Technically, I've been old for a long time. I retired from LA Unified School District on my birthday in 2004; I applied for Social Security at sixty-two and got my first check eleven years ago. Still, I ran (slowly and short distances), rode a bicycle, hiked and belonged to a gym.
I stopped the gym at the start of the pandemic and haven't tried to get back and I can't run at this point. Some days I can walk. I had an accident on my bicycle in May, like Joe Biden, Two friends, older than I, had more serious accidents on their bikes. In my case, I was getting off the bike to take a picture, and somehow a piece of metal that controls the height of the seat on the bike, went a half-inch into my leg. Of course it got infected, and at one point, while Joe and I were on vacation in Baltimore, my whole leg swelled up and was so painful I had to stop and sit down. I haven't been back on the bike since.
In August, just when we thought it was safe to go out again, Joe and I both came down with COVID. Our cases weren't as serious as most; we did not need to be hospitalized, and were up and about in a few days.
The big news this year was my run for United States Congress. I drove all over the District, twenty-seven counties in the Northern half of West Virginia, as much as 170 miles from home. I met a lot of good people, almost all of them Democrats.
A friend 's son works for the Center for Disease Control. They sent him to Pakistan for a time. I asked him how people reacted to a gay Jew in Pakistan. He said "They never got past American." I didn't get hassled about being Jewish or gay. The people never got past "Democrat."
I was hurt that my opponent's strategy was to say as little as possible, to not go anywhere in the District, to not acknowledge my existence. His whole primary pitch was "Donald Trump endorsed me." I guess that was enough. I represented Democrats in the state. Maybe there aren't enough of them to win a Congressional seat. I had a committee of women who were dedicated to the campaign and worked hard to help me get elected. I will be grateful forever to them.
I've been sick with my trademark sinus and bronchial infection since late October. This happens when I'm stressed or not resting enough. Nowadays I can sleep nine hours at night and maybe two one hour naps during the day. If I do my usual walk I'm sometimes out of breath walking uphill. The doctors at WVU told me I may have COPD, and they just called me from WVU Medicine yesterday to give me an appointment for emphysema. I was checked three times for COVID, flu, and RSV. Those tests are always negative.
I'm finding it difficult to be involved with anything. I met many good candidates across the northern part of the state; almost all of them lost to MAGA-affiliated Republicans. It's heartbreaking, and maybe my broken heart is as much a problem for me as the congestion in my airwaves and my fatigue.
I have to work on being healthier, whatever that takes, both physically and mentally. A politically involved friend called today to ask if the Democratic Party had asked me for help with future campaigns based on my experience as a Congressional candidate. I need to deal with my resentment that they have not, that the Democratic Party was uninterested in supporting my campaign and would be just as happy if I disappeared.
Running for office was the thrill of a lifetime, and I don't regret it. I knew going in that the physical and emotional stress could kill me. It didn't. I just feel like I aged ten years this year.
I hope 2023 will be better for everyone than 2022.
