I went to a wedding this month. Let me rephrase that: I went to a wedding that was a three-day, in-person, 125-attendees, sitting-at-tables-for-eight, extravaganza with family I haven’t seen in...
Vaccination nation
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Aug 11, 2021
Last week an insurance adjuster came over to scope out some storm damage. Anyone who enters my home must be vaccinated or wear a mask (I keep clean masks at the front door. I’m nice like that). If...
Vaccine hesitancy? Or vaccine denial?
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Jun 14, 2021
Spring has sprung and I am finally seeing my neighbors in their yards again. We’re washing cars, watering seedlings, rototilling and playing with our dogs. I have a neighbor who is a very smart and...
Expect the unexpected
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Apr 26, 2021
It’s a beautiful spring day in April in Northeast Ohio, and there are four inches of snow on the ground. It’s covering the daffodils and the apple blossoms. This is not unusual nor unexpected,...
Dear Texas: Please change your mind
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Mar 10, 2021
The news that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) of Texas has lifted ALL precautions against COVID-19, dropped the state’s mask mandate, and opened EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE has me concerned. Depression, anxiety, ulcers...
Side effects of medicine and hope
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Jan 22, 2021
I got the first step. The first step of the vaccine gave me a headache, a sore arm and the euphoric feeling of hope for release from the restrictions, illness and death that have literally plagued...
‘Notes from Underground,’ with apologies to Dostoevsky
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Dec 11, 2020
This is a throwback to college reading. It’s been a while for some of us, so bear with me for a minute. In 1864’s Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s narrator believes life in Utopia...
Don’t let up this fall. A potential ‘twindemic’ awaits.
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Nov 02, 2020
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the leaves are turning and the temperature is dropping. It’s another lovely fall day, but what does that mean for those of us in healthcare? October is when we...
Masks: More than just protecting others?
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Sep 21, 2020
A friend recently told me that her co-worker doesn’t believe in vaccines. They are microbiologists. I know of someone who is a flat-earth believer. He’s an amateur pilot. We see healthcare workers...
To mask or not to mask?
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Jul 20, 2020
Disclaimer: I know I’m preaching to the choir. But it has to be said, so I’m saying it. I keep hearing defenses against wearing a mask in public. I wear one to protect YOU. I work in a COVID-19 facility...