I can tell I’ve spent too much time on social media today, because my spirits have plummeted. Facebook needs to invent an emoji that combines anger and tears, because that is the emotion I feel most of the time these days.

It has been a Memorial Day like no other. Normally, our family goes to my sister’s house in Maryland for a long weekend, where friends and family from far and near gather. This year, there was no gathering together, either far or near for any of us. There was an early-morning 6+ feet apart walk at the almost-empty beach with a friend who’d also normally have been at my sister’s, and then home to shelter-in-place with my family.

I was scheduled to visit my sister in late March. Now, I have no clue when we may be able to see each other in person again. She is in an “at-risk” group because of health issues. I fear far more of us are in that “at risk” set than we suspect.

I spoke with a different friend later in the day and she mentioned concern about a “second wave” akin to the one that happened with the 1918 Spanish Flu. I think that second wave is a long way off. I suspect we’re still building to a first wave tsunami as the weather turns nicer, states re-open, and people tire of sheltering in place.

This morning, the front page of the New York Times listed the names of 1000 people — a mere 1% of those — who have died due to the Coronavirus, offering a brief insight into the life of each. The Times has given these individuals a modicum of due that statistics cannot.  The paper made them into real humans. Suddenly, the Coronavirus can no longer be considered a hoax by any rational person.

So as I sit here on the night of Memorial Day with the national concert playing in the background from the other room, I think of the many men and women who gave their life for this country, to keep us free and to protect the safety of U.S. Citizens. I can’t help but think those veterans would be horrified that some people put their own personal freedom — to not wear a mask, to not take social distancing seriously — over the safety and protection of their fellow citizens. A life versus a mask. What a trade-off.

 

P.S. the photo I share is from facebook. I don’t know who took it, or I would credit that person. I’m just glad I don’t know the individuals carrying the sign.