While many students have been learning remotely from home, teachers are still playing a critical role in educating their students. My daughter has a full schedule of Zoom sessions with her teacher three days a week and recorded lessons on YouTube for the other two days. Her teacher is constantly uploading and grading assignments, offering feedback and responses to her answering student questions.

Even though teaching doesn’t look the same, parents should still consider doing something special to acknowledge the teacher’s in their lives. My typical go-to is a small gift that my daughter usually presents in person, however, we have to switch it up this year. As I’m still thinking through what our gift will be, I wanted to share a few ideas on ways to acknowledge your child’s teacher virtually.

• E-Gift Cards: Gift cards go a long way whether it’s for Amazon, Target or even Grubhub or DoorDash, any teacher would appreciate being thought of by students and their parents
• Personal message or greeting: There’s nothing more special that a teacher receiving kind words of appreciation from students. Parents can send a greeting card or video via email to show the teacher how much they are appreciated.
• Artwork: Children, especially younger ones, love to draw pictures. What better way to warm a teacher’s heart than have your child draw a nice picture for the teacher in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week.
• TikTok: Children are all over TikTok these days which presents a great opportunity for your child to film and post a TikTok in honor of the teacher. You can then save the video and send it to the teacher with a sweet message.
• Collaborative gift: If your child is actively communicating with classmates outside of remote learning sessions, you can work with them to create a collaborative video or photo collage with a message from multiple students as a meaningful gift.

You can do one or even all of these, especially if you’re planning to acknowledge the teacher each day of the week. With everything going on right now, it’ll be nice for teachers to know that they are appreciated for continuing to put their students first. I’d love to hear how all of you are planning to celebrate the teachers in your life. Feel free to share any new ideas in the comments.

May is Melanoma Awareness Month. The first Monday in May is called Melanoma Monday. It’s a day to raise awareness of Melanoma and the other deadly skin cancers. It’s also a day where I like to honor those who are no longer with us due to skin cancer.  You’re missed and always in our memories and thoughts.

On this day, we wear black. There are two reasons for this:

The word Melanoma means black tumor.
Black is also the color of the warrior’s mood when going into battle. A Melanoma patient is in the battle for their life.

Besides black, here are other items you should wear to keep safe on Melanoma Monday:

. Sun protective clothing such as long sleeves tops and hats.
. Sunglasses, because Melanoma and other skin cancers can get into your eyes.
. Most important: SUNSCREEN!

Also, stay out the sun during the peak hours. And, never..ever…get into a tanning bed!

That’s my advice for another Melanoma Monday. Almost 100,000 people will be diagnosed with a form of skin cancer every year. Use these words to prevent becoming one of them.

Related Post: Missing the friend I never met

Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

The last times we visited a restaurant.

This weekend I opened my wallet to hand a $10 bill to Barb and discovered a few folded-up receipts–receipts I had jammed into the wallet as I left each of the last 3 restaurants we had dined in. Each brought back memories of the life that was just beginning to change.

The oldest receipt, dated March 6th, was from Once Upon a Grill, a local deli-grill, where we had a headed for some Friday night chicken soup to ease Barb’s post-strep sore throat. The parking lot was devoid of its usual kamikaze drivers; the older patrons who made every visit to the undersized parking lot a challenge had started staying home.

Next was a March 10th receipt from Cooper’s Hawk. The parking lot was only half-filled and the usual crowd of singles at the winebar was notably thinner than usual as people missed out on an almost-last-chance to connect.

The last reminder was a  March 14th receipt from Wildfire, our favorite go-to restaurant. That night we had no trouble getting last-minute reservations for a spur-of-the-moment night out with neighbors. The restaurant, rather than being packed Saturday night solid, was at least 2/3 empty. Barb shuddered when a passing waitress coughed into her hand and didn’t disagree when I predicted that this would be our last meal sitting in a restaurant for a long, long, time.

It is now seven weeks since I savored my last Wildfire Barrel-Aged Old Fashioned. We all know how Chicago, how America, how the world, has turned upside down since then. In comparison, Barb and I have been pretty much spared. None of our family or close friends have been afflicted with COVID-19. The losses I hear about are second or third hand or read about in the digital newspapers I subscribe to.

My medical group and my lab continue to function, and new challenges arrive to keep my mind occupied. Barb may be an Occupational Therapist without a current occupation, but the house has never been cleaner. And we are fortunate to have both kids and their families close enough for both drive-by and driveway visits. Birthday parties and Seders may have been reduced to Zooming, but we have all been healthy as we sing Happy Birthday or Let My People Go.

The restaurant dinners have been primarily replaced by home-prepared meals (we still grocery shop in person) though we have been treating ourselves to carry-out once a week. Lou Malnati’s Pizza is till the best, even in a pandemic. A drive downtown, picking dinner up from a Michelin-starred restaurant, makes a nice weekend outing. And we donate and offer assistance where we can.

Now states are beginning to loosen restrictions. Old medications and historic vaccines are being investigated as a potential bridge to a new generation of therapeutics and immunizations. Curves are being bent, if not fully flattened. In the midst of fear, there is hope. And I hope that the day will come soon when I sit in my favorite booth at Wildfire and raise my Old Fashioned in a toast to each of you who have made it with me through to the other side, and remembering those who have not.

And to the day when I am happy to see my wallet filled with more receipts and joyous memories.

For more COVID thoughts click here. Or here.

Like what you read here? Add your name to our subscription list below. No spam, I promise!
___

———————————–

The Coronavirus without question has presented the world with an unprecedented number of problems and decisions which lacks any type precedent or blueprint to serve as a guide. There are so many it would be impossible to list them all. Stopping the spread of a silent killer is the number one priority of  Country’s leaders from the President on down to the Mayors of all our cities and townships across America. How to save people from themselves and each other has produced some eye opening decisions by politicians that quite frankly have been met with some degree of astonishment.

Of course being a Chicago cop for some years, I fully realize that there is indeed two sides to every story. Sometimes even scores of sides to every story. Police work is one of those professions that the second guessers are like a full house at a Cubs or Sox game vilifying the manager for his in-game decisions. I know for sure that my second guessing here is one that is felt by millions across America.

All across the country there has been a movement to release criminals from prison, the fear being that they will contract the Coronavirus because of the closed in restrictions of prison life. I must say I cannot for one second imagine what the hell these politicians are thinking about. Imagine the fractured logic of releasing murderers back into the society where they murdered, robbed, assaulted, and a virtual laundry list of other serious felonies.

I’m not sure if any of you ever heard of the Green River killer. His name was Gary Ridgeway and over a period of some years he murdered and sexually assaulted over 80 women. When he was finally apprehended he confessed to at least 80, though detectives are convinced there were many more. A few weeks back because of a political decision, as astonishing as this may sound, he was one of the inmates eligible for release.

The community was so outraged that they challenged his release. A no brainer for the COURT YOU SAY! IT WAS A 5-4 decision. If you can wrap you head around that. Imagine almost releasing a man who murdered over 80 people because authorities were worried he would contract the virus. An astonishing gang of brainless creatures that somehow got into a position to return this man to an unsuspecting neighborhood near you.

Here in Illinois we have almost the same scenario at play, sans a serial killer, although that is not to say it could not happen. So far, very quietly, Governor Pritzker who exhausts himself talking transparency in government,  has released  over a 1,000 inmates from prisons across Illinois. At least 64 had been serving sentences for murder. Hundreds of people convicted of felonies some multiple times, freed and sent back to the neighborhoods and the societies they preyed upon.

Thanks to retired Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Locallo  it was discovered that the Governor also violated the Constitution of the State of Illinois, either intentionally or through gross ignorance. Judge Locallo charges that Pritzker ignored the “Crime Victims Rights Amendment” by not notifying the victims or their survivors. The Constitution clearly states that CRIME VICTIMS OR SURVIVING FAMILY MEMBERS SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE NOTIFIED OF THE CONVICTION,THE SENTENCE, THE IMPRISONMENT AND THE RELEASE OF THE ACCUSED. By not doing so he has victimized victims or their surviving members yet again.

No doubt in my mind the billionaire Governor Pritzker who was born on 3rd base and actually thinks he hit a triple, has no clue to the multiple dangers he has foisted on society. Not only do people have to fear the Virus and the draconian restrictions he has placed on the State, he added to their fears by releasing convicted killers and habitual criminals to once again prey on the very communities they once terrorized. I’m positive the Governor is secure in the fact that they will not be prowling around his mansion, or around his multi million dollar horse farm in Florida where his wife has been safely sheltered for several weeks. (I guess the stay at home order only applies to us common folks) This all came about because of a prison system that was completely overwhelmed and unprepared to keep those safe that was in their custody.

The question is why were they not prepared? Who is to blame? Not a mention of that by a Governor that has slammed the Federal response to the Coronavirus pandemic at every press conference he’s ever held for the last 2 months. A pattern for Illinois politicians – all mirrors have been removed to avoid any type of guilt. Aristotle is quoted as saying,  “THE GENERALITY OF MEN ARE NATURALLY APT TO BE SWAYED BY FEAR RATHER THAN BY REVERENCE AND TO REFRAIN FROM EVIL RATHER BECAUSE OF PUNISHMENT THAT IT BRINGS.” As there is use in medicine for poisons so the world cannot move without rogues. Illinois has not heard the last of those released murderers and the other thousand convicted of criminal acts, count on it.