Easier said than done, I’m afraid.

Oh, Jeez – where to begin? (And please bear in mind, I’m not making light here – this is the single, most dire health event most of us have experienced in our lifetime, unless you were around for the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.)

So here’s what I can’t handle about the nasty, one-celled little fucker that’s up-ended the entire world:

It’s a nasty, one-celled little fucker that’s up-ended the entire world.

And you thought global terrorism was bad?  Compared to this thing, ISIS, the Taliban and Al Qaeda were a petty inconveniences. Welcome to true germ warfare, my babies.  All I can think about is a one-celled organism with my name on it, on the surface of something I forgot to decontaminate before I touched it.

I can no longer touch my face or, God forbid, chew my pens.

Both bad habits of mine. I had no idea how many times I touched my face on a daily basis until Corona-scourge appeared.  You probably didn’t, either.

Lots of people are dying and more will die.

And I pray to holy God it isn’t you, me or anyone that we know and love. This is the one that keeps me up at night – like tonight – it’s 4:23 AM as I write this. Just a little abject fear of dying.

I have to keep working. I’m the new pariah.

I’m not gonna get into specifics here, but I have a job that I can’t phone in, and we are not closed for the duration.  Virtually my entire neighborhood is home, so every day when I leave for work, I feel like a criminal, or that I’m crossing a picket line.  I fully expect to find “SCAB” spray-painted on my car one morning. I want to stay home.  I’m supposed to stay home.  But I can’t. And there are thousands more just like me. Unless and until martial law is declared, we working pariahs are bearing a ton of guilt, along with a ton of fear. And it sucks.

I hate that our first responders and medical professionals are so incredibly put-upon and in constant danger.

Like their jobs weren’t difficult enough.  We all need to thank God every day that we have selfless professionals like this in our midst, much of the time working ill-equipped and against incomprehensible odds. Absolute heroes.

This damn thing is open-ended – no closure in sight.

This, I think, is the real crux here.  We don’t know when it will peak, level off, if having it gives one immunity for a second-strike, and if there will BE a second-strike.  Or a vaccine, treatment or cure.  Present AND future fear. Really hard to handle such long-term peril.

I can’t get a grip on my fear.

I keep thinking that this is the closest we will come to understanding how the country felt the day in 1941 that Pearl Harbor was bombed. Confused. Not comprehending. Frightened. Uncertain. And looking to State and Federal governments that are feeling the exact same way, yet still have to act.

Over the weekend, I re-read President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous speech from the day after Pearl was hit – the “Day Which Will Live In Infamy” speech.

In it, there are parallels to our coronavirus fight that I found interesting:

“… The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.”

From Roosevelt’s mouth to God’s ear. (Would that he were with us now!) I can well-understand why Americans danced in the streets on VE and VJ Days.

So take every precaution, my babies. Pray hard and continue taking care of one another. Don’t give up.

And may we one day soon be doing our own victory dance in the streets.

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