Jim Baker

Nominations Open for the Tenth and Final Con Hogan Community Leadership Award vermontcf.org/our-impact/imp…

Farewell, Sen. Dick Mazza. You were the first senator I got to know. You called them as you saw them. You voted for civil unions when that was hard to do. Colleagues respected you. You were always a gentleman. Thank you. Farewell to a man who made #VT proud.

Congrats to MSK's most recent Awards and Appointments honorees, including Dr. Victoria Blinder, Dr. Michel Sadelain, Dr. Dennis Chi, our nursing staff members honored with the DAISY Team Award, and more: bit.ly/4dnDfzN

@ChiefBrooksNPD @TheIACP Bill your service has made a difference.

My last meeting w/ ⁦@TheIACP⁩ Board of Directors was today in Toronto. It’s been a great honor to serve and I will miss the work & the friends I’ve made.

Good luck to @VTStatePolice Trooper Michelle Archer, who’s up for a major international award in law enforcement — for her bravery which helped save a young child’s life! This is an interview and gripping body camera footage you’ll want to watch ⬇️ mynbc5.com/article/vermon…

Celebrating health care heroes - Good Morning America ⁦@MSKCancerCenter⁩ what a story of dedication to compassionate care.Listen to the interviews and you will hear a culture of empathy, care and service. Thank you and congrats on the gift 👇🏻this goodmorningamerica.com/Living/video/c…

MSK team especially @cywilkinsmd thank you for your dedication bending the curve on cancer- greatly appreciated.

So pleased to see @OJPgov launch the #ViolentCrimeReduction Roadmap as a one-stop-shop to assist local jurisdictions in developing the right set of strategies to prevent, intervene in, and respond to serious acts of violence. justice.gov/opa/pr/justice…

Hematologist-oncologist Dr. Cy R. Wilkins (@cywilkinsmd) spoke about the impact of romiplostim on overall survival in chemotherapy induced thrombocytopenia at a session at #ASH23. @ASH_hematology

Several Vermont mothers are working to collect enough wreaths this holiday season to adorn more than 4,000 veteran gravesites across the state. Among the moms is Susan Sweetser, whose daughter, Iraq War veteran Virginia, took her own life in December 2020. 7dvt.co/477sZZ1

👏🏻 @MSKCancerCenter

So stop blaming culture, and get to work on changing the concrete circumstances that surround crime and violence. That involves policing, prosecutions, supports, services, treatment, and more. You can read all about it, if you want, in BLEEDING OUT. hachettebookgroup.com/titles/thomas-…

Wednesday evening, my wife and I took my ten-year old daughter to the middle school for orientation. While walking around the school and meeting her new teachers, I noticed one teacher I didn’t recognize. She had just moved to town. She was an beautiful woman-in her mid to late forties-with piercing ice blue eyes. We briefly made eye contact before her eyes quickly locked on to the tattoo on my upper arm. As she stepped closer-her eyes still fixated on my “ink”-I could see that her eyes were reddening and glossing up quickly. “I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman” I said. “A Medic.” She was silent, and did not break eye contact with the American flag that wrapped around my left arm. Her hands started to rise: She stopped just short of actually touching my tattoo, as if some part of her brain had suddenly said “Don’t. It’s not appropriate.” Then, with the fluidity of a ballerina she slowly raised her head, locking her eyes on to mine. We were less that a foot and a half from each other. I saw nothing but pain and sadness. “My son was killed in Afghanistan. I have a picture of him in the room. Would you like to see him?” she asked, with a voice you could sense had a wail just beneath the surface, wanting to escape. “Yes. I would.” I said, as we continued looking at each other for a length of time, that, in any other context would have been disrespectful to my wife. We walked into the classroom. There he was. A picture of her son was on the wall, right behind her desk. It was his U.S. Army bootcamp photo. “He was twenty-years old” she said softly. My posture stiffened: I felt my body automatically shift to an “attention” position as I placed my right hand over my heart. By now, my wife was crying. This Gold Star Mother was crying. I had a lump in my throat and my breathing had become shallow and more restricted. Turning to this heartbroken teacher, I said, “I’m so sorry.” I could tell that she wanted to reply, but couldn’t. “Can I give you a hug?” I asked her in a lowered voice. “Of course” she said with a look of “Yes, please hug me. I need a hug.” The fact that I had only known this teacher for less than 2-3 minutes was lost. As we embraced, she hugged me like she was another teenaged daughter on mine, who had just come to me in agony after her first breakup with a boyfriend. Actually, like a Mother….who had just lost a twenty-year old son. As I slowly allowed my arms to release and move away from her body, she audibly sighed. It was as though 10,000 tiny daggers had temporarily ceased stabbing her in the heart. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” I said, as I extended my hand to end the moment on a more formal measure, thereby sealing what had happened between our hallway “Hello” and our handshake goodbye, in a sort of time capsule experience that she could return to as often as needed. While I have no idea what her political affiliation might be, I suspect that she’s a republican. Most everyone here is a republican. I also strongly suspect that she would never vote for Donald Trump again, if she is. She’s a Gold Star Mother. She’s a real Patriot. Her son was a real Patriot. She knows what real sacrifice means. He, gave his life. She knows-on a cellular level-what democracy is about and what it takes to protect it. People like her also know when someone like Trump, has trashed everything her son served to defend. Come to think of it, I think it’s very possible that she was once a republican, who, now…has at the very least shifted to an independent. I saw signs of it, actually. As I departed, I turned, about half way across the room, and said “Freedom around the world depends on people like your son.” She immediately replied. “Thank you. Yes, it does. Ukraine knows this all too well” as she placed her hand…over her heart.

Tune in to the #StandUpToCancer telecast TOMORROW to hear one MSK patient's inspiring story.

Where could your career take you? Apply today! vsp.vermont.gov/employment

Thank you @Anyaon10 to cover the loss of Marcus-his story is the story of a true unsung hero. For all of us connected to Hoosick Falls we have loss a hero.

Honored to make the #ForbesOver50 list and proud of the #innovative work we're doing to transform our energy system.

See the #BestHospitals for cancer here. @MDAndersonNews and @MSKCancerCenter are the top two hospitals for cancer. health.usnews.com/best-hospitals…

Congratulations to our extraordinary MSK team!

MSK is the best cancer center in the northeast, the #2 cancer center in the nation, and #1 in the nation for urology care, according to U.S. News & World Report’s (@usnews) 2023-2024 Best Hospitals list. Learn more: bit.ly/3q4La1r