Director’s Corner

Fellowship Nominations Due for ACD 2021 January 15, 2021

Scholarship Applications and National Award Nominations Due March 1, 2021

Section Awards and Model Section Designation Applications Due March 1, 2021

Nominations for Board of Regents—Regencies 6 and 7, Vice President and President-elect Due March 1, 2021

News of Fellows and News of Sections Submissions to ACD News, Spring Issue, Due April 1, 2021

ACD Executive Offi ce Relocates to Rockville Summer, 2021

ACD 2021 Annual Meeting and Convocation October 13 - 14, 2021

CONTACT ACD News is published by American College of Dentists 839-J Quince Orchard Boulevard Gaithersburg, MD 20878-1614 301.977.3223 | 888.ACD.1920 301-977-3330 fax offi ce@acd.org | www.acd.org EDITOR Theresa S. Gonzales, DMD, MS, MSS PUBLICATION MANAGER Suzan Pitman Periodicals postage paid at Frederick, MD Send address changes to: ACD News 839-J Quince Orchard Boulevard Gaithersburg, MD 20878-1614 or e-mail offi ce@acd.org

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Dr. Theresa Gonzales

As I draft this message, the corona virus pandemic rages on with increased morbidity and mortality and at the same time, the United States is barreling toward another infl ection point—a holiday season dictated by the calendar and demanded by tradition. Legendary writer and adopted native son of Rockville, F. Scott Fitzgerald, opined that “life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” Indeed, the traditional holiday gatherings are upon us.

Holidays usually mean gathering with friends and extended family, attending parties, hosting dinners, traveling, and celebrating timehonored customs. Most holiday activities promote congregating and mixing of households, which increase the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Gathering with others— probably the most universal holiday tradition—has never required so much meticulous forethought.

Respiratory viruses thrive in dry, warm indoor conditions in which people crowd together. The statistical peak of fl u season typically comes close on the heels of the holiday observances. Colder weather is already driving people indoors at a time when some degree of COVID fatigue has set in. This makes planning much more challenging.

I am under no illusion that the holidays will resemble the holidays I have known; but they are the holidays we have. Having lost so many citizens of the global village to the pandemic, I am appreciative of the holidays in whatever form they might take. It is said that there is something about tragedy that has the potential to “awaken our better angels.” I have resolved to take better care of my family, my friends and my community and to give back in ways that often get lost in the self-imposed, frenetic rituals of my customary holiday celebrations. So many people need help and people need hope and people need each other. With this in mind, I am fi nding the people I can help without putting them at risk in doing so. This will require thinking about the holidays in previously unimagined ways and will require trying a very different and deliberate approach.

Technology will enable the camaraderie and we will share family recipes and heavily photoshopped images of the fi nished products. We will share stories of past glories and previous winter gatherings. An unexpected silver lining is that this year, I will not have to worry about my family members being on the road or delayed in airports trying to make it home for the holidays. Helen Keller reminds us that “the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” This year’s struggles have challenged all of us and forced us to engage creatively. Let’s unleash that creativity and add new meaning to the concept of home for the holidays.