Town Meeting Day is feeling like a long time ago. Not even a week has passed since Vermonters voted – and showed tremendous support for the members of their communities served by local home health and hospice agencies. Thank you! 

But since Town Meeting Day, COVID-19, the disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus, has dominated headlines – and by extension the conversations I’m having at work and with friends, family and people at the gym and the grocery store.

My city-dwelling mother is concerned, but not panicked. Her biggest hygiene challenge is that at nearly 80, she touches a lot of railings as she makes her way through her day running a full time real-estate business (people ask me where I get all my energy; there’s the answer). My city-dwelling young adult daughter got a little panicky and needed some help thinking through how to make decisions about subways, buses and social gatherings. My son and husband appear to have no concerns or questions at all and are getting increasingly tired of my handwashing reminders (there’s one way to solve that, guys...)