44 | July/August 2023
O
n Tuesday morning, my daughter came into my
room crying. I was still asleep. She had checked
the weather to decide what to wear to school
and seen an air quality alert for our town in the
Hudson Valley, about an hour and a half north of New York
City. She told me she was having a low-grade panic attack
and she knew the smoke was from wildfires in Canada—
her father had explained. She was afraid she wasn't safe.
"Mom, I had lung radiation two years ago," she said, her
voice shaking.
As if I didn't know.
She's 10. At eight, she was diagnosed with Wilms' tu-
mor, a kidney cancer, and went through almost a year of
treatment, including radiation. She's not alone in worrying
that her lungs are compromised as a result.
There were so many things that broke my heart that
morning about her too-adult fear, including her beautiful ca-
pacity to articulate her emotions. I jumped into fix-it mode,
explaining what I know from my work about air quality,
health, and wildfire smoke. I suggested staying inside and
limiting outdoor playtime, which after all this pandemic time
saying exactly the opposite felt weird. I suggested drinking
lots of water. All my suggestions felt too small.
Her school bus was about to arrive, and in my pre-coffee
rush to soothe her, I somehow forgot to suggest wearing a
mask. I quickly wrote her school with all these suggestions,
leading with masking. Her teacher let her know to put one
on—and she did, outside. The school nurse was quick to
respond too, saying they were going to let all "sensitive" stu-
dents know to take precautions. Less than 24 hours later,
most schools in our region had expanded this precaution-
ary approach to include all students, which makes sense.
My older daughter's high school choir performance was
moved indoors, as were all outdoor activities. Our governor
East Coast Reacts to Unfamiliar Wildfire Smoke
By Alexandra Zissu
