Time to see if I can really go home again

NCPR: Medicaid cuts to have profound impact here; Stefanik denies there are cuts

May 23, 2025

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Six months ago, Sophie and I arrived in New Orleans after a week-long cross-country journey with my brother.

It was two days before Christmas and I later admitted I was running away from home, from the Christmas my wife once made so extraordinarily special, from being alone in a house that was suddenly big, empty and too quiet.

The penguins didn’t really fit in my small condo, but they made me smile.

The day after I arrived in New Orleans, I stopped by Home Depot and purchased an eight-foot tall lighted totem pole of penguins because, well, it made me smile.

I needed to smile because I dreaded the holiday that was once the cornerstone of my world.

Maybe, I was drawing a line in the sand between the past and the present, making a commitment to moving forward and starting a new life because it was a necessity.

Gillian passed away on Aug. 21 and the next three months are a blur of reorganizing my life, and then slowly moving toward a sequel in a far-away city to be closer to my son.

My son first suggested the move.

I balked.

But I did help him move into a new condo last fall, then supervised the renovation of his bathroom in his old place to enhance the resale value. It turned out so well, I reconsidered my son's suggestion.

I loaded a pod to ship to Louisiana.

Moved in over Thanksgiving.

And made the cross country trip, not so much to celebrate Christmas, but to begin a new chapter. Christmas was just something to endure.

After the move, after writing about what was happening with me, I promised to check in and let you know how I was doing. I apologize for not doing that more, but honestly, I was too busy.

There was this column to write three times a week and after Trump was inaugurated I was moved to write more often, to speak out about what was happening to my country.

Then came a reading of my play The Last American Newspaper at The Capital Rep in Albany, and wow, not only did people seem to like it, the words seemed to resonate. The writing continues and there was so much interest in the three plays at the Adirondack Theater Festival this summer, a fourth was just added, so if you are curious get your tickets soon.

I saw the fleur de lis drop in Jackson Square on New Year's Eve, took a stroll down Bourbon Street and learned the next morning a mad man and killed a 14 people there hours after I left.

And then came Mardi Gras, this month-long community gathering of parades and music where the entire city seems to revolve around merriment and joy.

Oh, the things I saw.

One afternoon, I took a ferry to Algiers, an African-American community across the river, where I saw a Marine Corps jazz band boogie and dance right alongside the spectators.

And the food, oh my the food.

I tell everyone that if I ranked my 10 greatest meals of all time, eight of them would be in New Orleans.

I took in NBA basketball at the Smoothie King Center where they ran out of smoothies during one game. In retrospect, it seems par for the course for a Pelicans' team in the running for worst in professional basketball.

New Orleans hosted the Super Bowl and I reveled in Tulane's basketball team and its old basketball barn on campus.

And for someone that loves baseball, I was overjoyed that Tulane's baseball season started in the middle of February. I became a regular.

There was the New Orleans Book Festival where I got to talk to Bob Woodward and hear an array of speakers unparalleled to anything I had previously seen.

There was a Shakespeare festival at Tulane, comedy shows by Kevin Hart and Taylor Tomlinson and my fourth viewing of Hamilton at the Saenger Theatre, the gorgeous downtown venue.

The National World War II Museum - where my son works - is one of the most extraordinary history museums in the world. I've seen authors talk about their latest books, curators explain their exhibits and one February evening took in a documentary film about Japanese-Americans internment in what turned out to be a very special evening, but that's for another time.

When I left in December, I had my mail forwarded to New Orleans with a restart date of March 31.

The mail returned, but I did not.

I was still here on April 30, too.

Folks asked when I was coming back, or if I was coming back?

I didn't have an answer.

Talking to my friend Glenn in Queensbury, he lamented there was nothing to do.

I argued there was plenty to do, but we had already done it all.

That was not the case for me this winter.

Joseph took me to my very first Mardi Gras ball. It was a night I will never forget.

When I wasn't being entertained by this vibrant city, my son and I - he lives across the street - would have dinner together, or watch TV at night. Sometimes he invited me to join him at a local pub after work.

We've gotten closer because we're going through this together. So, this past week as I prepared to embark on the return cross country journey, I admit to feeling unsettled. Part of it is leaving my son, but I feel like I'm leaving the new life I've carved out here.

Sophie seems to have adjusted to her life as a city dog and lounging by the pool.

Four or five times a day, Sophie and I explore another corner of the Warehouse District where convention-goers often stop and ask if they can pet her because they miss their puppies back home.

We always oblige.

And while we did have a freak 10-inch snowstorm in January, I found I did not miss the cold, the snow or lugging wood to feed the porch stove.

By February, the weather here was balmy for our walks, but heat has descended the past couple weeks leaving Sophie panting and me perspiring. Summer in New Orleans is not for human consumption. The hurricane forecast for this summer was scheduled for New Orleans this morning. It's another reason to begin the journey to see if you can go home again.

My brother flew in this week and we loaded the car this morning. First stop is Mobile, Alabama to show my brother the cathedral where my parents were married in 1956.

Stops in Atlanta, Charleston, S.C., the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Philadelphia will follow. I suspect you will be reading about our travels in the week to come.

So how am I doing?

I'm seeing my son on a daily basis for the first time since he left for college a decade ago.

I've found this big city to be dirty and smelly, but more often than not exciting and fascinating. I've never felt unsafe.

My Home Depot has a view of the Superdome.

My supermarket overlooks container ships being loaded on the Mississippi.

I can walk to the mall, the movie theater and take the streetcar to Tulane.

I don't cry nearly as much, but the memories return at unexpected times, but don't seem to last as long.

But overall, I am smiling again.

Daily life is stimulating.

The future holds promise, and although there is some dread about returning home, summer in upstate New York is pleasant and the Belmont and Saratoga await upon my return.

Oh, and there is this new playwright showing off his work in July.

Sure, I worry it will be too quiet.

That there will be too many memories.

But I don't feel like the same person I was six months ago.

Life goes on.

We evolve.

And if we are fortunate, we look forward and embrace what's next.

Some Medicaid stats

North Country Public Radio reported some startling statistics about how proposed Medicaid cuts will affect the North Country.

It reported that 28 percent of residents in the 21st Congressional District are on Medicaid.

North County healthcare unions held a rally in Plattsburgh saying the cuts would affect a lot of services and called on Rep. Elise Stefanik to stop the GOP cuts.

NCPR reported that a Stefanik spokesperson responded, "There are no cuts to Medicaid" which disputes every other bit of reporting on the subject.

Dr. John Rugge, who founded Hudson Headwaters in the North Country, has formed a new group called the "Healthycare Coalition for the North Country" and is made up of doctors, healtcare providers and community leaders. Ithopes to raise awareness about how integral Medicaid is to the Northern New York healthcare system.

NCPR reports that "The coalition estimates that current Republican budget plans would take away coverage from about 50,000 people in NY-21, make care more expensive, and destabilize health centers and clinics across the region."

But Rep. Stefanik says it is not happening. Every voter should remember that statement.

Disaster relief

For the mostly red states that experience tornadoes and hurricanes, the future of diaaster relief will be a major concern.

After tornadoes unleashed death and destructin across three states this past weekend, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley questioned HOmeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about why FEMA had not responded to the disaster in his state of Missouri.

“The state has pending three requests for major disaster declarations from earlier storms,” Hawley told Noem. “We’ve lost almost 20 people now in major storms just in the last two months in Missouri.

“We are desperate for… assistance in Missouri,” he said.

The Front Page - Upstate New York

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