Shortly before Thanksgiving of 2021 I contracted COVID, I ended up sick for 7 weeks, at times wondering
if I would survive. I recovered well, have little long-term effects of that dreaded disease. Anybody reading this survived COVID, but anybody reading this also lost someone in the process. Those were crazy times. Not only the health implications, but the loneliness, the isolation, the lack of schooling, the
financial burdens, the emotional toil.... it was an awful time.
Here we are 4 years later and still the experience the after effects of that crisis. Children who grew up during COVID need extra help with speech development. Youth who missed graduations, socialization, and community struggle today to make friends and find meaning. Adults whose careers were
sidetracked because of the pandemic. Seniors who lost spouses and never could grieve them well enough. Not to mention the after effects of Long-COVID, the depression, the heart issues, the constant pain and fatigue some have to deal with. I know this was a first for all of us, and nobody knew how to handle things well. I know there were mixed responses, and only time will tell if our decisions were wise or prudent.
COVID has changed society, no doubt about it, we have become more critical and discerning about government actions. We have become more outspoken (almost rude) about our views. COVID has
changed us.
Last week P. who has long COVID had yet another heart attack. R. is visiting her 35-year-old son who has
long COVID, he is on permanent disability because of a loss of eyesight in one eye and permanent heart problems. Another friend deals with the daily fatigue that makes it hard to get out of bed. Schools are still struggling to bring students up to the right level, politicians are still blaming each other for it, churches divided over masking.
Have we learned any lessons? Will the next crisis unite us or push us further apart? Will we listen to good reasoning or in panic buy toilet paper? The next crisis might not be medical, it might be a
breakdown of our society, it might be another disaster. In either case, Merced, you and I have to make a decision on how we shall live. Will we be united, being good neighbors to each other? Will be come
together to come up with the best solutions? Today is the day when we can decide what kind of a
neighbor we want to be, maybe a little practice run will be good for us!