These are certainly interesting times we are living in. Every day brings new challenges, new revelations, and new expectations. We are, in many ways, essentially living the same lives that our grandparents and great grandparents lived during the last global pandemic in the late 1910s.
Unlike them, though, we have resources that they never dreamed of. During the ensuing century we have made tremendous advances in medicine, chemistry, and medications. There is simply no comparing the hospitals of today with their high-technology, disease-fighting sterility, and breakthrough scientific discoveries to those of that era. We take for granted that when we are seen by a highly-trained medical professional in the confines of one of today’s medical facilities that we will emerge hearty and whole.
I have personal experience with that, as a survivor of a serious heart condition. The care that I received, the medicines that I was prescribed, the incredible skill of the doctors, nurses, and ancillary staff made it possible for me to walk out of that hospital and pick up my life where I left off. And, the same is true of so many others. We have learned to rely very heavily on that system for our health and well-being.
What we’re facing today, however, is different. Like our grandparents and great grandparents, our health is very much in our own hands. Unlike them, though, we are fully aware of how we can avoid the spread of the potentially deadly virus, where our ancestors were not. A highly contagious virus thrives in crowded conditions where little to no care is made to isolate or confine the spread. We know that, and we know that our health and even our survival depends on each one of us practicing social distancing, clean hands, and self-isolation where appropriate.
I’m convinced, as are our health professionals, that we will get through this crisis only through a concerted effort, all of us actively participating in our own recovery by following the directives and orders of those doctors, scientists, and researchers who are on the front lines of the fight against the virus.
Join in the effort, and let’s all get back to picking up our lives where we left off. Take it from me, it gets better when we pull together.
