COVID-19 has everyone on edge. All of us have been trying to come to grips with this silent, invisible monster. Pretty obvious.
It isn’t easy. And it’s just so odd.
Sheltering in place, homeschooling our kids, risking what seems like life and limb to pick up groceries at already-busy supermarkets like Wegmans (a recent visit there freaked me out, and I won’t be returning any time soon), and living in paranoia is taking its toll on us.
So, finding bright spots in this dark time are seldom, but they’re out there. Take your neighborhood for example:
Young moms and dads playing street hockey in the driveway with their elementary school age kids…who they likely spent time teaching them ABCs earlier that day.
Many people are walking their dogs. Good for them, good for their dog.
Or my favorite – the teenage brother and sister playing a game of “HORSE” under the hoop – and getting along?!
This time reminds me of a throwback to the late 1960s, when Sundays were really a day off. Except for church and a quick trip to the drugstore before it closed, on Sundays, we were home. While at the drugstore, my mother faithfully picked up the New York Times for my father and would treat us to a Milky Way bar. Then – everything closed, and wouldn’t re-open until Monday morning.
I think our parents and grandparents were grateful for that time.
I’m just grateful. Period.
Case in point – When making a prescription delivery to my mother-in-law, I saw a large hand-built sign on the front lawn of a nearby house:
“Thank you Healthcare Workers”
There are so, so many other “thank yous” that need to go to a new, special class of workers who’ve joined the brave doctors, nurses, attendants and researchers on The Coronavirus War Front Line. Gas station attendants, postal workers, grocery and convenience store clerks, child care workers, pharmacists, trash collectors, restaurant owners, and all the delivery people who transport our produce, our meds, and yes, our toilet paper – all need to be lauded. It’s so nice to hear people thanking them for simply working, but what important jobs they have right now. They truly are warriors.
To the manufacturers who’ve changed equipment over to produce masks, gowns, plastic shields, and “PPEs” (I had to throw that in, as our world abbreviates now) to distribute to hospitals and other first responders:
THANK YOU!
That’s another throwback…to the 1940s wartime production. Factories were in high gear producing all kinds of equipment, but we are certainly waging a much different war.
Financially, it’s going to be (and already is) a struggle for so many of us. We are saving some money here and there by not driving, paying tolls, airfares, and not shopping for extravagant items or raiding Marshall’s for bargains. We are cooking at home and have resurrected the family dinner, a virtually lost institution. We are communicating more than ever – and NOT texting, but talking, face-to-face, via Zoom, Facebook, Facetime, or just the good old fashioned landline. That’s good stuff.
We will get through this, surreal as it is. Just remember some of the positive experiences you may have encountered during this strange path we are all taking. It will make us all stronger in the long run 🙂
Sink or Swim 