Weekly Message from Mayor Madden

Middlesex Borough had been fortunate in the early weeks of the pandemic. We saw no or few cases of the virus.  However, now as we soon ascend into the eleventh month of the corona virus with near double digit numbers being reported almost daily, many realize that, in order to protect oneself from the ravages of this scourge, it comes down to the need for personal responsibility.

By now we have heard all the warnings, methods of acceptable personal protections, mandatory life-style changes and even new protocols about the way we should conduct our lives while indoors. Prior complacency has been replaced with austere concern and compromise. This virus has indeed affected each one of us in some fashion with varying degree.  And there is much that has been published and accepted regarding the stress which has become pervasive in our homes, businesses and community.

Growing up in a poor Italian/Irish family it was instilled in us that we should learn to “make do.”  There was so much that was unavailable to us as kids.  We made do without sports equipment; we made do without the latest toy; we made do without new clothes and wore hand-me-downs.  But we always had enough food on the table and plenty of family, including extended family members, at all our family gatherings and events.  Of course, Sunday was always set aside for church and then, like clockwork, the family meal. It was mandatory to participate in these weekly occasions.

Many of these life style events have lost their luster and have ultimately ebbed in recent years. In fact, this has been the steady downward trend over time to not have families have a daily meal together. However, we now have the time and opportunity to rekindle our relationships with family, friends and faith in order to bring back those wonderful traditions so cherished and beloved when we were growing up.

As we enter into the Holiday season let’s accept with gratitude what we have rather than regret what could have been. Enjoy and cherish the loved ones in your “pod”, your pets, the small blessings we find in day-to-day life.  The new year brings a new hope for a vaccine and with it the hope that we return to school and work, parties and shopping, movies and our real “normal”. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, a pleasant New Year to each and every one of you. Indeed, we have much to be sincerely thankful for.  Please be safe. 

Mayor John L. Madden