CAO Message: Thank You and Happy Thanksgiving!

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

Holidays are all about traditions. Ones we share, and those specific to our individual families. We all find comfort in the routines.

It’s frustrating, even disorienting, to have that disrupted, as it will be this year as we continue to fight the pandemic.

I can’t sugarcoat it. The trends lately have been bad. Case numbers have skyrocketed, and just as the epidemiologists predict, we’re now seeing that turn into rising hospitalizations. We’re all thrilled by very promising news of vaccines, but they’re not here yet. For now, we’ve got to hang tough and use the measures we have available to minimize the virus’s impact. 

Since it spreads from person to person, that means staying apart as much as possible. The exact opposite of what we look forward to and treasure for holidays. But the best thing you can do for family or friends outside your household this year is to celebrate separately.

Even if we have to give up on crowding around tables or football games, we can double down on the essence of the holidays. For Thanksgiving, we can draw a sharper focus on the things we’re grateful for. Each person you miss getting together with – be so thankful you have that person in your life, that you have someone that means so much to you it hurts not to see them. Let them know!

I’m full of gratitude for everyone at the County. You see what people are really made of when they’re tested. We’ve now spent the better part of a year weathering a crisis. From those I interact with directly to every one of you rising to the challenge of serving our residents under these circumstances, I can’t imagine enduring this time without you. You know how your stomach feels at the end of Thanksgiving dinner? That’s how my heart feels, ready to burst with appreciation for everything you’re doing.   

I hope you share in the gratitude for such amazing colleagues and for work that gives us the opportunity to help people through an especially difficult time. And I hope even if your Thanksgiving celebration is scaled down that you still enjoy an overstuffed spirit of the day.

Thanks again so much for all you do,