errors and Poor Staffing at Pharmacies Regulators faulted four locations in Oklahoma, a rare action that followed complaints at drugstore chains across the country. By Ellen Gabler)

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by.

covid-19 is not under control in the u.s.

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The above was in my New York Times morning email briefing.

Also this:

A Resurgence of the Virus, and Lockdowns, Threatens Economic Recovery
Hopes for a rebound are endangered by prolonged closures of schools, renewed state restrictions on business and fears of a difficult autumn and winter.

By Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman New York Times July 15, 2020

This is no joke. I know people who are losing their jobs. I know people who have lost their jobs. I know people struggling under major salary cuts. This is not a joke.

Explain to me again how Trump is making America great again? And don’t tell me he didn’t cause the pandemic because after a fashion didn’t he? Didn’t he open the door to catastrophe when he cut funding to the CDS and other programs starting in 2018? He cut the very team that looked and kept an eye on things didn’t he? A global health security team?

This is not some “liberal conspiracy” folks, this is death in real time, in real life. Compounded with riots and protesting because of the racism that is so insidious in this country, and based upon what comes out of that man’s mouth on a daily basis, how much worse is everything going to get before it gets better?

And look at all the time that was wasted on impeachment proceedings? Nothing was ever going to happen because there were never the votes to make anything happen. The votes we need come from us in November. And if we allow four more years of they are not Republicans, they are Trumpublicans, will our country actually really and truly hit the skids? Instead of dancing on the precipice? If this is a precipice and not a slow slide?

My personal opinion is we can’t wait to find out. With Coronavirus alone, we need change. As in different people. That is the power of the vote, people.

Please don’t shoot the messenger here. For years and years and years I was a moderate Republican. And happily so. I of course split my ticket because I resent being told how I am supposed to vote to be considered “good”. I still split my ticket.

But this fall, America needs to vote for herself and we as Americans need to vote as if our very lives depend upon it. Because our lives depend upon it. We can’t take four more years of living a very bad reality TV show.

True story. A niece of mine went to visit her boyfriend’s parents at their summer home. She and boyfriend were invited to a party of a friend of his. My niece and her boyfriend decided they were not comfortable going to a party with people they potentially would not know because of COVID-19. They were also unsure how many people would be there, would everyone social distance and wear a mask. A couple of weeks later, every person who went to the party they did not go to tested positive for Coronavirus.

Yes every person. That is how easy it is.

It’s like when you run across a person on social media whom you know to have had Coronavirus. And there they are taking selfies out in the world. You don’t want to be paranoid but when family members say they are still sick, what are they doing out?

I will be honest. I have had to go out to keep medical appointments. But nothing much more than that. I am just not comfortable. It’s very weird being out. And we are supposed to be wearing masks and social distancing and people just aren’t. And some of the grocery stores have even removed some of the Plexiglas barricades between cashiers and customers. I wouldn’t know personally because I have not been in a grocery store since the first week of March. But that is what I have been told.

I am afraid we are going to face new stay at home orders because people are kind of throwing caution to the wind. Being in a green status might mean “open” but it doesn’t mean we are out of danger.

Please pay attention. Our lives depend upon it.

life in a modern pandemic

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We have been here in pandemic land before. Spanish Flu 1918. I remember being told as a child how it killed a lot of my maternal grandfather’s family.

It’s oddly prophetic that this past fall an exhibit at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia opened about the last Philadelphia area pandemic called “Spit Spreads Death: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Philadelphia”

We are all being introduced to coronavirus. Our pandemic for modern times. A reminder that while we have come so far in many aspects in society, we as humans are still vulnerable to disease and pestilence. Hunker down, it’s a global pandemic. Literally.

Now we know why things like the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Philadelphia is cancelled. In Philadelphia pretty much all big events are being cancelled. All colleges and universities seem to be going to virtual/online learning modes and emptying schools. Some school districts are closing schools. This is also why annual traditions to us in Chester County like the Chester County Antiques Show which was to open tomorrow with a special preview party.

I received notice of other things being cancelled that I was attending. My friend Andy King had a show scheduled at The Living Room in Ardmore. He’s been postponed until June, and the venue is closed until May 1st . A pop-up dinner by Peachtree Catering we were going to at the end of this month is also postponed indefinitely.

Last night it was announced flights from Europe weren’t coming to the U.S. for 30 days – a 30 day ban starting Friday I think it is. Ban thus far doesn’t extend to the U.K. as of now. Unless passengers were U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents. Residents returning to the U.S. will be expected to self-quarantine upon return for about two weeks. It’s all very confusing, even to CNN.

Our financial markets are having big time issues. The U.S. markets have always been driven in part on emotion, and it’s 2020 but starting to feel like 2008. And people can weather that, what we don’t want is 1918.

I was doing a little gardening event and that is being postponed too. I can’t help it. I am still a cancer patient, which means I am in that lovely class of the immunocompromised. We are all supposed to practice social distancing – AKA minimizing close contact with people.

People, for the time being, it’s time to practice our nesting instincts and just stay home and enjoy each other’s company. Even Broadway, yes as in New York City, is going dark for a couple of weeks:

People are bitching left and right because things like NCAA March Madness is CANCELLED to live audiences. The tournament will go on, but the teams will be playing for the ghosts in the stadiums only. The NBA has suspended it’s season altogether. The NHL has suspended it’s season and MLB is delaying opening day.

This is actually no joke, yet on social media I see otherwise intelligent people saying that coronavirus is a “liberal conspiracy”. Seriously.

I am not in the mode of panic, but honestly? I am concerned. It’s taking people down in Europe and elsewhere and there seems to be no solution. It seems like pandemics before it, it must run it’s course?

Of course what also bothers me is we are still ill prepared for these disasters. Today Governor Tom Wolf basically started the wheels turning for PA shutdown. Montgomery County in particular on lockdown.

But what really gets me other than the mass confusion is how will this affect small businesses and hourly workers? Our economy is not as dandy as everyone would like to play make believe about. A friend of mine with a small business recently posted the following:

Governor Tom Wolf…now that you have taken our kids out of school, how are you going to help all the parents who work full time and have to work full time but have kids in school?
How are you going to help small businesses who have moms or dads as employees and now they can’t come to work?
What are you doing for the 1,000,000 small businesses in PA that are losing work but still have to pay mortgages, bills, employees?

What’s your game plan? You wanted to be our leader and I respect your position…I just need answers on what your are proactively doing for us.

For a lot of us if we don’t work, we don’t get paid. Those in the millionaire category will grumble about their various inconveniences… and survive.

And what about the testing? How do we do it, how do we get them? That seems to be about as clear as mud. HOW do you get a test? Who decides if you should get one? What kind of games will insurance companies play with this? (See Inquirer’s Coronavirus testing in Pa.: state lab is not following CDC guidelines to get more people tested by Marie McCullough, Updated: March 12, 2020- 1:26 PM)

Another thing that bothers me is the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cardiologist who is last media report in really bad shape in the hospital with Coronavirus. I really hope he recovers as he has a family and friends and colleagues who love and care about him. BUT….what the HELL was he thinking? He knew about Coronavirus and he saw patients? Children under the care of a cardiologist? So he’s sick, someone else in his house is sick, and so many schools and school districts had to close because of virus fears and why? Because he saw patients when he came back. He’s a DOCTOR. Shouldn’t he have known better?

Sorry not sorry, it really bothers me.

And oh this:

I am so at sixes and sevens about this. I don’t know what to think. As far as society progresses, we can’t escape the natural correction caused by disease is what keeps floating through my brain. I know, I am being repetitive.

Cancel Everything
Social distancing is the only way to stop the coronavirus. We must start immediately.

MARCH 10, 2020
Yascha Mounk
Contributing writer at The Atlantic

Well it’s a good thing I like being home I suppose. But then there is the other thing: you can’t even get food/pantry basics in some places because people are just wiping out stores. Some hoarding and I am sure the people who will re-sell at astronomical levels will surface more and more (Just look at trying to get supplies on Amazon.)

My mother just called me. She lives in Philadelphia. My stepfather had just gone to Trader Joe’s for some basics. Their shelves are literally bare, and not just for toilet paper.

One of my friends has a husband who is very immunocompromised – she’s been buying cases of rubbing alcohol.

What is the right answer? Everything in the US is a study in confusion. To me it feels like a somewhat rudderless ship. (See CNN)

The Philadelphia Inquirer is providing pretty good coverage. So is the New York Times. The CDC has a whole section about coronavirus. But there is so much contradicting and confusing information out there, isn’t there?

Vox has this interesting chart and notes the following:

The Spanish flu of 1918-’19, the most horrific pandemic in modern times, focused mainly on the young. It had biological similarities to a flu pandemic in the 1830s that gave some older people in the 1910s limited immunity.

Most common symptoms in China, up to February 22, 2020

So PhillyVoice had this amazing article in 2018 about the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia:

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

(Part 1) 100 years ago, ‘Spanish flu’ shut down Philadelphia – and wiped out thousands
Some 12,000 people died after the city held infamous Liberty Loan parade
BY JOHN KOPP AND BOB MCGOVERN

(Part 2) SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

In 1918, Philadelphia was in ‘the grippe’ of misery and suffering
The dark days of influenza epidemic: bodies piled up with no way to bury them
BY BOB MCGOVERN AND JOHN KOPP

We need to learn from the past. But it would help if information wasn’t conflicting or seemed to omit things wouldn’t it?

Government does not want full scale panic.

Hell, no one does. It won’t kill us to practice “social distancing” but we need to live our lives.

And I don’t think individual people should be able to clean stores out of cleaning supplies and more, do you?

I guess there is a reason we didn’t have any snow days with schools this year other than global warming, right? Because snow days are becoming coronavirus days but what of the parents of all these kids being told to stay home? Are we all supposed to stay home?

I was told this afternoon all of the schools and colleges/universities in Ireland had closed down.

So our ultimate takeaway? Hunker down I guess.

But I still do not know how I feel about this. Other than don’t hug, don’t spit, and PLEASE wash your hands.

Image result for spanish flu 1918 philadelphia
From PhillyVoice via U.S. NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND/VIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

modern love

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I don’t talk about what I watch on TV much on this blog.  I like a wide range of things including what the streaming services put out. But yesterday I watched Modern Love from Amazon Prime and well…awesome, amazing, beautiful.

The genesis of Modern Love on Amazon Prime are the marvelous Modern Love columns in the New York Times.  They are among my favorite things to read.  Amazing essays. (Here is a LINK to an anthology the New York Times put out to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the column in the Times and the release of Modern Love on Amazon Prime Video.)

 

I sat and binge watched every single episode last night.  I even cried during parts of them.  This series is THAT good.

Watch it.  It’s a beautiful series.

The fact that it is a beautiful and thoughtful series based on something I have loved reading for years, makes me completely unable to understand why Shirley Li of The Atlantic is such a sour grapes bitch about the series in her article from yesterday.

The essays come to life in Modern Love are actually about real people.  People Magazine wrote about this on October 22nd.

The thing about love is that it is never perfect and always idealized, often unrealistically so.

From a female perspective, when we are little girls and even teenagers we have completely unrealistic expectations about what love actually is.  We have no clue and fall in and out of love with great regularity as we grow up. (Often in defiance of what our mothers want us to do or be.)

You learn about love as you grow up and experience it, and continue to learn about love and it’s many forms and twists and turns throughout your entire life.

Love is is exhilarating, exhausting, and even terrifying. Love is beautiful and sustaining and true and can be all-consuming.

To have love in your life is a blessing. Love takes many forms. Love is friendship and love is also romantic and love is the enveloping warmness and all consuming love and protectiveness you feel for a child. Or the unconditional love of your favorite pet.

Love is also a process.  Sometimes it’s more simplistic, other times complicated.  I think it depends on your age and stage of life and maturity as much as anything else.

I hope you give this series a chance and watch it and appreciate it for what it is on your own.  I found it lovely.

What is Modern Love?

By Daniel Jones New York Times

For 15 years, Modern Love has brought personal essays about love, loss and redemption to readers of The New York Times. Four years ago, it became a podcast. And now the column has inspired an eight-episode series on Amazon Prime Video.

on the eve of 9/11

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In two days it’s another anniversary of 9/11. It has been 18 years.

Above is a screenshot of a New York Times newsletter email I opened this morning.

I. Can’t. Even.

On the eve of 9/11, no less.

February, 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Let me tell you a true story…

I came out of the trade center during the first trade center bombing. February 26, 1993. I was working on Wall Street for a municipal bond trading firm and I had gone with a friend from work into the shopping concourse of the old trade center because this woman – her name was Deirdre – had wanted to visit the Hallmark Gold Crown store – her grandmother or someone collected their Christmas ornaments and they were on a clearance sale.

So we went there and we grabbed lunch, and as we were standing right outside the trade center staring at Century 21 Department Store and wondering if we had enough time to go in there as well, the ground started to shake. Like you would imagine an earthquake. And then we thought it was snowing because all the stuff was floating down in the sky. We of course later realized that was like soot and ashes and stuff and then one by one it was the strange cacophony of car alarms in the garage going off like weird church bells. Then the sirens of first responders started.

But at first, right after it happened, time stood still. The explosion underground which caused the sidewalks to move underneath our feet, followed by a hold your breath moment of complete silence. Then came the chaos.

We got back to our office which was at 44 Wall Street and people were all freaked out. It was at that point we learned what had actually happened and came to the realization of how lucky we were to get out.

Over the course of the next couple of hours we had “refugees” that we knew from the twin towers who had to go down hundreds of flights of steps in some cases and came to our offices to wash the soot off their faces and just chill.

I remember this girl name Katie who was a trading assistant along with me whose fiancé worked for Dean Witter at the time. He was one of those people that had to walk down lots and lots of stairs and showed up in our office looking like he was completely done in black face but it was soot. And he was shaking, just standing perfectly still in our reception area, shaking. I will never forget it.

So when 9/11 rolled around and the first report came over my car radio, tears started streaming down my face as I sat in my office parking garage. They came back was the only thing that went through my head. Then my cell phone rang and it was my late father who at the time was on a train to New York City to head into his office. He was reaching Metro Park and I told him to get off and turn around and come home and he didn’t listen to me because the Amtrak conductors told him it would be fine.

My late brother in law was working in NYC by this point and thankfully he was able to meet up with my father and they holed up in someone’s apartment for a couple of days until they were able to get out of the city. But it was scary when they were all cut off from us with no phone communication whatsoever. Because it was absolute insanity in New York when the towers came down.

I remember when I went up to my office in between the first plane and the second plane and people were crowded around TVs and some broker’s office and I remember again I said “they came back.”

People looked at me and said you don’t know what you’re talking about it’s just a small plane that crashed into the side of the trade center. A horrible accident. Then the second plane hit. Then you had the news out of the other two planes.

I think all of our lives in some small way changed on 9/11. For years I kept running into people that knew people who died. People I knew from college died in the twin towers. They weren’t people I knew very well but a small school on a small campus they were people you recognized.

And our current President was going to meet with the Taliban at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 except it got cancelled?

WTF. Seriously, WTF????

How Trump’s Plan to Secretly Meet With the Taliban Came Together, and Fell Apart

New York Times

By Peter Baker, Mujib Mashal and Michael Crowley. Published Sept. 8, 2019
Updated Sept. 9, 2019, 8:35 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — On the Friday before Labor Day, President Trump gathered top advisers in the Situation Room to consider what could be among the profound decisions of his presidency — a peace plan with the Taliban after 18 years of grinding, bloody war in Afghanistan.

The meeting brought to a head a bristling conflict dividing his foreign policy team for months, pitting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, in a battle for the competing instincts of a president who relishes tough talk but promised to wind down America’s endless wars…..In the days that followed, Mr. Trump came up with an even more remarkable idea — he would not only bring the Taliban to Washington, but to Camp David, the crown jewel of the American presidency. The leaders of a rugged militant organization deemed terrorists by the United States would be hosted in the mountain getaway used for presidents, prime ministers and kings just three days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the Afghan war.

Thus began an extraordinary few days of ad hoc diplomatic wrangling that upended the talks in a weekend Twitter storm. On display were all of the characteristic traits of the Trump presidency — the yearning ambition for the grand prize, the endless quest to achieve what no other president has achieved, the willingness to defy convention, the volatile mood swings and the tribal infighting….And even after it fell apart, Mr. Trump took it upon himself to disclose the secret machinations in a string of Saturday night Twitter messages that surprised not only many national security officials across the government but even some of the few who were part of the deliberations.

No words. I just don’t get politics except for the overwhelming feeling on the eve of 9/11 that national politics just must be for dangerously selfish and narcissistic people.

Timing is everything and had this meeting happened it would have created more opportunistic divisiveness in this country.

Enough already. Some dates on the US calendar need to be respected. Stop already the national politics of self aggrandizing narcissistic behavior.

The timing of this just disgusts me.

9/11

r.i.p. john mccain

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I will let John McCain’s final words be a lot of this post. He was a great American. He was an American Hero. We were lucky to have him in our corner.

We live at present with turbulence and ugliness that is NOT a hallmark of being an American and certainly resembles no Republican party I recognize and, in fact,  it’s a travesty. Maybe you don’t like my opinion, but it is what it is and I am not alone in my sentiments.  In my humble opinion, John McCain represented a good portion of  what I respected  once about  most Republicans.

Sad trivia: John McCain died 9 years to the day from when Ted Kennedy died…and McCain and Kennedy  died from the same cancer.  Sadly, I will never view Ted Kennedy with the same eyes.

Time for a brief segue… (come on now, it’s only a wee ramble…)

When I was child, Ted Kennedy was in Philadelphia.  It would have been after Chappaquiddick.  Anyway, he was making a stop at the American Catholic Historical Society at 263 S. 4th Street in Society Hill.  My family at the time lived at 271 S. 4th Street.

I was a little girl with an autograph book (remember those?) and I knew a Kennedy would be a few doors down from listening to all the grown-ups talk about it.  So I asked my parents if they could take me down for an autograph.  Kennedy got out of the car. He didn’t see me and waved his arms out I guess to wave at people or greet them or something a politician would do… and he knocked me down. Seriously and for real. He didn’t stop to see if the little girl he knocked over was o.k.  But that is why at an early age, I became an UN-fan of Senator Ted Kennedy.

Back to John McCain.  He was true to himself and to the American people. You can’t ask for more than that in a public servant/politician.

John McCain was a man whom I would have been proud as an American to have had as a President.  Sadly, they paired him up with Caribou Barbie, otherwise known as Sarah Palin.  He would have had a much better shot at becoming President I think if they had not stupidly chosen Sarah Palin. No I have nothing kind to say about Sarah Palin. I have always found her to be ridiculous. Her comments upon his death are no exception. She sounds like a bitter divorcée who lost her alimony or something.  However, since even our current President is apparently lacking in the decorum at death department, why should Scarah Palin be any different? Maybe she’ll be the next new hire on the White House edition of the Apprentice?

The New York Times has written  a beautiful obituary on John McCain . READ IT HERE.

Excerpt from New York Times Obituary:

John S. McCain, the proud naval aviator who climbed from depths of despair as a prisoner of war in Vietnam to pinnacles of power as a Republican congressman and senator from Arizona and a two-time contender for the presidency, died on Saturday at his home in Arizona. He was 81.

According to a statement from his office, Mr. McCain died at 4:28 p.m. local time. He had suffered from a malignant brain tumor, called a glioblastoma, for which he had been treated periodically with radiation and chemotherapy since its discovery in 2017.

Despite his grave condition, he soon made a dramatic appearance in the Senate to cast a thumbs-down vote against his party’s drive to repeal the Affordable Care Act….A son and grandson of four-star admirals who were his larger-than-life heroes, Mr. McCain carried his renowned name into battle and into political fights for more than a half-century. It was an odyssey driven by raw ambition, the conservative instincts of a shrewd military man, a rebelliousness evident since childhood and a temper that sometimes bordered on explosiveness.

Also read this Penn Live Editorial and here is an excerpt:

With McCain’s death, a call to serve | Editorial
Updated 3:43 PM; Posted 2:19 PM

By PennLive Editorial Board penned@pennlive.com

Fittingly for someone who always seemed larger than life, the death Saturday of U.S. Sen. John McCain at the age of 81 seemed like several events wrapped into one.

For McCain’s family, friends and colleagues – both in Washington and across the nation and world – it was a time to mourn a beloved father, spouse and colleague who battled bravely against an aggressive form of brain cancer to the very end.

For historians and political scientists, it offered the chance to observe, in real time, the passing of one era of American politics and the continued dawning of a new – and very different – one.

And for the rest of us, it was an opportunity to reflect on an extraordinary career of public service….Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who appeared at McCain’s side throughout his 2008 White House bid, said his longtime friend “lived a life to service as few others have. And when you take a look at that lifetime of service, his was performed with unfailing integrity.”

….He taught us that we work best when we work together.

I hope you read the entire Penn Live Editorial. It is brilliant.

Finally, The Washington Post Obituary on John McCain:

John McCain, ‘maverick’ of the Senate and former POW, dies at 81

By Karen Tumulty August 25

U.S. Sen. John S. McCain, the son and grandson of four-star admirals, was bred for combat. He endured more than five years of imprisonment and torture by the North Vietnamese as a young naval officer and went on to battle foes on the left and the right in Washington, driven throughout by a code of honor that both defined and haunted him.

Sen. McCain, 81, died Aug. 25 at his ranch near Sedona, Ariz., his office announced in a statement. The senator was diagnosed last year with a brain tumor, and his family announced this week that he was discontinuing medical treatment…..A man who seemed his truest self when outraged, Sen. McCain reveled in going up against orthodoxy. The word “maverick” practically became a part of his name.

Sen. McCain regularly struck at the canons of his party. He ran against the GOP grain by advocating campaign finance reform, liberalized immigration laws and a ban on the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” — widely condemned as torture — against terrorism suspects….Once Trump was in office, Sen. McCain was among his most vocal Republican critics, saying that the president had weakened the United States’ standing in the world. He also warned that the spreading investigation over Trump’s ties to Russia was “reaching the point where it’s of Watergate-size and scale.”

John McCain was indeed a maverick. And American here. An example of a dying breed of public servant.  We need more like him from both parties.  I think it’s high time to look for actual public servants, true voices of the people. Not puppets for their respective political parties, beholden to lobbyists and deal makers.

John McCain, thank you for your service. A literal lifetime of service.  You weren’t perfect, you did not pretend to be, but I think you were amazing.  May your memory be a blessing.

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