July 25, 2020

From EJ:

Originally, I planned to use a more journalistic style to my written contribution, but after wrapping up the finishing touches while watching the National Geographic documentary film, "Fauci," I felt compelled to share his words [quoted below] rather than my own small-scope experiences.

Ultimately, to keep it simple and be both relevant and relatable, I added only the data for constructs of time and money. Sometimes it's so sad to consider what basic metrics are viewed as total value assessment; craftsmanship is truly priceless.

Jeney

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Total project hours: 526.5

Minimum Colorado hourly wage in 2020: $12

$6,318.00

Days spent stitching: 176

Date stitching began: 8/22/2020

Date stitching completed: 8/29/2022

"Now is the time, if there ever was one, for us to care selflessly about one another."

5/22/2020

"God help us."

5/28/2020

"If only we could have set our differences aside...and listened."

"I'm the 'Bad Guy' to an entire subset of people because I represent something that is uncomfortable for them. It's called the Truth."

"My job is to do whatever I can to get us out of this outbreak. My weapon, in addition to the science, is speaking to the American public."

"What keeps me grounded is the enormity of the problem and just a very deep sense of responsibility that calls for all of the things that I've been trained for, dating back to when I was going to school."

MEN FOR OTHERS  --Jesuit philosophy

"I have never made myself out to be the 'end-all' and only voice in this. I am a scientist, a physician, and a public health official. I give advice according to the best scientific evidence."

"When someone attacks, I don't immediately fight back, that's not my style. I don't get into the fray. And over the years, which became decades, that became my mantra. Using 'The Godfather' as the great book of philosophy, 'It's nothing personal, it's business.'"

"...I think we're going to get through it, but we're going to get through it in spite of this divisiveness and politicization. We're not going to get through it because of it."

"Despite this extraordinary divisiveness, it was very clear that we were dealing with a common enemy, and the common enemy was the virus. I really do hope that, somehow or another, we can't go on this way; because it's a lesson that I think will be important for us to adequately respond to the next outbreak for us, which will inevitably occur. Maybe not in my lifetime, maybe it will, but it will occur."

"I hope that if historians look back--if they ever would want to look back--at what I've done and my life, maybe somebody says, 'Hey, that guy was pretty good.'"