Just this morning I remarked to my husband that with restaurants opening to 75% capacity on Monday the hospitality community was heavy on my mind and I was hoping they could be prioritized in the vaccine phasing.
About an hour later I got a text from my favorite Chef, JD Fratzke, telling me ...
"Got the email late Wednesday night, got Rona Poke no. 1 (Pfizer) yesterday at Roy Wilkins auditorium in historic Saint Paul, MN... Something about it felt old school patriotic, like we were all signing up for WPA work in the 1930’s or something - especially when I noticed that most of the registration volunteers were just kids and all were people of color.
It wasn’t until I took my seat with an RN named Angelina that it dawned on me: this was real. I was actually getting the shot. Almost a year to the day since I was let go from my work down in Cannon Falls when sales cratered after the first lockdown order... eight of the last twelve months unemployed, hustling, helping and asking for help... trying to stay strong and often failing... fighting to keep a support network alive... my gratitude and hope welled up and I felt really emotional.
Almost couldn’t get the words out to thank Angelica for the work she was doing... I got the shot and my yellow sticker and thanked everyone on my way out into the fresh air of springtime in MN. Since cameras were forbidden inside, I readied my selfie and looked up to see Herbie victorious and I just about lost it."
Photo courtesy of JD Fratzke
"Back in 1980, he led a team that wasn’t supposed to do well and they won it all. I’m still carrying a lot of grief, frustration and anger over the injustices of the past year. I can’t change the past and I can’t change most minds, but I’m changing what I can and I’m making the time to do it.
I love my country and I love my family and I love my community... and while I hope that waves of karma wash through all the selfishness and hatred left in our borders, I need to be good and move forward because, as Jim Harrison once wrote, 'Living well is the best revenge.' ”
