A 🧵, 38 years in the making. Today is my last day @NPR after, yep, nearly four decades. It's impossible to sum up what these years have meant, but indulge me as I share some stories that have been among the most memorable for me… 1/ …Starting in New York City, 9/11/2001, hours after the terrorist attacks:

And at Ground Zero, 9/14/2001:
https://t.co/1KlMyEyUjC 2/drive.google.com/file/d/1xpvR-6…
drive.google.com/file/d/1NW2pj3…

BREAKING: in a major win for @ACLU, a federal judge has permanently struck down Arkansas’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth; says state’s “expert witnesses” were “unqualified”, motivated by ideology, not science. Ruling here:

wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/upl… This Arkansas ruling is the first *permanent* injunction of a state ban on trans medical care. Other preliminary injunctions are in place as cases wend through courts.

"As long as we have breath in our bodies, we have to continue his cause. If we want our children to grow up in a democracy... a true democracy... a big-hearted, tolerant, vibrant, inclusive America... then we're gonna have to be more like John." @BarackObama . @BarackObama concludes his eulogy for John Lewis with these words: "God bless you all. God bless America. God bless this soul who pulled it closer to its promise."

Crazy intense storm hit DC at 4:30 am. Sounded like what I imagine a tornado sounds like. Huge trees uprooted all over our neighborhood. Apparently it was a super-localized storm centered around these blocks. I’ve never heard wind like that. Sounded like it was alive.

I’ve just read, one after another, three accounts of violence toward/harassment of women that have left me with head in hands. This is one: google.com/amp/s/www.nyti… And this thread from @meganranney, describing her own assault and the lasting damage:

https://twitter.com/meganranney/status/1199857182617014277?s=21

By my count, Sondland refers to President Trump's "directives" or "direction" on Ukraine demands at least 6 times in his opening statement; the President's "orders" at least once; "requirement" at least once. He's drawing a direct line to the Oval Office. Questioning begins. Sondland says what started out as a "vanilla" US anti-corruption policy toward Ukraine became more "insidious."
"As time went on, more items got added to the menu." "More and more conditions were being placed on a White House meeting."

Per officials in #SantaClarita: 6 victims taken to hospital, among them the shooting suspect, who is in grave condition. He is a 16 yo Asian student of #Saugushighschool whose birthday is today. Weapon was a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol, which had no more bullets in it. Video shows suspect drawing handgun, shooting 5 students, then shooting himself in the head. One female victim, 16 yo, has died.

I was greeted today in an exam room by a doctor who said, “Hello, young lady!” Pro tip: doctors, don’t do this. Just. Don’t. (Not that it matters, but he was about a decade younger than I am.) Here's Terry Gross in an interview w/Joan Rivers, recounting what she told a waiter who called her "young lady":
"I just like gritted my teeth and I said I'm not going to say anything....And suddenly I heard myself saying, I hope you understand the meaning of what you said...1/

Sean Doolittle: “There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country.”
washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/11… More Doolittle: “My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘shithole countries’...”

When a new source returns your call and the first thing he says is “Hello, sweet Melissa,” is that: Who ARE you people who think I need the Allman Bros. reference explained to me? 🤦🏻‍♀️

For no apparent reason, I have this Aviance perfume jingle rolling around my brain. Are you with me, daughters of the ‘70s?
You remember: “I’ve been sweet and I’ve been good/I’ve had a whole full day of motherhood/ But I’m gonna have an Aviance night!” She’s shucking off her dish gloves and yanking off her bandana... and a few spritzes later...

Totally winning the best-dressed award at the #FIFAWWC2019 final here in #Lyon: Justin and Sarah McCarty and 7 yo daughter Ella of Chicago, with sister/sister-in-law Becca Perry. #USANED #USWNT The streak is broken: #USWNT had scored in the first 12 minutes in all 6 of its previous #FIFAWWC2019 games. But it’s halftime in the final match: still no score. #USA 0 - #NED 0. #USANED

And just like that, England equalizes and their fans go nuts. Ellen White notches her 6th goal in 5 matches. #USA 1 - #ENG 1 #FIFAWWC Happy birthday to you, @alexmorgan13! She scores in the 32nd minute and US fans are ecstatic. #USA 2 - #ENG 1 #FIFAWWC

A THREAD about terror, resilience, bread, and the power of radio: In 2015, after the terrorist attacks in Paris, my colleague @RSiegel47 flew over and did a brilliant piece, capturing the spirit of the city where 131 people had just died.
npr.org/sections/paral… In that piece, Robert interviewed a baker, Mezian Ahmed, whose bakery was riddled by bullets in the attacks. Thankfully, no one was killed in his shop. And despite it all, Ahmed stayed open the entire time. “Even during wartime,” he told Robert, “bread must always be made.”

Today CAS released its full (redacted) ruling in @caster800m's appeal of testosterone rules. @iaaforg argued Semenya is "biologically male." Semenya told court, that "hurts more than I can put in words." She also accused #IAAF of using her as a "human guinea pig" and "lab rat." CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) said "this case involves a collision of scientific, ethical and legal conundrums. It also involves incompatible, competing rights." At issue: should women athletes w/naturally high testosterone have to suppress those levels to compete.

Robert Mueller, speaking at DOJ just now: "If we had had confidence that the president did NOT commit a crime, we would have said so." "It would be unfair to potentially accuse someone of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge," (per DOJ policy.)

Mom anxiety level: high. Chloe’s on the livestream at the school Scrabble championships. She’s bingoed twice so far: INSTATED and LOITERED. Wait, now it’s three! PReDATE.
😬😬😬 Opponent has bingoed with BROWNIES , RATOONED, and CALaSAYA. This is serious.

A few thoughts about Alex Trebek and his statement that he plans to "fight" and "beat" his stage 4 pancreatic cancer. First, of course I hope that he succeeds, and that his treatments prove effective. I deeply respect his decision to share his diagnosis publicly. But...

https://twitter.com/Jeopardy/status/1103416223331569664

... I am always unsettled by the "cancer as battle" metaphor and the language we use to describe it. I'm thinking of those who have decided to stop treatment, and who may be seen as having given up the fight, or surrendering. Of not doing enough.

Things you don’t want to hear from your teenage daughter when you’re making dinner: “What IS that?!? It smells like feet.” Culprit:

Excellent running NYC diner conversation between two gentlemen at the counter to my left. They’ve covered the gamut. On Amazon giving up on a HQ in Queens: “They didn’t talk to nobody. They just gave orders.” On Trump administration disarray: “You know how many jobs aren’t filled in the White House? Ambassadors? That’s serious for the country.”

Fantastic recognition for a public radio hero. Bill Siemering was at the core of @NPR from the very beginning. I keep his brilliant and inspiring mission statement pinned above my desk.

https://twitter.com/PolkAwards/status/1097891003653070850

Here’s part of Bill’s mission statement for #publicradio in 1970: