So. Ended up in the hospital late Tuesday night, got released this morning.
Turns out I had an episode of something called ‘Transient Global Amnesia’, as I couldn’t remember pretty much anything I did on Election Day. It’s what the name suggests–an isolated incident where you lose pretty much complete memory of a certain period in time. While some of it has come back, I don’t remember anything about my appearance on WDEL, or thereafter (I was told that I zotzed on a couple of names…). Including driving home from the studio, which I apparently did. My wife noticed that I kept asking the same questions over and over, and that something was clearly wrong. So, off to the Delaware Division I went. I remember nothing until I woke up on Wednesday morning.
But, I enjoyed CNN’s wall-to-wall coverage of the Blue Wave, so it wasn’t the worst day to spend in the hospital. They ran a buncha tests, including putting me through that MRI tube. For that test, they asked me what kind of music I liked. So, in addition to those weird mechanical and robotic sounds, I slid through the tube to the strains of Steely Dan.
One more thing–you meet a lot of people in politics along the way. Many of even the best elected officials can be self-absorbed. It kinda comes with the territory and, as someone who has worked in that arena, you accept it. After all, you need a pretty healthy ego to run for office.
Which leads me to this–after I got out of the tube and was wheeled back to my room (I had been admitted earlier that day), who was waiting for me? Shay Frisby. Larry Lambert would have been there as well, but he was at the House leadership meeting. Shay is a true empath. I’ve seen her genuine concern for others throughout this campaign. After 40-plus years doing this stuff, Shay is my absolute favorite person I’ve campaigned for. In fact, her entire campaign team, including James Rubin, Maria Mejia, Asia Smith, Nate Frisby and Roby Anstett, are some of the most genuine people I’ve ever enjoyed campaigning with. I’m so glad we all live near each other. (Well, Maria now lives in Newark, but we’re working to bring her back home…)
Anyway, big ups to Al for stepping into whatever breach my absence might have created. I’m ready to go for another two years!
