Greetings, Everyone!

Amidst all of the formal reports with specific recommendations and links to reputable sources, I just wanted to send out a friendly "just checking in" letter, where I don't need a group of colleagues reviewing every word to make sure everything is "appropriate" and getting everyone's approval before sending something out. As important as that is and as much as I truly value and respect the opinions and suggestions of our Executive Council members, it's nice to just write informally.

To anyone that may be dissatisfied with my leadership, I understand and respect your perspective. However, what you see from the bottom looking up is drastically different than what we, as leaders, see from the top looking down. As many DSDS presidents before me have said, it can be lonely at the top. Fortunately, that has not really been the case this past year. Has it been, at times, stressful? Yes. But, lonely? No. I have always recognized and appreciated how fortunate we are as DSDS members to be included in such a cohesive, tight-knit community. We need to celebrate that privilege now more than ever. I want to especially recognize the efforts of Dr. Joe Kelly, who has been relentless with staying on top of the endless emails flooding our inboxes over the last few weeks. I feel like we have been co-presidents this past year, since his guidance and support have been instrumental in all of our efforts. We should all be grateful that we have Betty and Patti on our team, who have been working tirelessly through all of this, making themselves available 24/7 for various forms of communication. We also need to thank Anne Farley, our lobbyist, who has guided us legislatively and helped us navigate waters that we are not all familiar with, especially over these last few weeks.

We, as healthcare providers, business owners and family members, approach this global crisis in many different ways. Some of us are in panic mode, paralyzed by its potential devastation. Some of us are in denial, completely underestimating the severity of the situation. And, hopefully, most of us are where I feel we need to be: understanding the gravity of the situation, following all recommendations from healthcare and government organizations, trying to keep ourselves, our families, our staff and our patients safe and healthy and most importantly, acknowledging and celebrating all the positive things that have come from this experience. Let's take advantage of the extra time we have with our children being out of school or college. Pull out the board games and puzzles and enjoy this extended family time. Let's go through our closets, drawers and cupboards and pull out everything we no longer use and donate it to the families that are struggling more than us during this difficult time. Get outside: enjoy the fresh air and get enough exercise to keep our bodies and minds healthy.

We will continue to update you frequently with what is going on locally and nationally with respect to COVID-19. We will continue to sift through our emails and disseminate all the information that we feel is both reliable and useful. We urge you to continue to visit reputable websites frequently: ADA.org/virus, CDC.gov, Delaware.gov, and of course, our website: delawarestatedentalsociety.org.

We will all get through this.

Sincerely,



Cathy Harris, DMD
DSDS President