My grandma Hilda Glandon was 26 years old during the 1918 Pandemic that swept across the globe and killed 50 million people worldwide. They called it the Spanish Flu, but it actually originated in the United States.

According to historians, one reason it was so deadly, our government decided to downplay it in deference to the war efforts.

 My grandma Hilda was 37 when the stock market crashed in 1929 which helped start the Great Depression.

But my Glandon Grandparents did not let the pandemic or the Great Depression discourage their vision of the American dream. When they were forced to leave their Montana homestead during the Depression, they made their way to California and built a successful business, the El Monte Laundry. 

I’m not one to believe God sends us disease, but I do believe how we respond to our challenges are a test. Texas’s Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick who suggests protecting our economy should take priority over protecting our elderly, has clearly failed the test, in my opinion. 

He also conveniently ignores the 25 million Americans with asthma, the 32 million Americans with diabetes, the 23 million Americans with autoimmune diseases, and children with cancer and countless others who are in the high risk group yet not necessarily those in the over sixty crowd. Not to mention all the other normally healthy people who might need to go to the hospital and find there simply is no room because the current pandemic has overwhelmed the system.

This is the time for pro-lifers to look in the mirror and ask yourselves, are you truly prolife? Are you only prolife when you are talking about a fetus another woman is forced to carry, or are you prolife in that you are willing to make sacrifices to help save lives of people living here and now?

What lessons do we want to teach our children? Sometimes the best lessons are those which cause discomfort and hardship.

Our friends know Don and I went through a bankruptcy about twenty years ago. We had put our hearts, soul, and all our money into the Coppermine Restaurant. (Now Tavern 95.) We designed the building, had it built, and worked our asses off. It was a double whammy for us, as my family lost Havasu Palms around the same time, and my mother had loaned the company all her money to fight the case in court, and although we won, the government decided it was not in the best interest of the Tribe to pay the settlement, which in essence left my mother—someone who had worked hard all her life—with nothing but her social security.  Although she did have one other thing, she had Don and me.  

Family. We stick together and we don’t consider tossing one under the bus to make it ‘easier’ on everyone else. 

And while those years were extremely painful—I still can’t walk into Tavern 95—when looking back I see those hardships were actually very good for our children, Scott and Elizabeth.

Don and I are extremely proud of both of them. They have always been hard workers, and as adults have made us immensely proud. 

My point being, I disagree with Dan Patrick’s assertion that he would willingly forfeit his life if it means a better economy for his grandkids. While I would without a doubt lay down my life for the lives of my children or grandchildren, when it comes to saving Wallstreet—no.  That is not a lesson I wish to teach my children.

I don’t know about Patrick’s grandkids, but I know my granddaughter would be utterly horrified at the thought her GG’s life might be forfeited so she could have it easier. (My 91 year old mother is GG.)

For those who insist we are a Christian nation yet agree with Patrick, I suggest it might be time to pull out your Bible and familiarize yourself with Jesus’s teachings. Since it is almost Easter, this might be a good time to do it.

Please, let’s listen to the scientists and doctors on this one to save lives. We can rebuild our economy later, but once a life is gone, there is no bringing it back.