By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, our little TBE gang will have gathered at Jack’s house, wearing masks; at least one of us will phone in. At Jack’s we will do our best to social distance around the kitchen table. At some point, we will indulge in some home-baked goods, provided by June, Jack’s better half, and then we will catch up, rib each other, and settle in for our discussion of the week ahead. 

This time around we cover sports—Mike is an unstoppable force with sports and he will have a bunch of stuff; we cover how to cover local politics, even if we might not be there yet; we cover our schools, from what is happening with Memorial Boulevard as well as Edgewood, and of course, what it was like growing up with neighborhood schools. 

We start around 10 a.m. and don’t adjourn until close to 1 p.m. We might have, easily, gone on longer. But we know we will meet again next week. 

We have plans for TBE. And as we unfold them, we hope you are around to watch and read and support our efforts. Primarily, we like the idea of being a community newspaper, of having a bias for the local, of having a bias for democracy, of having our little enterprise operate in a democratic manner with the people who are involved in it making the decisions–not some outside entity.

And we talk about how to be as transparent as possible with our news gathering processes, often taking the time to present our methods and even going behind the scenes to inform our readers. More about this as we proceed. 

As for current events, especially over the last two weeks: one word, historical. In the end, we have a new president, along with slight shift in the political landscape, at least nationally. The thing that stays with me is simply that over the past couple of years, it has been difficult to find a baseline, a common point from which to gain perspective, solid ground to get a footing. Things may be shifting here, too.

It’s no secret that people are hurting, that there is a lot of hurt out there, a lot of pain. And it is no secret that hurting people, well, they hurt and when they hurt they want relief. Oftentimes relief comes in a form that belies reason, that doesn’t always make sense. We are only human, after all. 

I am reminded of the epidemic of drugs, which has haunted my own family of origin, and which continues to haunt us. Lots of people on drugs turn to drugs to relieve themselves of the pain they are in. Doing that doesn’t make sense, unless the only goal is to relieve the pain. Asking someone seeking a fix to consider the long-term, well, it is not going to happen. A hurting person needs to look beyond the immediate need to gain perspective—and then, only perhaps, that will do the trick, and healing might follow. 

But as with addiction, healing means staying alert, doing the work, making good decisions, keeping healthy. Maybe there is an analogy here for what has been happening in the country. Maybe not. 

The inauguration caused a flurry of texts among the kids and Mary and me—lots of emotions, even to the point of getting choked up as the first woman, and a woman of color, took her oath of office; as the new president took his; as the first youth poet laurate read her verses in that stunning yellow coat. 

Locally, the city council met; city committees continued to meet—committees with their many volunteers; Public Works considered plans for an attractive new bridge at the end of the boulevard–a plan where architects have included some very nice Bristol-centric elements, such as clocks; work continues on Memorial Boulevard school; and those new buildings going up on Main St are looking better and better. 

Also, on Main St., it was nice seeing cars parked along the curb outside Pint and Plate. We make progress, and as long as we stick to the protocols, we will be better for it. 

On a fun note—the third born, who is well on his way in the aerospace industry, has kept up his Pokeman hobby. Last week he was rated in the top 209 players in the world. That is a pretty remarkable accomplishment, and for me at least, reminds me that there is hope: we do what we can with what we are handed. 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings, and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism.