On March 11, I sat in my virtual Stratford Town Council Meeting, as I usually do at my kitchen counter, anxiously anticipating the Stratford Housing Partnership’s presentation. What they revealed was a failure in our commitment to serving all Stratford residents. A striking community survey revealed 50 to 66 percent of respondents were deeply concerned about their long-term ability to afford to stay in Stratford.

Mention Covid-19 testing and it’s hard not to revisit the debate over rapid versus PCR tests or conjure images of long lines of people waiting for nasal swabs as demand outpaced supplies. Early days of testing focused on the short-term need to make a definitive diagnosis prior to the ramping up of vaccine production and distribution to subjugate the spread.

In the summer of 2020 in the throes of the COVID pandemic, Hartford Healthcare announced the permanent closing of the 80-year-old maternity unit at Windham Hospital in Willimantic.

Shortly after I started full-time school in 1936, I remember relating to my mother some wildly exaggerated stories told by one of my school mates about how wealthy his family was. His father owned and operated a six-stool, two-booth diner in downtown Hartford. She responded to this by saying that one of the great advantages of always telling the truth is that you don’t have to remember what you said.