BAEC Bulletin | Summer 2021 | 5
Letter from the President Editor’s Note The President wrote this letter approximately a month before publication. While the Pandemic circumstances have worsened, the sentiment expressed remains valid.
As I reflect on the last 16 months, I am trying to make sense of this ordeal we have all experienced. Several years ago, I flew to Boston for the memorial service of a relative, Leslie. Leslie was 65 at the time of her death, and her last two years were marked by one debilitating illness after another, increasing incapacity, and hard-to-watch suffering. For the first 63 years of her life, Leslie had been vibrant and fun-loving. She enjoyed throwing parties, and she had a mischievous sense of humor. She loved playing golf and going to the beach. At her memorial service, I spoke in Leslie’s memory. I expressed my belief, developed over many years, that we have the ability to choose how we remember people. I said that I chose to remember the vibrant, fun, mischievous Leslie, rather than the sick, incapacitated, suffering Leslie. Of course, I acknowledged the agony she had endured in her last years. But I chose not to let those last years dominate my memories of her, to define Leslie as a person. I chose to focus on the positive impact of Leslie’s life. As we emerge from the Pandemic, I feel the same way. Many of us have had to endure tremendous suffering and hardship. Some have lost loved ones. Others have experienced life-threatening medical issues. Our practices suffered. We were prevented from seeing families and friends. We missed holidays, graduations, and celebrations. Many of us feel as if we put our lives on hold for over a year. I even know one young man whose job at Buffalo General Hospital involved holding the iPad as families who were not permitted to visit said goodbye to their dying loved ones. Instead of recounting these months of deprivation, however, I choose to focus on how we’ve responded to the Pandemic. I choose to praise our collective resilience. I choose to recognize the medical advances — perhaps especially the vaccines — that have enabled us to emerge. I choose to honor the frontline medical workers and care givers. Mostly, I choose to celebrate those unsung heroes among us who — day-by-day, step-by-step — just kept moving forward. I think of the people who arranged for us to work remotely, or should I say to work well remotely. I think of the people who kept our businesses, including the courts and government offices, open. I think of our young parents who worked full-time remotely, and who also essentially educated their children. I have a close colleague who was getting up every morning at 4:00 to work for several hours before her elementary school aged daughters rose. She would then
work for several hours again at night, after a full day of teaching and parenting, and after she tucked in the girls. I know that
Hugh M. Russ, III
her legal work did not suffer. And, she reports that the year with her children presented an opportunity for bonding she would never trade. In particular, we owe our thanks to two people who kept the Bar Association of Erie County running during this chaos, Executive Director Anne Noble and President Oliver Young. Their quiet, steady leadership enabled the Bar Association not just to survive but also to thrive during the Pandemic. My generation had never experienced anything resembling a Pandemic. I remember the weekly casualty counts reported on the national news during the Vietnam War. Obviously, I remember September 11 and its aftermath. The Pandemic was different. It affected all of us on a daily basis, in our own homes, in our places of work. We were all called to respond. In a speech to the House of Commons, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, after France had fallen to the Nazis, after 300,000 British soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk, and as the invasion of the United Kingdom appeared imminent, spoke not of the considerable disaster that had befallen the troops. Nor did he speak of the grim prospects that faced the country. Instead, he spoke of the heroic efforts they had made in response, saying, “This was their finest hour.” I prefer to remember of our response to the Pandemic as our finest hour. Lastly, I’d like to thank Hon. Frank P. Geraci, Jr., for the great work he did as Chief United States District Judge and Hon. Paula L. Feroleto for an outstanding job as Administrative Judge of the 8 th Judicial District. Please join me in welcoming Hon. Elizabeth A. Wolford as the new Chief United States District Judge and Hon. Kevin M. Carter, our new 8th JD Administrative Judge.
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