Welcome to PhylPhacts!

Hello All, Well, my team did not win the Super Bowl. Though I have to give props to Patrick Mahomes; he threw potentially catchable balls from the wildest positions ever! I have to give praise to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they came to win! The defensive line played the best I have seen them play – and Tom Brady was on point! I always hope for a close game, so though the game was not quite “super”, there were some incredibly “super” moments. That flyover was spectacular! It was the first of its kind with three different Air Force bombers, a trifecta! The B-52 flew in from the Minot Air…

Hello All, I love starting the blog with feel good stories! Covid 19 is a lonely disease – quarantine, isolation – and loneliness exists whether one is in the hospital or not. In fact, one of the cruelest things – and especially in the hospital setting – is the isolation from loved ones. So kudos to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan! Sparrow Hospital is a 733-bed teaching hospital. They have designed a way for each Covid patient to have at least one in-person visitor for one hour! One of their chief physicians noted that they wanted to help; they wanted to connect the patients in person with their family for…

Hello All, I was in the need for some more good news this week, so I thought you might be too! So I decided to write about people who are doing exceptional work, making people smile and making a difference! They are my heroes! Flavaine Carvahlo is the restaurant manager at Mrs. Potato Restaurant in Orlando. She recognized that a young boy had visible signs of abuse, and though his family was eating, he wasn’t allowed to eat.  She wrote a note that said “Do you need help?” and showed it to him in a way that only he could see it. He nodded yes. Ms. Carvahlo called the police.…

Hello All, I love inaugurations. By the time inauguration day occurs, it doesn’t matter who is inaugurated – I have usually gotten over being happy or sad by the end of the previous November! What is so special to me is that this is so uniquely American. It is majestic and soothing. It is a day that is hopeful and prayerful. It is a day that is both full of reflection and forward-focused. It is a day where I am so proud to be an American. (And I usually cry!) It is also a day steeped in history. Presidents have been inaugurated starting with George Washington. And like everything else in life,…

Hello All, Well, 2021 has not started out as I hoped. Our country remains tense – the pandemic is just relentless. We are tired. We are wary. I decided that the blog I was going to post this week could wait another week. One of my favorite authors Charlie Mackesy, who wrote “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse”, posted in Instagram the following, using his characters: “‘What do we do when our hearts hurt?’ asked the boy. “We wrap them with friendship, shared tears and time, till they wake hopeful and happy again.'” So I thought I would wrap our hearts with joy and good news this week. Or as Willie Giest…

Hello All, I wrote this week’s blog last weekend. I was ready to go on Thursday night – being productive! And then the events of Wednesday occurred. So I will hold onto the blog I had scheduled for this week for next week. In my heart, I knew I needed to write something very different this week. My cell phone started to buzz repeatedly on Wednesday afternoon, to the point where I actually had to stop and check it out. I watched with a very heavy heart and a horrified mind the news of the riots and the storming of our congressional chambers. I watched as people huddled in fear,…

Hello All, The ball just dropped in Times Square  – 2021 has arrived! Auld Lang Syne has been sung. Bob is in the bed asleep with Gene, who is softly purring. George, Geoffrey and I were sitting on the couch and celebrated…..very quietly! We were glad to see the end of 2020! I have to start this with my favorite feel good story of the week. Have you heard of “Taco Bell Joe”? 70-year old Joe DeCicco is a Taco Bell employee in South Daytona, Florida. He has worked at the drive-through window for over 20 years. He is so loved by his customers. He calls his customers his friends, remembers them…

Hello All, It is oh-dark-thirty as I write this. There are only a few creatures stirring in this house! George, because it is his new favorite time of the day to wake me up……Geoffrey, because he follows George’s lead…..and me! Bob and Gene, smart man and cat, are still sleeping. There is something peaceful about sitting in the dark with just the twinkling of the Christmas lights wrapped around the banister of the staircase. The only sounds are the heat as it cycles on and off, and George purring because his mission to get mom up was successful. I am sure I am not alone across the globe as many moms and dads are…

Hello All, Someone asked me how I planned the topics for my blog. Well, the truth is my blogs are probably more spontaneous than planned. Sometimes someone has asked me a leadership question that starts me on a path. Sometimes it an event or a news story. Sometimes it is a picture or a meme. Sometimes it is a topic that I wanted to research. Sometimes it is a quote – and you know I love a good quote! Sometimes I get inspired and write three blogs in a week – and sometimes it is a Thursday blitz. And sometimes I don’t have a clue until I start to type! (I hope…

Hello All, I don’t know if you have seen this picture, but if you have not, please look it up online. I tear up every time I see it.  On Thanksgiving Day, a photographer captured Dr. Joseph Varon, completely dressed in his personal protective equipment, embracing and comforting his elderly patient in the Covid-19 ICU at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. Dr. Varon is the chief of staff at the hospital. At that time, it was his 252nd day at work! He told Good Morning America: “He (the patient) was very sad because he’s in a room where he knows nobody. We come in dressed like astronauts, and even though…