When disinformation profiteers leverage tragedies like Grant’s and Mr. Hamlin’s for their personal gain, they re-traumatize families, compromising our ability to interpret information and distinguish truth from lies and putting all of us at risk. The results of allowing this to continue will be disastrous. Merchants of disinformation argue that vaccines killed my husband, but they’re also at least in part responsible for the
return of polio to the United States and the fact that so many children in Ohio are suffering from
measles right now. A
recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that while most of the public still supports routine childhood vaccinations, significantly fewer people support requirements that children be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella than did just two years ago. In December, Congress repealed a Covid vaccine mandate for troops even though doing so
threatens military readiness and puts our nation’s security at risk.
I believe in karma. Even if it’s used against me as a threat. I believe that what we put out into the world shapes our experience of it. Karma is what brought Grant into my life. Karma is what sustained our marriage through trials, adversities and endless work pressures that demanded every piece of us. Karma is why Grant touched so many people’s lives. I was reminded of this at his memorial service in New York City, which was attended by several hundred people in person and many more on Zoom. Karma resulted in tributes in numerous publications, on social media and in private messages.