Tonight's picture was taken on April 4, 2009. It was Mattie's 7th birthday. He celebrated his special day at the hospital. Several of his friends came to visit after school and we had a small birthday party in the child life playroom. Mattie was very excited that day as he started his morning by decorating the hospital playroom. When his friends arrived in the afternoon, we had games, cupcakes, puzzle building and as you can see.... lots of balloons.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people who were diagnosed with the virus: 692,169
- number of people who died from the virus: 36,727
I remember when I first joined the board, I did not have a solid understanding for the roles and responsibilities of a licensure board. As these types of practical skills and knowledge aren't truly taught or even emphasized in graduate school and training. Which is problematic really, because I can't tell you how many students graduate and have no understanding for the licensure laws and regulations in their state that they wish to practice.
In any case, I learned quickly that serving on a licensure board is challenging and a large responsibility. Especially when the board oversees ethical violation hearings of licensees and makes determinations on the future of that licensee's ability to practice. I will never forget at various points in our 17 years together, Van telling me that I missed my calling. That I should have been a lawyer as he felt I thought logically and advocated like a lawyer. I took that as a high compliment.
Last night, I learned that Van died from the coronavirus. Now a day later, I am still shocked by this news. Mind you I saw him on March 13th for a meeting and we sat right next to each other. When I saw him he was fine (and he always believed in eating right and staying healthy), but my understanding was the week after that he started to have symptoms. Symptoms that his doctor did not take too seriously. However, when things started to degrade quickly, he was admitted to the hospital and placed on a ventilator for days.
This is a huge loss to our board, to DC residents, and to me. I felt like he always had our best interest at heart and I never had to question his priorities. He was a competent attorney and one with great historical knowledge about our board, its laws, regulations, and changes we made to these documents over the years. With Van's death, we lost institutional knowledge, a trusted legal confidante, and a friend. Going forward they maybe able to fill his seat in our meetings, but it will never be the same. We worked 17 years together and we understood each other's style and thought processes. Our relationship was based on respect and I feel he was taken too soon by a virus that should never have gotten so out of control in America and the world. I think Van's death once again reminds me to never take for granted the time we have with each other, as the future of more times together is never guaranteed.
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