This last week has been quite a week for me … a double whammy of anxiety.

There were the US elections that seemed to be a question of life and death for democracy — and then another struggle, one of life and death itself.

My anxiety rose to heights that I hadn’t experienced for decades, as if I were again facing final exams in medicine.

I prayed to the gods that promote science, common decency, truth and intelligence that good would prevail over evil after the nightmare of the past four years. And I prayed for final peace for my mother after the horror of the last four months since her fractured hip.