I’ve been entering information from vital records (birth, marriage, death) into my genealogical software program. When you do the same chore remember that every category on the form can hide a valuable clue. Yes, it takes time and the temptation to skip all that in favor of researching is great, but if you don’t enter everything you take a chance you’ll eventually forget all the details and some of those may be what you need in the future.  

This week’s address focuses on another event that brings us all together uniquely as Mainers, Patriot’s Day. This year, Patriot’s Day is celebrated on April 20.

Congratulations, dear reader. Using my reality bending power to create alternative universes, I have now conjured a world in which you are reading this column in the Blaine House, and you are the governor of Maine. Everything else is the same. Same history. Same first year in office. Same COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe. The only difference is that now you are in the unfortunate position of having to make decisions.

President Donald Trump has made it clear – science or not – that he wants to quickly end the physical distancing requirements that are being used to slow the spread of COVID-19. And that he – alone – has the power to do it. Governors, including Maine Gov. Janet Mills among many others, are taking a much more cautious, science-and-public-health-first approach about ending orders that are keeping people at home

I want to acknowledge and thank the families, parents and caregivers who are working so hard to support remote learning for our students during this unprecedented emergency situation. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic reach across every aspect of our daily lives, and many families are struggling with lost jobs, lack of childcare, and access to even basic provisions. We know that many students have had to assume adult responsibilities -- like supervising younger siblings or taking a job to help support the family, and we know that many adults are arriving home in the evening, exhausted from essential jobs, to support children in different grade levels with remote school work. 

Now that everyone is being directed to practice social distancing and to stay at home, what does this mean for victim/survivors (adults and children) of domestic abuse? 

But for rural Mainers whose communities still don’t have access to high-speed broadband, telecommuting, remote learning and telehealth aren’t easy options. These unserved communities have been at a disadvantage for years, but the consequences of this rural broadband gap are even more dire during this stay-at-home order. 

In any crisis, we triage the issues we are facing, and our reactions proceed in relatively predictable ways. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different.

There’s a certain clarity that develops in a crisis. Old rules -- that seemed so important to protecting the public order, to good business practices, to the rules of commerce -- all of a sudden get tossed out and we adapt to new ways of doing things for the times. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we have changed the way we live our lives and conduct business.

As healthcare workers, we are doing what we have been trained to do -- what comes instinctively to the many who have heard a calling to care for their fellow human beings. COVID-19 has a lot of unknowns and is still evolving. Those in healthcare are navigating a delicate balance between being there for our families and answering our call of duty to care for our communities -- consciously separating ourselves from our loved ones, as our care of others puts those close to us at higher risk of exposure. While we know it is for the best, it’s a tough sacrifice.

At a University of Maine commencement years ago, a good friend, Al, received his Ph.D. and was “hooded” by my husband, his adviser. When Al’s name was called he made his way painfully across the stage on crutches, losing his mortarboard on the way. The entire audience let out a spontaneous “Oh.” Al received the loudest applause of the afternoon. 

Here’s a fun fact you might not know. Your “freedom of association” is not guaranteed specifically by name in the First Amendment. Don't believe me? Read it again.

State governments around the country have reacted differently to the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat it poses to people and to the economy. Many states -- Maine included -- took quick and decisive action to help stop the spread of the disease and to help people upended by job loss and financial instability caused by required physical distancing.

My old-style landline phone surprised me when it rang that night. I wasn't expecting a call. I really wasn't expecting a call from the caller: drummer Jim Gordon.

The coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, China is turning our lives upside down. Kids are at home instead of being at school; families can’t visit their aging parents and grandparents; and our economy is in trouble. Six short weeks ago our economy was the strongest in 50 years. Workers were taking home bigger paychecks, help wanted signs blanketed Maine, and our unemployment rate was the lowest ever recorded. 

I don't typically write follow up columns, but in this case I'm going to have to make an exception. A couple weeks ago, the column I wrote declared in rather concrete terms that I was not worried about the coronavirus. What I was more worried about than the virus, I said, was the impact that mass panic over the virus was having, and would continue to have, on society.

It’s time we retire the idea of “essential” and “nonessential” workers. If the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated anything, it’s that all the cogs in our economic machine are essential. Pull too many bits and pieces out, and the whole thing risks grinding to a halt.

Once I overheard a fellow genealogist complain that his family wasn’t interested in his research and all they wanted “was stories.” He was a “just the facts” genealogist and I sympathized with his family. Even I nod off when faced with a lengthy repetition of pages filled with nothing but names, birth, marriage and death dates.