The Times We Live In

I worked late – as I always did in those days – on 9/10/2001. As sports editor of the now defunct Boca Raton News in Florida, I came into the office in the early afternoon and didn’t leave until printing presses were humming around midnight. High school football had just started and the Florida Atlantic University football team was one game into its inaugural season.

Woke up the next morning, turned on the TV and realized everything had changed. So suddenly, so jarringly. Was in awe (and still am) of first responders such as the New York Fire Department.

We’ve lived through plenty of history since, but the COVID-19 Pandemic – while very different than 9/11 – is the first that seems to carry some of the same weight and significance. There is no one specific date in this Pandemic that will resonate the way 9/11 did and does, but this period is one my son Liam will tell his grandchildren about.

I wore an NYFD hat after 9-11 and today I would gladly wear one for the essential workers. The doctors and nurses – of course – are heroes. So are others – delivery drivers, grocery store employees and the like – who help people buy and receive necessities and keep at least some semblance of the economy going.

Since my wife Xiaoli’s mom and sister live in China, we were more familiar with the virus than many. We knew how strict the social distancing was, and is, even in areas such as Shanghai which fortunately have not had a lot of cases. With that said, we never would have thought the virus would have impacted America the way it has. In New York City alone, there have been more than 11,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Like so many of you, we are grateful for our health, trying to stay positive and determined to make the most of each day.

So far, Liam and I have had quite a run playing football. We were halfway to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game streak before we took a day off.

Liam, 8, is at an age where, really for the last year or so, his vocabulary and expressions seem to expand each day.. Just yesterday, I asked him if he was ready for football and without missing a beat, he said, “I was born ready.”

While these are trying times for everyone, I liked Liam’s approach.

Let's give Liam the final word.