The televised impeachment hearings of POTUS 45 are officially open. You’ll be inundated with news, quasi-news, fake news, yuk news, and more. Much more. By all means, pay attention. But you don’t need me to say that. My best role, my best advice, is to provide you with the list below and remind you of what it means.

Consider, a century ago, in the twelve months and fifty-two weeks of 1919:

–German revolutionaries are threatened with being shot

–American suffragettes celebrate approval of women receiving the right to vote in federal elections – a new amendment is added to the Constitution

–New boundaries are drawn for nations that have never existed before in Europe and the Middle East, courtesy of the Paris Peace Conference and its private meetings, which include POTUS Woodrow Wilson

–The mysterious influenza pandemic, global killer of millions, re-appears

–Consumption of alcohol is banned – a new amendment is added to the Constitution

–Racial riots and labor strikes break out across American cities and towns -violence ensues

–The professional baseball team, the Chicago White Sox, is accused of cheating in the World Series

–The Russian Civil War rages and may spread into other parts of Europe, while the Mexican Revolution verges on destabilizing Central America

–Terrorist bombings occur in major American cities

–Turkish war of independence begins

–First gasoline tax enacted in US

–Einstein’s theory of relativity receives its first test, while Mussolini forms the first fascist political party

–Arab nationalists declare independence in Syria

–US Army conducts first gas-powered expedition across the nation

–American Legion holds its first national convention

–New York Yankees agree to pay $125,000 to Boston Red Sox for rights to player Babe Ruth, largest such sum ever given in professional sports

–and on and on and on

I know you get my point. It’s easy for us, in late 2019, to slip into the mindset that “we’ve just never seen anything like this” as our smartphones buzz for the 1000th time with a news alert. I understand. But go back over this list and know that your ancestors a century ago also faced a world rocked with change, deep change with great potential to help or harm. Be well.