Front-line workers say they shouldn't be forgotten as pandemic continues

Guests: JR Leblanc, Carmen Louie, Cicilia Sparrow

CATHERINE CULLEN: The pandemic redefined the word frontline for all of us in the battle against covid-19, those who put themselves in harm's way doing their jobs have become the heroes of 20/20. Last week we heard from a doctor, a nurse and paramedic about their experiences this year. But there are many more people who have been working in the front lines. In March and April, we stood outside in the evenings and gave them all a round of applause. Now the daily applause has mostly faded out, but those workers are still showing up. Jaara Leblon does one of the most important jobs at South Lake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario. He cleans it. He is a hospital custodian who has worked in the ICU. He scrubs surfaces to get rid of the virus and keeps patients company when visitors are restricted. Good morning.

JR LEBLANC: Good morning.

CC: Can you walk me through a day on your job? What actually happens during a shift for you?

JR LEBLANC: Basically, when I get here, we you know, we have a little bit of a get together. We kind of love each other up for the day. And then we go to our units. And I'm not always in ICU. I'm in different units as well. So a lot of units we will have called, so I'll go in and get my opinion and go in and tackle it and try to get rid of as much of that virus as I can.

CC: Have you gotten used to that? The idea that when you wake up in the morning and go to work, there's a pretty good chance you're going to be going into a place with covid?

JR LEBLANC: Absolutely. It's been a regular thing since March for sure for myself.

CC: And so it doesn't make you nervous anymore.

JR LEBLANC: I'm always nervous because, you know, you never know what can happen, but I'm pretty confident that I'm putting on what I need. And I've had so much practise at it that it just becomes routine now.

CC: So talk to me a bit about the patients in all of this. What's your relationship like with the patients in the rooms you're working in?

JR LEBLANC: Well, I think the cleaners are so important because, you know, we you know, the nurses are trying to do what they can and, you know, they are trying and also the the attack people as well. And they're trying to get them set up. And when I'm in there cleaning, I usually, you know, we'll talk to them and tell them, you know, how is your day? How are you doing? You're going to get better. People care about you, that kind of thing. And what I'm doing. And they like sometimes just want a friendly face, too.

CC: I bet I bet that makes a huge difference for some people.

JR LEBLANC: Absolutely it does.

CC: So you're you're in there exposing yourself potentially to covid as part of your work. You're hopefully helping make some patients days a bit better. Do you know where you fit in in terms of when you might be able to be vaccinated?

JR LEBLANC: No, I have no idea. And to be honest, I've never been told anything like that. But I know that usually in something like that, they will start with the people that are actually, you know, when the people are coming in to be tested, they usually would do those people first and then they would make their way around to everybody.

CC: Are you anxious to get the vaccine?

JR LEBLANC: I'm not really anxious. Because I you know, I have two boys are in groceries as well. I'd like to know that I'm OK and that they're OK. So yes, that part I would like to get done for sure.

CC: Talk to me a bit about that, about so sons who work at grocery stores. And then you're a front line worker as well. What is what does that mean, like in your household?

JR LEBLANC: Well, it's been difficult because, like, when it first started, I didn't because I'm a single dad, so I get my boys every other week. So I was basically going the first few, I think it was almost three weeks, but I didn't see my boys. Just to protect them. And they're also in groceries. So we wanted to make sure that we all took care of that. And then after that point, we all, you know, kind of coach each other, to be honest. And I tell them, you know, make sure you're keeping, you know, the distance. And then my one son, he pushes carts. That's what he does because he's on the spectrum. And my other son, he works in the dairy overnight. So helps there as well.

CC: You say, you coach each other. What do they say to you?

JR LEBLANC: They're just saying, Dad, please, you know, make sure you wear the mask, make sure you're careful. You know, we don't want you to we want you to get sick and that kind of thing. And I say the same to them.

CC: So it's a lot of stress. I wonder how you're decompressing in the midst of all of this.

JR LEBLANC: You know what I do? I walk to work because I live close enough. And that really helps like that walk clears your head. Get you pumped up. I walk fast, you know, so that, you know, I get my blood flowing and stuff. So I get here, I'm kind of like out of breath a little bit. Like that kind of helps, I think. Clears my head a bit. And then also I, I like to watch some sports.

CC: Now, I wonder, as we are watching this pandemic play out, how do you think the perception of frontline workers has changed? Do you think it's changed?

JR LEBLANC: Yeah, it's totally changed. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I remember working in ICU and everybody was applauding us and everybody was sending food and, you know, it was making the nurses feel, you know, somewhat appreciated when they were putting up with, you know, having to go home and not seeing their kids. And I've heard all the stories. And then now it's kind of like a different world, kind of like we're on our own. And I just think that people don't realise that we're in the middle of this at all times. And with this second wave, I think it's you know, we're more prepared, I think, but it still doesn't make it any easier. We're all still not sure what to do. You know, sometimes we're scared. It's hard.

CC: How do you make sense of that? That that appreciation seemed to be there and and you don't feel it as much anymore?

JR LEBLANC: I guess they don't know what it's like to really see somebody like, oh, yes. You know, I've seen people with covid. It is a horrible thing to watch. And we should care more about each other, especially our elderly. Like I have a 77 year old mom and she has like a lung problem right now. And she can't even get the proper care because they're more focussed on, I think anyways, on covid than are other things. That kind of bugs me.

CC: Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that. When you look back on 20/20, how do you think you're going to remember this year?

JR LEBLANC: I'm going to remember all the heroes that I saw on a daily basis. You know, the tech people, the doctors, the nurses, the cleaners, the transporters and even the PSWs. I mean, the PSWs, they have to go in and they have to -- like they're all heroes to me as far as I'm concerned. And I'll never forget what they did and how they made us, you know, get through this. They're amazing.

CC: What about you and your your fellow cleaners? Do you see yourself on that that that hero group?

JR LEBLANC: Yeah. I mean, yes, there is some cleaners and, you know, some of us that go beyond. But I mean, all of us, we all should be considered something because we're really putting our lives on the line. It's it's a serious thing that's happening. And these patients need somebody to fight for it, that's for sure.

CC: JR Leblanc, it's been a pleasure to meet you. And I wish you all the best in 2021. Thank you. You as well. JR Leblanc is a custodian at South Lake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario. Cecelia Sparrow has also been working on the front lines this year. We spoke with her in March when the pandemic had just hit. She was a sales associate at Shoppers Drug Mart, then serving customers face to face when many of us retreated to work from home. She was also a personal support worker with two clients. Cecilia. Good morning.

CECELIA SPARROW: Hello.

CC: So what's changed for you, Cecilia? Since March?

CECELIA SPARROW: I now work at a long term care facility and I've been doing that since the end of September.

CC: And not just a long term care facility, but one that's experiencing an outbreak. If I understand.

CECELIA SPARROW: There was an outbreak like there's been in a lot of long term care facilities, it's been quite a quite a ride, I have to say.

CC: I bet. What's it actually like going to work, deciding to take on a job at a long term care facility and and having to deal with an outbreak?

CECELIA SPARROW: You know, I have to say, I thought I was very, very nervous when I first started. I remember being -- and I still am. I feel like one of my worries is always, you know, I don't want to bring, obviously, covid to my home, you know, and I that's something I'm always worried about. I guess when I come home and, you know, in a house with kids and my girlfriend and I, it makes me nervous.

CC: I think we can all understand why that would be nerve wracking. Why did you decide to to do it then? Why did you decide to take the job?

CECELIA SPARROW: I actually really enjoy being a PSW. And one of the things that I needed was I needed to make more money and I needed something that would hopefully eventually provide benefits.

CC: And this does that. But with great risk to you.

CECELIA SPARROW: Yeah, you know, I've never I had never worked at a long term care facility before and it's a little different because I had one on one with my clients before. This one, I work with multiple clients. And at the same time I've been enjoying it, but I like I said, I've also been really nervous.

CC: Understandably, there's been an upside for you in all of this. I mean, obviously, you talk about the economic side of it, but you've also been vaccinated. I understand. Tell me what that was.

CECELIA SPARROW: Yeah, the care facility where I worked was one of the chosen ones to get vaccinated. And it was very exciting, I have to say. That was one of the things that I was I was kind of surprised because I you know, I kept seeing it on TV and it just seemed like something that happened. You know, it didn't seem real, I guess you could say. And then they yeah, they sent the call to all the workers that if they wanted to like at the moment, it's voluntary, you could sign up and get vaccinated. So I did. And I'm actually going for my second one next week.

CC: Oh, fantastic. Congratulations. You talk about the additional nerves, the stress around this. I wonder what's been the most difficult part of the last ten months for you?

CECELIA SPARROW: Some of it has been like I said, I've been really nervous about bringing covid into my home. I also when I was applying for work, I applied to lots of different places. And one of the things that I was kind of shocked about, I remember one of the places that called me back, they were offering sixteen dollars an hour and some of the clients that they had were covered positive and it just seemed so ridiculous. And they could only guarantee like fifteen hours a week and you couldn't work anywhere else, which I get why you can't work at different places. But it was just ridiculous that, you know, you would expect somebody to pay for one live on fifteen hours a week and getting sixteen dollars. It was just -- I was shocked, like how ridiculous. And it wasn't just one place I was like that.

CC: Do you think that I mean there's been so much talk about front line workers and what you're describing, what's happening in the midst of this pandemic. Do you? I guess how hopeful are you that society is going to get the message about the importance of of of this work, particularly when it comes to helping people who are vulnerable, whether they're in long term care or elsewhere?

CECELIA SPARROW: Once again, I think it's one of the things that gets taken for granted. You know, people that work at, you know, like grocery stores, like people that have been like they've been open the whole time, you know, like PSWs, nurses, all those things. I'm trying to be hopeful that there's going to be change. But, you know, one of the things that I remember also finding interesting was that back in March and in May, I think they started giving pandemic pay. So they topped up. You know, I think it was like three dollars more per hour for frontline workers. And then they stopped it. Yet, covid was still going on.

CC: What message do you think that sends?

CECELIA SPARROW: It just seemed like it was like, oh, you know, yeah, yeah. You know, that's great. That's great. But, you know, it's over. So we're just going to get back to how it was before. Like to me, once again, it wasn't like, there wasn't really that change of, like, You say we're important. So what are you going to do about it? You know? Yeah. And covid was still happening. And once again, the numbers started rising. And and it's like but a pandemic is over. You know, they just started up again, I think in October.

CC: We're all holding out, I think so much hope for 2021 after such a difficult year. And I wonder for you personally, I mean, you talked about some of your hopes there in terms of recognising the important work that people do. But for you personally, what are you hoping for in 2021?

CECELIA SPARROW: Well, for one, I think that even if we all get vaccinated, I hope that we can still keep the practising safe, you know, wearing masks and hand sanitiser and all those things. But I'm hopeful that this pandemic will end and it brings more awareness of how things are in long term care facilities for people, WS for, you know, other workers, like I said, like grocery stores or, you know, I feel like those are things that got taken for granted. And I feel like I hope that there's more awareness of how important those jobs are.

CC: Well, listen, Cecilia, we thank you for all the work that you do. It was nice to meet you on the radio. Cecilia Sparrow is a personal support worker in a long term care home. Carmen Louie is another kind of frontline worker. She is a manager and cashier at Donalds Market, a grocery store in Vancouver. Good morning to you. Morning, Catherine. We last spoke to you on the show at the start of the pandemic. Now 2020 coming to a close. Tell us how you're doing.

CARMEN LOUIE: You know, Catherine, it's doing very well at Donnersmarck Market. Yeah, we did some changes, you know, like Christmas mandatory before even Dr. Bonnie made it mandatory.

CC: Yes. I'd like you to talk to me a little bit about that, because as I understand it, that was a big decision for your store to be ahead of the curve when it comes to asking people to wear masks. Tell me what that was like for you when it wasn't mandated provincially, but you were asking people in your stores to start wearing masks?

CARMEN LOUIE: Oh, man. I'm telling you, Catherine, it was actually very hard to get through to a lot of people of those wearing masks. I was at the door. I said, come on, you could be at the door because you know you know what to say. And I was at the door, first of the door, and here comes the customer. Right. So then I have this mask. What we did is we have mass in every cash register, which is about six. And every cash register has a box of masks.

CC: And it's like disposable masks that people could could grab if they didn't have one.

CARMEN LOUIE: Yes. So there's no excuse for them, you know, didn't have an a mask, just an excuse for them to not wear one because we have one for them and for us and for me what to do. I always had that much, you know, just ready to give it to them. But no, they will argue with you.

CC: What did they say?

CARMEN LOUIE: One guy even told me that, like, you know, handing a mask is like I'm a criminal.

CC: A criminal? How?

CARMEN LOUIE: Yeah, like how am I a criminal to you? And then he said that, you know, I've been shopping here for many, many years. I said, that's got nothing to do with how many years you've been shopping here, my friend. I said, you know, pandemic is going on, are still going on. And, you know, and I explained to them that, you know, is for the safety of we, the staff, the customers and the safety for the community, for our community. What do you mean to give the community a lot of people that were in the street. And he just went on and on and on. And then I finally said to him that, you know, people that are dying, you know, especially the older people.

CC: I mean, what is the impact been on you? How have you felt about the fact that you have had to have all these arguments with your customers? It seems to be a lot of concern around it.

CARMEN LOUIE: Catherine, I'm at the door. I pray. I say, Lord would you give me wisdom to handle these people you know what to say. What impact me is sometimes it's, you know, like my husband said, do not take from work to home.

CC: Don't bring work home with you.

CARMEN LOUIE: It's something you know. You know, you hear those things that they say to you. It's a negative thing. The only thing that you can do now is that you have to be positive, you have to be gentle, you have to be compassionate answering those things to them. But I would head to home and I'm so glad I have a husband who listens who isn't tired listening to every day I come home. And teaches me a lesson. And, you know, he guides me like he tells me like what to say and push somebody to to listen to you when you go home, your spouse listening to you is sort of comforting, you know. So you're ready to go to work the next day to to listen again to what people say to you at the door.

CC: I want to ask you, you are famous for knowing all of your regular customers names, thousands of names, in fact, over the years. And and yet and yet now you're in the situation where you're dealing with conflict a lot at work and you're in a space also where you risk being exposed to covid. I just wonder what this whole experience has made you think about what it means to be a front line worker, you know, knowing those people.

CARMEN LOUIE: It's hard because you tell them now to say, OK, this has to be done and don't listen to you. And then there are some people that are to go home. So that's how to do it. And you guys are so good in this community. I'm so glad that you guys are following the safety measure, you know, those people. I'm so glad that people back us up. Some people I would say maybe by the time I was 50 percent are that's already so of back us up. But there was people who sometimes I feel bad because I know them and yet because I called them by their names to come to the door and walk them and, you know, and and then they argue with me that they don't want to wear a mask. And I said, like, almost like, how dare you, you know? But you can't say that. What I do concern is I just acknowledge their opinion. You know, you have to acknowledge I mean, you had to listen to them and then you tell them why. You have to be gentle. And like I said, you have to be gentle, listen to them, and sometimes you cannot always be gentle. But, you know, it got to your head. And I said, OK, come on, I'm going to have to count one, two, three, just like your little children, you know, when they don't listen to you. You have to have the technique to yourself to that. You do also calm down, you know. And if they don't listen to you, are you given all the challenges that you face, is your command, are you glad to be saying goodbye to 2020?

CARMEN LOUIE: I'm ready for 2021. I'm hoping that even Dan with t2021 still maybe still wearing mask and a lot of people said no, I can live with this massively longer. But you know what, I know there's one thing that I may tell you is wearing that is actually- I mean if it's cold, specially for you in Ontario or Toronto, not so much in Vancouver, but it helps your face to be warm and your lips not to crack. You know, that's one thing about wearing mask. And I think that listening to the other two, like Sicilia and JR as well, like especially with tell a saying about wearing masks, that maybe after this you can still wear a mask, you know, and I kind of tend to agree with her.

CC: I just like to close by asking you, what is the number one thing that you would like people in your community and your customers to know heading into 2021?

CARMEN LOUIE: Some of them are fearful still with this. I'd like them not to be fearful that story, because like they said, that the vaccine is already out there. And I would say that tells the customer not to be fearful, you know, not to worry. I said that we are here for you. I mean, we are there with them. I mean, every day. And it's to serve them. And I mean, for me, I just sort go with a smile. What does it make you so happy for with all this covid going on? I said you just have to be grateful for what we have. You be gratefulf or this pandemic?I said, well, how do you answer that? I just smile.

CC: Smile from behind the mask. Listen, Carmen, it was it was a real pleasure to meet you over the radio. Thank you so much.

CARMEN LOUIE: Oh, thank you so much, Catherine. Thank you so much for having me. And I thank God for all of the opportunity that it's given me to the show and praise God for all the things happening. I really do feel...

CC: Very nice to me. You have a great day and good luck with those customers.

CARMEN LOUIE: Thank you, Catherine. Take care.

CC: That was Carmen Louie, a manager and cashier at Donald's Market in Vancouver.

Stories of joy from our listeners

Guests: Lara O’Brien, Neta Rose, Yolanda Bonnell

CC: It has been a tough year and we've heard some heartbreaking stories, but a couple of weeks ago, Matt Galloway asked about your highlights of 2020, the moments that brought you joy and you flooded us with stories, welcomes four new babies in the family business successes in the midst of so much hardship and some small moments, a sunrise, a nature walk that remind us of the simple pleasures in life, stories that seem just right to share as we put this year behind us. Diane Schuller wrote from Parkville, B.C.: I learnt that I have a 58 year old brother and he lives within driving distance. We have met for a personally distant walk to get to know one another. It is the most amazing and remarkable surprise for both of us. I'm still on cloud nine over this wonderful discovery. Well, Diane and her little brother, Doyle Childs, are joining us both now. Hello.

DIANE SCHULLER: Hello, Catherine.

DOYLE CHILDS: Hi.

CC: This is all about connection. So why don't you say hello to each other as well?

DIANE SCHULLER: Hi, little brother.

DOYLE CHILDS: Hi big sister.

CC: Oh, that's so nice to see. You're both on cloud nine, then.

DIANE SCHULLER: Yes, absolutely. I'm still on cloud nine, there's no question.

CC: Oh, that's lovely, Doyle. Now, you're the one who actually made the connexion. How did you find out about Diane?

DOYLE CHILDS: Um, I did a DNA test 23 and Me and found out that through Diane's half brother, Ryan, that, you know, we are siblings. And so I reached out to Diane first by email and then we had a Zoom call call. And, um, you know, there was an immediate connection between us.

CC: Did you have any idea that you had a sibling out there?

DOYLE CHILDS: No, I had no idea at all.

CC: You did know Doyle, though. You got a little bit of information about your dad from your mother before she passed away. Can you tell me about that?

DOYLE CHILDS: Yeah, well, just my mom passed away over twenty years ago and she had given me a name and I had written the name down, Raymond Jarvis. And I worte the name in a book. And, you know, I just I didn't really make it a priority to seek out my family. And it was mostly because my mom had said that originally that my dad had passed away. But it turns out that wasn't really the truth. And I'm just ecstatic. You know, I always wanted a sister. I grew up with three brothers. And so it's been just such a treat to meet and get to know Diane.

CC: Was there any question in your mind about whether or not to reach out and try to make contact with her?

DOYLE CHILDS: You know, initially there was a little bit of hesitation, you know, you never know what. It's the unknown, but, you know, generally a positive person and I wasn't really looking for anything other than a connection. And I was just so happy that Diane was open and open, first to talking and then opened the meeting. And, you know, she's given me a photo. For I've never seen a photo of my my birth dad.

CC: Oh, wow. What was that like?

DOYLE CHILDS: It was a little overwhelming to begin with, to be honest. It also felt like it really completed a circle for me or completed a loop, you know, like I felt like there had been something all along that I had been missing. And this connection is just just been such a gift.

CC: Wow. Wow. Diane, I want to bring you in here. What was it like to get an email from Doyle saying he's your brother?

DIANE SCHULLER: Well, I must admit, when I initially got got an email telling me this, I. I was surprised. I was, of course. I mean, anybody would be shocked, shock, surprise. But but that quickly changed to curiosity and and the fact that, oh, my gosh, there's- you know, there is a flesh and blood blood brother out there. And my curiosity and my need to want to get to know who this person was put any any apprehensions that I may have had, which were pretty, they were insignificant. It just took over and we connected by email, as Doyle's already mentioned, and we did have a few back and forth. And it was more just a getting to know some of the facts, a little bit of effects and also a little bit of about one another. And when we had the room call, it was lovely because we got to actually see one another. And I could tell right away. I mean, it was obvious even when I saw a picture of him online.

CC: What's that? There's a resemblance you're saying.

DIANE SCHULLER: Oh, there he is. There absolutely is. And even though Doyle's hair is kept very, very short right now, it's it's very, very curly, like my dad's. And but he has a lot of his facial things, things like the nose, the eyes, his smile. All of those things are- oh, and the hairline. Yes, his hairline as well. So a number of those things just immediately you look and I mean, there is no question about the family resemblance when I saw his picture.

CC: That must be so powerful. I wonder, did you have any sense that there was more to your family than you might know the specifics of?

DIANE SCHULLER: No. No, I didn't. I had no idea. So, you know, which was why it was a surprise.

CC: Yeah. What have you pieced together about about your dad's life now that you know about Doyle?

DIANE SCHULLER: Well, my dad, after my mom and dad divorced, you know, my dad was still very young and- my parents were still quite young and he was a real go getter. But he was also a little bit of a ladies man, a very good looking man. And so, you know, things happen. And I think I'm actually glad things did happen, because if they hadn't, Doyel wouldn't exist. And I'm just so darn grateful for that.

CC: So wonderful.

DIANE SCHULLER: And and and I don't know if my dad ever knew. I doubt that he did. I doubt that he knew. But I don't know that for a fact. I have no idea. You know, he loved people. He loved family. Family meant a great deal to him. So, I mean, he would be as equally as thrilled to know that Doyle is exists, that there is this this wonderful man, that is a product of maybe a little indiscretion at one time.

DOYLE CHILDS: Yeah.

DIANE SCHULLER: It's a good way to put it, Doyle.

DOYLE CHILDS: I know it's you know, I think it's all good. Like, I'm not one to judge, you know, like I just what I what I love is that when I met Diane, we went for a walk around with wood, like it was just like three weeks ago or four weeks ago. But immediately I could see the resemblance and I went, but this woman is my sister. It was like we share a lot of common traits. And, you know, it was you know, she smiles. What I noticed right away is as we're walking the trail, she said hi to everybody and my wife bugs me all the time because that's what I do. She's oh, there's no one you don't talk to. And I said it must be in the genes. And you know what it is.

CC: What did you want to know about your father, Doyle, now that you've had this this revelation, what kind of questions did you have for Diane?

DOYLE CHILDS: Well, I you know, there were things like I'm a short guy. And so, you know, how tall was he? But also what did he do in business and, you know, what did he do for good in the community? And, you know, it turned out he was a real community guy. You know, he was involved in raising money for charity through bowling. And then he was a city councillor for Princeton and was a real leader. He was a real dynamic person. And to have another family member or more, there's just been a real gift.

CC: It's beautiful. Diane, the timing of it for this to happen during the midst of this pandemic, when so much of our life is about being disconnected, what did that mean to you?

DIANE SCHULLER: Oh, Catherine, it means such a great deal, to be quite honest, because, of course, I know many people have been suffering and others just, you know, whether it's boredom or whatever, you know, that certainly has affected, you know, me as well because I'm a very, very social person. So all these, you know, having to remain to ourselves for such a long period of time and then all of a sudden to find out about Doyle and and the most beautiful part of it is what a wonderful person Doyle is and how I mean, I feel like I've known him my whole life. And that's the family, the genes, that kind of connection. But I really do. I feel, even though I know very little about him yet, I, I feel like I've known him all along and and it's so special. It's just like that programme that Matt had just felt it was joy and I'm still feeling that joy.

CC: That is so beautiful. Diane, I'll ask you both this in closing, but I want to know, where do you where do you go from here? What do you want to do now when it comes to your relationship with with Doyle?

DIANE SCHULLER: For me, I just want to continue to get to know Doyle better. But I can hardly wait for the pandemic to be over so that we can get together with his family and and he can meet more of the family. So that's for me, that's what I see going forward. What about you, Doyle?

DOYLE CHILDS: Yeah, I'm the same like one of the things that intrigued me is, you know, we exchange Facebook profiles and I saw several months ago, Diane had said she was looking for an open water swimming partner. And, you know, I love open water swimming. And so, you know, I you know, I think that's going to be, you know, we're going to have lots of things to do, lots of catching up. And I really hope Diane will help me get introduced to the rest of the family. I see that there's lots of cousins and a couple of who look quite similar to me and they all look like they're, you know, really nice people. So that's what I'm looking for.

CC: Well, listen, we're all talking about after 2021, I hope for both of you there's a nice big hug in your future. Thank you. I think you brought a lot of people a lot of joy by talking about this beautiful thing.

DIANE SCHULLER: Thanks, Catherine, and thanks, Doyle. Good to talk to you today.

DOYLE CHILDS: Thanks, Catherine. And we'll see you soon, big did.

DIANE SCHULLER: OK. See you, brother.

CC: Diane Schuller is in Parkville, B.C. Doyle Childs is in Mill Bay, B.C. They are sister and brother, both on Vancouver Island. Well, they certainly had some good news in 2020, and so many of your letters were uplifting stories about relationships that helped get you through this upside down year. The Current senior producer Lara O'Brien is here to share some of your thoughts. Hello, Lara.

LARA O'BRIEN: Hi, Catherine. Let's start with Susie Whaley in Toronto. A highlight of 20/20 was when my future son in law let me know his plans to propose to my daughter on her birthday. I asked for my blessing and my help keeping her out of the house for a couple of hours after his original plan to propose in New York City was cancelled due to covid, he brought a little bit of NYC into the home and proposed in our backyard.

CC: Oh, that's nice. Ann Smith-Vieira writes from Halifax, One thing that brought my husband and me absolute joy was adopting a beautiful cat from the SPCA in late March. Dumbledore is a most affectionate boy, and his unconditional love has soothed our souls during a very challenging and sometimes heartbreaking year.

LARA O'BRIEN: I would like a picture of Dumbledore, please, and this one from Mandy Kent in Port Elgan, who writes, In 2020, I went from dating my soulmate for five years after being friends for 27 years to a joyful 51 year old pandemic newlywed living with four of our seven young adult children. That was in August. For the fall, surprise, happy big change. My new husband went from his corporate business work in Nova Scotia to a full time fire chief dream job here in Ontario. As we wrap up the year I am left feeling grateful overall, which I realise makes me pretty darn lucky.

CC: And from Neta Rose, an artist in Toronto in December 2019, my friend Amazing Anishinaabe South Asian theatre artist Yolanda Bonnell and I half jokingly made a pact to check in with each other every single day. We both lived alone and we agreed it might be good to have at least one person know we were alive each day. We had no idea how important these check ins would become in 2020, but the consistency and the devotion of our check ins has been a joyful anchor every single day of this wild year.

LARA O'BRIEN: Well, Neta Rose and their check in buddy fellow artist Yolanda Bonnell are on the line. Good morning.

NETA ROSE: Good morning.

YOLANDA BONNELL: Good morning, Catherine.

CC: Neta, tell me more about how these check ins started.

NETA ROSE: Well, as I said in my letter, they kind of started as half a joke. Yolanda and I were at a party. It was a Christmas party at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. And we were just talking about being artists who lived alone and the fact that as freelance artists, we don't have an office we go to every day. Nobody's expecting to see us every day. Sometimes we're holed up for weeks at a time writing grants or working on new projects. So we started to think it would be kind of helpful if somebody knew where we were each day. We forgot about it for a few days. And then about a week after that half joking conversation, we got in touch and said, OK, should we do this for real? And it started on December 7th with a simple text that said, Are you alive? Yes, I'm alive. Are you alive? And it went on from there.

CC: What did it mean to you, Netta? To have somebody checking in?

NETA ROSE: It was just so nice and so easy and so comforting. It's easy to go, you know, even prior to the pandemic in the shutdown, it's so easy to go days at a time without seeing anybody, especially as a freelance artist when you live alone. A lot of our work is very solitary until we get into the rehearsal room and then all of a sudden an explosion of sociability. But just to know every single day, no matter what, at the same time, Yolanda and I were going to be checking in with one another and just acknowledging the other's existence. It helps you feel more real in a way which was already important when we started in late 2019 and became unbelievably important as we headed into the shutdown in 2020.

CC: Yeah, well, Yolanda, tell me about that part of it. Right. Obviously, as I just said, it takes on a new significance in this pandemic, this time of isolation. What did it come to mean for you?

YOLANDA BONNELL: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think that when the lockdown first happened it was hard on everybody and especially people who, you know, we were so used to being community with each other and and then not being able to have access to that was really difficult. And so I think for me, like, not only was this a great way of sort of our friendship started to blossom, but also like being in contact with another member of the queer community was really important to. Yeah, I think knowing that there was somebody that cared that I was alive, and cared to to check in and to say, hey, why are you breathing today? It was so vital when feeling so isolated and feeling so alone and feeling like I can't go and hug somebody, but that there was this emotional support happening so easily was really important.

CC: Your connexion with Netta, Yolanda, took on a special significance in the summer. You found this particularly hard. Tell me about that.

YOLANDA BONNELL: Yeah, I as they said in the intro, I'm indigenous and and I suffer from a lot of mental health issues. And when the riots began, when George Floyd was killed and the many other black and indigenous [unintelliglble] indigenous people that were killed by police, it took its toll. There was a big movement that was happening. As an indigenous person watching people either show their support and the lack of support that happened was really hard. And so, over the course of time that night and I had been doing these check ins, ou friendship started to grow. And, you know, when they started going out to the protests and putting their body on the line, there's something about watching how I show up and watching people show up, that you care about showing that they care about your life.

CC: It does sound like it became an increasingly profound relationship. There is also a cookie angle here. I wonder if you could tell me about that. What's the Gregs cookie story or.

NETA ROSE: It started, I guess it would have been in early May when my mental health was also taking a turn for the worse. Things are really hard. And then on top of everything, we had a week of heavy rain and my bathroom flooded and all t[unintelligilbe] there are tree roots and their leaves and you get a couple of hard rains and everything starts coming back up. So my bathroom flooded. And of course, I couldn't just go to a friend's house to use the bathroom. It was just one of those things that would have been frustrating and difficult at any time and was just made so much harder by the situation of the lockdown. And Yolanda just did the simplest thing. She sent a box of Craig's cookies to my door and it made me so happy and made me feel so loved at a time where I knew I was loved by my community, you know, Yolanda said, we're so lucky to be a part of the theatre community in Toronto where there's a huge amount of community support. But but because we couldn't see each other, because no events were happening, it just felt so lonely and so isolating. It made me feel so loved. And, you know, it didn't fix the pipe under my bathroom, but it certainly gave me the strength to get through a difficult day. And and it became a tradition for us. Whenever one of us was going through a particularly hard day after that, we would send Craig's cookies to one another's door. So, don't underestimate the power of chocolate.

CC: And I'm not going to argue with that one. But listen, there are definitely folks who are going to be listening to this hearing about your lovely connexion and thinking, I would like a check in person. So, Yolanda, let me ask you, what advice do you have for somebody who's looking to find their own check in person?

YOLANDA BONNELL: I mean just ask. It's really the simplest thing. And I think that the beautiful thing about it is that it's so simple. I'm a person who I often have trouble reaching out for help when I need it. And so this sort of takes all that pressure off like, the 'are you alive?' turn into like, well, this is where I'm at today or this is how I was feeling. And so it really is just a check in to see if you're breathing. And so I just you know, if there's somebody out there, just ask them. It just it doesn't hurt. And if anything, you can find a beautiful friendship from it.

CC: Neta.

NETA ROSE: I would agree completely with Yolanda. The simplicity of these chickens is what made it possible for us to be so consistent with them. And it's the consistency that has really carried us through. And and in this little joyful beacon, in the midst of some very difficult times, it means that even on the hardest days, even when you don't have the capacity to talk to anybody or reach out to anyone else, you know you're going to have that exchange with somebody. So I think find the right person and then make it really, really easy for yourself to make that commitment.

CC: Sounds like wonderful advice. It is so lovely to connect with both of you and hear about your connection. Thank you so much.

NETA ROSE: Thank you.

YOLANDA BONNELL: Miigwetch.

CC: Neta Rose and Yolanda Bonnell are both artists living in Toronto. Thank you to all of you who wrote us to tell us about the best thing in your life in 2020. It's good to see the light in the midst of so much darkness. And here's one more reflection on the year. This from John Morris. 2017, 2018, 2019 had a lot of similarities. 2020 has been unique. It'll be a year we never forget because of its uniqueness. It's time we cherish and remember these moments as we will be asked about them for decades.

SOUNDCLIP

[Song]

James Maskalyk's journey from doctor to patient

Guest: James Maskalyk

CC: I'm Catherine Cullen and you're listening to The Current. Earlier we heard about the toll 2020 took on frontline workers. Dr. James Maskalyk has had a year harder than most. In the early days of this pandemic, he was one of the calmest, most thoughtful voices coming from the front lines. Working in the emergency department and the covid unit at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto, he would give regular updates on his Facebook page, answering questions and sharing his meditation practice. In fact, he led a group meditation right here on The Current as the pandemic really took hold. Then this summer, he was hit with difficult personal news. A lump that he had noticed on his neck was, in fact, a rare and malignant form of cancer. Dr. James Maskalyk spoke with host Matt Galloway in October of 2020.

MATT GALLOWAY: Doctor, good morning.

JAMES MASKALYK: Hi Matt, how are you?

MG: I'm okay. How are you doing?

JAMES MASKALYK: You know the question these days, isn't it?

MG: Sure is.

JAMES MASKALYK: Yeah. Yeah. You know, I like to say every day since I was a baby, I experienced the full human register of emotion from joy to despair. And today's no different, you know.

MG: Tell me a little bit about what happened this summer. You and I spoke and we'd been sending messages back and forth over the course of of the early days of the pandemic when you were working in the ER, as I mentioned, at St. Mike's. What happened this summer to you?

JAMES MASKALYK: Yeah, as you know, I was kind of threw myself into the work at St. Mike's. You know, all of us did, really. And it was familiar for me. I lost my mom kind of suddenly and tragically in February. So, you know, what does a doctor do but just throw him or herself into bigger problems in front of them, right. So I was doing that. I was, you know, working, isolating like everybody, but also just really committing to this like it was an MSF mission, you know? But it was great. I got to sleep in my own bed and see my friends occasionally. And then sort of got a sore throat, what I thought was a sore throat. And I thought, oh, maybe I got COVID. And then I felt the lymph node on one side of my neck. And then as soon as I felt that I knew, well, that's not, it should be at least on two sides if it's an infection. So hastened my own biopsy, an ENT doctor at St. Mikes did it for me. And what first we thought was papillary cancer, which is really one that Western medicine has the answer for. We can treat it quite easily, turned out to be something much more complex and rare. I have to get a bespoke saying, you know, can't just be something simple. So within about because there's no, it's very, quite rare, you know, the highlights the pharmaceutical industry , pharmaco industrial complex, they're not really motivated to financially invest in curing something that is only a few people have, right. So the cure for this one surgery. So within about really 10 days after finding that node, I was in surgery.

MG: What happened then? What did you learn?

JAMES MASKALYK: You know, it's funny. It's really just like experiencing sickness as a physician who promises to help others is just the most enlightening and humbling thing. Right. It's like kind of like coming out as human, you know, that's what happened to me. It's like, I thought, somewhat vaguely humiliating because I thought well I knew all the stuff. I knew, I learned in school how to how to how to prevent these types of things. And now and I'm just human after all. You know, you kind of get a sneaking suspicion, you're going to make it out OK. You're going to be the one who defies the truth that this is always has been a return trip ticket. Always has been a return trip ticket. So, you know, I went into that operation and I really have this empathy for the patients who had to be there at the same, you know, endure the same thing. It's very isolating. My brother couldn't come with me. He flew out from Alberta to be with me. He couldn't come in. No one could visit me in the hospital. Everyone's walking around in shields and masks and me, too, you know, it seemed almost impersonal. And so I had this, you know, very, very meticulous and long operation to remove as much of the cancer as they could. And, you know, the margins came back. It was on my laryngeal nerve, the nerve that gives me my ability for us to have this conversation. It was adhered to it and the pathology came back. When they sent it to the pathologists, the margins were 0.1 millimetres. 0.1 millimetres. That's how close that cancer was to that nerve. So, you know, it has just been a lot of, you know, unanticipated emotional work. But I'm just, what's emerged is not just this fear that, you know, sure I have it. You know, I feel like I have a lot more life to live and a lot more to give, but just this absolute conviction of reverence that the world in reality and biology is firmly on my side. But on March, May 29th, in the universe in the form of an EMT surgeon reached deep into my neck when it heard about this sickness and tried to cut this away because those cells are not continent with whatever the purposes of this experience, we have a living. So I know that to be true. And I know that to be true, that people right now in St. Mike's and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and all over the world are going to work as frontline workers and putting masks on and helping people who they're afraid to have COVID. And that's the nature of nature. And I know it's hard to endure, but it never became so clear to me as when I had to go through this.

MG: This is a Stage 4 cancer?

JAMES MASKALYK: Yeah, they call it Stage 4 cancer. And that spreads to my lymph nodes, so you know where to from, there is anybody's guess. And, you know, I'm getting another biopsy today, so if they can take it out, then, you know, hey, I'm cured. The other tpossibility is that I find a symbiosis with these cells such that I give them something about what they need. So, you know, the presumption, again, that they were only ever trying to help me out. And so, you know, they lost a certain wisdom that the they're not supposed to be immortal, but they made a mistake. So I don't want to internalize that conflict and, you know, that's where it's possible to align my energies such that I am able to use as much of it as possible towards healing, but also, you know, quell the dissonance of these cells, such unable to live along and actually healthy life, despite this mistake that they made.

MG: Tell me about healing. When you and I know this just from following you on social media, when you got this diagnosis, you've been working on your next book called Doctor Heal Thyself, which is I mean, your handle on Instagram. And it's been like that for a long time. What does that mean, that phrase, doctor heal thyself, given what you've gone through in the last few months?

JAMES MASKALYK: Well, certainly my theme that seems to run through my books is hubris now, isn't it? You know, I called my editor when I got this diagnosis. They said, you know, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first? And she said, well the good. I said, well, my title makes a lot more sense now. And the bad news is, I don't know if I can do it. But you know guess what, I can because, you know, the arc of that book was, you know, in this book, it's like I travelled the world as much as I could before COVID talking to people who've dedicated their lives towards healing, helping others in different wisdom traditions. Right. Like Chinese medicine person, our First Nations. And just experiencing the medicine as a patient kind of humbling myself and saying, you know, I don't know. Actually, I don't know. Even medicine doesn't know so much. And just wanted to see where they all overlap and they overlap in this place that you know, I've always been drawn. What is that thing that can heal even on our deathbed? Even in the face of sickness or in the face of cancer? And for lack of a better word, it's like spirit. Right? you know, it's almost it's almost like an epithet these days, like New Age, you know. But that's the healing process. It's just a more complex idea of something that includes the mind and the body and include the community and ecology. And in fact, I would say that's how we're actually living our life, you know, and I was inspired to start this book and go in that direction because I saw that life expectancy was actually declining despite the innovation, despite the precision medicine and cancer vaccines and all this stuff he was actually declining even before COVID because people were killing themselves with drugs and alcohol, fentanyl and alcohol and you know, suicide. So what was hurt? The body was OK. It seemed to be OK. In fact, the body was just trying to endure this insult and this assault from outside. But so what is that thing? And that's where you tangle up against the things like grief and hope, all those things that really unify us in a human experience.

MG: You spent part of the summer in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Tell me about the healing centres that you went to there and what you took from those experiences.

JAMES MASKALYK: Yeah. You know, Turtle Lodge was in Manitoba. I'm really just so enchanted with what they're doing there. And it's this I guess I would say a spiritual epicentre for First Nations. And I was a fly on the wall during a meeting and the elders who came across the country as much as they could, you know, I think it was as much smaller meeting because of COVID, so some people weren't able to travel. But just listening to the rhythm of this wisdom that has been happening for, you know, thousands of years, right, as they got together as communities and talked about what was troubling their people and what was bothering them, you know, in their own minds. And hearing these themes emerge that in my, you know, in my view is really the cure for COVID. I mean, yeah sure a vaccine is great. You know, I think we all are waiting for one. But the actual cure is to stop the the the damage that we're doing to our own selves and our own ecosystem by kind of ceremonializing our lives. So we are able to actually deliver more spiritual life until every act that we're doing is conscious and we are in harmony with the environment that surrounds us, rather than using it as fast as we can to get to the next thing. So just the and the way that they helped me hold grief, you know, because you so well know and we're just only still scratching the surface of the pain that these communities have held for generations as they were had, you know, their system of belief kind of stripped away systematically. So, you know, having that, people say, you know, when I talk about my mom passing away, saying, you know, she's got everything she needs. You know, don't worry about her. She's got everything she needs. And the tears you're crying there, 10,000 years old. And just that this community. I didn't. And they welcomed me so effortlessly. I was just really humbled.

MG: And did that help in what, I mean, part of it is about your mom, but you also get this diagnosis that, you know, you're 47-years-old. I mean, life is in front of you in some ways. Did that perspective help you wrap your head around what you were going through yourself?

JAMES MASKALYK: Yeah. You know, as I was struggling with it with this guy, Dave, who's, you know, the knowledge keeper at Turtle Lodge, he said, you know, it seems like you got more life to live, like, you've got a strong spirit. But whenever it's your time and it's always going to be your time at sometime, right, no one's escaping that, you'll only get asked one question when you leave. Did you bring love into the world? And if you did, you've done it, you've done the work. And so there's this, oh yeah I'm just this little thing. Part of a much bigger thing. And if feels differently, sometimes it feels some ways like it's very much about me, but this is this process, the progress of insight and the spirit is this incessant ruling thing that I'm just get to be witness to.

MG: Do you see a dissonance between what you do, the training that you have, the practice that you have in Western medicine and I mean, what you do in the emergency department? And you've written about this, that those moments where somebody comes in on an air ambulance and you have to apply the rigours of Western medicine in a heartbeat to keep this person's heart beating. Do you see a dissonance between that and more traditional or alternative ways of healing.

JAMES MASKALYK: In some ways I do. And I think it's mostly just a lack of time. A lack of time and a lack of training. You know people come into the E.R. and you'll probably go there at any moment and there will be a line, waiting line of people who are actually quite anxious to leave. You know, they want to be seen now and they want to get out. And so you have this, you're dealing with the anxiety of the people in the waiting room, almost in the way, so you shortchange the person in front of you sometimes. You can't help it. You just feel like pressure, right. But when I see a person see who comes in, who's been drinking too much, I can tell and they're in alcohol withdrawal, to get them out of the situation, I can write them a prescription for Valium and say, just take this instead of the booze, it will help you get rid of the shakes and allow you to sleep, but I haven't really helped them out. I haven't said, you know, I need you, how can we get you to a place where you don't feel you need to drink so much? You don't need to annesthesize the little boy or little girl inside of you, what happened when you were a little boy or a little girl? Tell me about your dad, tell me about your mom or whatever it is. And, you know, it takes time to uncover and time to reveal. So I hope that that's the growth for us. Like, I hope that this COVID thing, which is just you know training, I think is for what's essential. Right. I hope more and more people are able to enter this type of field and realize that once they're well and know wellness is they're able to help other people and were able to give give more time those of us who are hurt and we all get hurt. We're all go through, you know, the cyclicals, you know, healing and hurt, you know, back and forth like that. So I do think that there's a lack of a time sometimes that's priced out of the system. Something is not as found as strongly in in the Western tradition as it is in others.

MG: How is that changed? And I know you aren't able to work in the E.R. right now, but being a patient, how has that changed how you see your role as a physician? Because you've gone from physician to patient, and that's a profound change.

JAMES MASKALYK: Well, you know, as you work in, I don't think I'm ever going to leave the attitude that we're actually here to uncover the beautiful world that is actually inside this one. And we do that by growing in our understanding that we're, the notion of our family can only ever increase to include vulnerable people no matter where they are. Like, I just believe that is true. And that's in the future. That is what is coming our way. And you can see more and more of it every day. I just want to see as much of it as I can before it's my time to go. So I'm never going to stop wanting to reach out to that in a particular way, in an individual way. I just don't know if the insults of the emergency department, I can endure them right now while I'm in this kind of healing phase.

MG: Do you miss it?

JAMES MASKALYK: I miss, yeah, I do. I miss my friends in the E.R. and miss the chance to make someone who's afraid laugh and make them feel like the world makes sense a little bit. That, I got it. You know, I got them and I'll help them. Andthat part I miss a lot.

MG: When you when you get that sort of care from somebody on the on the other side of the gurney, again, like what does it teach you about what what those patients are looking for? You say that you're able to kind of make somebody laugh, who's afraid? I'm assuming that there's some fear in what you're facing as well. And so what have you taken from that in terms of what you can offer when you get back to the ER, what you can offer to those patients?

JAMES MASKALYK: You know, it's interesting. It's like when you get the sickness or the sickness, I'm like, no one cares about this as much as me. You know, it's not because they they're uncaring, it's just because it's impossible. How can anyone care about it as much as me? So all I guess what I can say now to my patients, my future patients, is I know what it's like. I know what it's like. And yet and yet I'm here. And yet all these people are here. You know, we're, you're not alone. I know it can feel that way. And especially when you're facing the existential dread of of death. You can feel you're alone, but you're not. You're part of something that's much bigger. And I think that that, what I was referring to, caring for vulnerable people, no matter where they are is that there's a sense of safety that you can be healing. That's the thing that once, I think once you feel that, that's what can looking to be healed on your deathbed is that you're going to be held in a way that your pain will be held, your suffering and that is a real relief that you know morphine can never bring.

MG: One of the things that you wrote about it again when you were right on the front lines of the COVID fight was that you're your greatest fear is that once we get through this, that will just go back to business as usual. Tell me more about that. What are you worried about when we get to the other side of all of this?

JAMES MASKALYK: Yeah, I think, you know, I think that we're just all of us as a society and people are wrestling with this tremendous cognitive load right now of eight billion people. And you could understand it, you satirically, but now you're feeling it. You're feeling the difficulties that are upon us and it's people say, oh, someone you know, we made these problems. And I'm like, no, we didn't make them, they just occurred. But they're ours now. So, you know, one of the ones that I think is dangerous is that like just a growing economy is the most important thing that it needs to be growing exponentially. But that sounds like the cancer in my body. OK. That doesn't, that's not consonant with the with the principles of liveness. Like equilibrium is a growth of reverence and gratitude and humility. And I'll coming back to thatceremonialization of our lives that can occur. That's the kind of growth that I think will help us stabilize this and find a better balance, so we're able to be more deeper versions of the people we actually are, which is what I think the point of this place actually is. So if it's just we rev up the economy and rev things that, you know, and still wilderness starts to disappear in the rainforest, which is our only remaining pharmacy, it's our only remaining pharmacy, if we continue to destroy that for, you know, just because it's we have our appetite is uncontrollable, then I'm kind of worried about who we are. But I don't think that's what will occur. I don't think that will occur. This is a time, this is the most important time in my view and in human history, you know, as far as I can tell, because we have all the stuff. All this stuff can make this happen and all the stuff to endure, and the question is, will we learn the lesson?

MG: Are you always like do you ever get angry about the situation that you find yourself in? You have a way of being it and it's through your practice, but also just the writing that you do of being really philosophical and being calm, as I said earlier on. Do you ever get angry about the cards that came out of the deck?

JAMES MASKALYK: For me, no. I mean about this? No, no, not angry. I didn't go through that. You know, I was, I did the arithmetic yesterday. My body's had experienced mitosis, 340 trillion times, more or less with single cell. Whatever that single cell that happened when mym mom and my dad happened came together has 340 trillion times has repeated itself. And the one mistake. One mistake. And I think about, well, if my body is just made of stuff that isn't my body, the food I put in it, the relationships I have with my neighbourhood and the air that I breathe. You know how can the same integrity not be present in all the other aspects of my life as well too? So is the universe actually on my side? I think it is. I think it is. It's on all of our sides. And so I just I guess the feeling that I feel more often is like reverence to that, the unknowable thing. Gratitude to be here at all. To meet the people that I have. And, you know, because I'm being kind of asked to leave. Well, no I'm being asked to face the question of leaving is I'm a bit sad cause it's so pretty. And, you know, you look in the human iris and you see all these little pulleys of muscles and the flecks of brown and a blue eye and it accommodates the light, like, instantly and you're just gobsmacked b the beauty of the world. So I think, like, the Japanese have a term for it, I don't know if I pronounce that right. But it's like wistfulness at the ephemerality of things. So that wistfulness, sure.

MG: Do you think differently about time? We're almost out of time for our conversation, but do you think differently about time now?

JAMES MASKALYK: I mean, there's only, yeah. I mean, there's only ever this moment and that you're being asked the question to, you know, how can you love, how can you let love through you as truly as possible? And you know, when my mind yawds back and forth between past and present, I mean I can get fearful or worried or regretful, but when I'm when I'm in the moment, I feel everything is all right, which is intended to cue the song, which is by Angel Olsen, if that's still on order. But that's when I feel that everything's going to be all right.

CC: Dr. James Maskalyk was speaking to Matt Galloway in October. Since then, he has returned to work. He is doing virtual Emergency Room consulting. And on Monday, January 4th, Matt will be a hosting a virtual, radio gathering to ring in 2021, and James will be one of the guests, doing something he loves to do when he's not on the frontline. He will be the DJ. In that spirit, here's that song James just requested. Here's - Angel Olsen, with All Right Now.

SOUNDCLIP

[Song]

The Current Transcript for December 31, 2020

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

Front-line workers say they shouldn't be forgotten as pandemic continues

Stories of joy from our listeners

James Maskalyk's journey from doctor to patient

Thursday December 31, 2020 Full Transcript

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