{"id":116938,"date":"2021-06-22T18:43:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T18:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=116938"},"modified":"2021-06-22T18:43:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T18:43:08","slug":"emilys-life-began-the-day-california-opened-up-again-life-after-covid-looks-pretty-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/emilys-life-began-the-day-california-opened-up-again-life-after-covid-looks-pretty-great\/","title":{"rendered":"Emily’s life began the day California opened up again. Life after COVID looks pretty great."},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014<\/strong> Emily arrived on a day that many Americans, particularly those in California and New York, will long remember. It was memorialized with a boxcar headline atop the San Francisco Chronicle declaring: “WE\u2019RE OPEN.”\u00a0A banner headline in The New York Times termed the day \u201cMomentous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virtually all restrictions imposed by the pandemic were lifted in two of the states\u00a0among the hardest hit. Meanwhile, at mid-afternoon, Emily\u2019s life began in room 5312 of California Pacific Medical Center on Van Ness Avenue.<\/p>\n

Roughly 10,000 babies are born in the U.S. each day. What will Emily and the others think as they learn about the world they entered on June 15?<\/p>\n

Day for the history books<\/h2>\n

It was sunny and unusually warm in San Francisco. But deepening effects of climate change resulted in an ominous order from California officials that thousands of farms could no longer draw water from the state\u2019s rivers and creeks because there is not enough water to go around.<\/p>\n

Far away in Geneva, two of the most powerful men in the world, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, prepared to meet about a new and growing concern: cyber warfare. How the United States and Russia respond to this silent threat will likely affect the lives of generations to come.<\/p>\n

As COVID counting continued, the U.S. toll passed 600,000 deaths, highest in the world.<\/p>\n

Still, there was celebration at Universal Studios in Hollywood, where Gov. Gavin Newsom presided over the awarding of $1.5 million to each of 10 winners in California\u2019s vaccination lottery. \u201cWe\u2019re here because of your hard work,\u201d he said, standing in front of a poster with the message, \u201cVax for the Win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving birth in a pandemic: <\/strong>Love in the midst of death: Even as coronavirus rages, we have a reason to celebrate life<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed flashed a wide smile as she announced that her city\u2019s famed cable cars would soon roll again.<\/p>\n

On Van Ness Avenue, people were removing their masks. Inside the fifth-floor maternity unit, parents celebrated what they called \u201cIndependence Day\u201d \u2013 the occasion when \u201cnormal\u201d returned to their lives, just in time to mark the beginning of their babies\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

Wonderful to be alive<\/h2>\n

These infants were conceived last September when our nation was being strangled by the coronavirus and life was upside down. Businesses were shuttered. Folks sheltered. The promise of a vaccine was still months away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

USA TODAY’s Kelsey Bloom: <\/strong>Americans want more babies in their lives. Biden’s subsidized child care won’t help that.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Some thought that sheltering might result in a baby boom; in fact, in California just the opposite occurred. The state is expected to have 50,000 fewer births in 2021. Experts cite many factors for the decline but, during the height of the pandemic, it would seem that some couples were simply afraid to bring babies into this uncertain world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Peter Funt with his granddaughter, Emily, less than two hours after her birth in San Francisco. (Photo: Family handout)<\/span><\/p>\n

My grandparents survived world wars and the Depression. My parents lived through decades of civil unrest and the specter of nuclear holocaust, and my own generation discovered how seriously the environment is at risk. My kids lived through 9\/11 and witnessed the virtual collapse of our two-party political system, before the pandemic threatened their very existence.<\/p>\n

As I held Emily for the first time, less than two hours after my daughter Stephanie gave birth, I wondered about her future. I can only report this: Sunlight streamed into the room, bathing the baby and her proud parents.<\/p>\n

June 15 seemed like a wonderful day to be alive.<\/p>\n

Peter Funt,\u00a0a writer and host of \u201cCandid Camera,\u201d is working on a book called “Playing Potus,” about TV portrayals of sitting presidents. His memoir, “Self Amused,” will be published in July.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.<\/i><\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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