Dear Colleagues and Friends:  

I am honored to have taken on the Presidency of the MCFM and hope that I can fill the shoes of Fran Whyman.  They might be petite and fashionable shoes, but they carried a lot of responsibility and did so with strong and thoughtful steps.  I have started my Presidency with gratitude to Fran and the rest of the past and current Board, with enthusiasm for an organization and a field that I love, and with a story.

My mother-in-law, Naomi Billow, turned 102 at the end of November.  She is independent and travels alone each November from New York to Florida and back to NYC in May. She lives alone and has taken care of herself since 1970 when her husband, a physician, became ill with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and within a few years had to move to a Veteran’s Administration facility.   Naomi visited him faithfully for 7 years before his death.  I greatly admire her loyalty, her independence, her competence, her respect for the institution...