From 9/11 to COVID-19: The Lessons We Refuse to Learn

On an unusually warm and sunny Saturday afternoon in mid-November 2001, my wife and I stood silently on the deck of our home, on the face of the Watchung Mountains, in central New Jersey. This may have been the first opportunity we had to exhale from the horrific events of eight weeks earlier. As we were gazing to the east in the direction of New York City, we were unable to absorb the beauty and serenity of the moment. We realized such simple pleasures were probably still out of bounds. Although we were not exactly sure how, we acknowledged life…