Guest Column by Tom Purcell

Springtime has arrived in Washington, D.C.

The National Cherry Blossom festival is underway. Some 3,700 cherry trees, given to America by the Japanese in 1912, will soon be in full bloom.

I lived in the D.C. area nearly eight years and always looked forward to this time of year.

Family and friends would visit to see the magnificent trees. With luck the weather would be sunny and warm. We’d laugh and frolic and forget our worries for a little while.

That’s never...