Bucks Montgomery Physician Spring 2021 - 4

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

THE SIMPLE
THINGS
IN LIFE

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020 is finally in the rearview mirror. Gone, but
not forgotten. As February
of 2021 begins, winter is in
full swing. We've just had a
12+-inch snowfall in Upper
Dublin, and my arms ache
from 3 hours of shoveling. But
something else hurts, too.

my family. I am now part of the 'parentless' club,
whose members span all ages and walks of life.

I haven't come to terms with it yet, and people tell me that
it's going to take time (a cliche if there ever was one). But
as major life events are wont to do, this has led to some
serious introspection, so I thought I'd write about it.

It's been almost a year since
the novel coronavirus arrived on our shores, sending
our lives onto a path not taken in a hundred years.
With the death toll now exceeding half-a-million,
the question being asked is: " When will it end? "
To quote Bilbo Baggins to Gandalf in Tolkien's
The Fellowship of the Ring: " I feel thin, like butter
stretched over too much bread. " I suspect if you
are reading this you know exactly what I mean.
I was going to spend this column writing about
pandemic fatigue, but on February 18th, something
happened: my mother suddenly passed away from
a heart attack. And with that event, life changed for

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BUCKS/MONTGOMERY PHYSICIAN

spring 2021

Aside from the obvious grief, no longer having a living
parent brings up a belief that I know is fundamentally
ridiculous - yet I think many people may have: that
our parents stand between us and death. While it is
natural to feel vulnerable and confronted with our
own mortality upon the loss of a loved one, on some
level, I also felt that as long as one of my parents
was still alive, I'd be safe, ticking along through life
without any major health headaches to deal with. My
rational mind knows it's absurd, but it's a belief from
childhood that's never completely faded away - and
part of me never wanted it to. I haven't yet decided if
that's a good or a bad thing, only that it's complicated.
Bucks Montgomery Physician Spring 2021

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