I don't know about all of you, but this past week of religious activities, whether you celebrate Easter, Passover, something else, or nothing else...was just a lot harder than I had imagined. We don't have particular Easter traditions in my family, but knowing how limited our options were, celebrating with my mom eating egg salad sandwiches was definitely a departure from the norm.
That being said, how lucky am I to have access to groceries (and my wonderful mom who brought us food!) to eat the foods I find most comforting? It wasn't fancy or overly religious for us this year--but we were still able to enjoy togetherness and more than meet our basic needs on this holiday. Given how many people around the globe are doing right now, I feel so blessed and grateful to be in a position where these things are true.
My husband also made sure that I still got some candy--even though it was some leftover from Christmas!
We also had the pleasure of spending virtual time with my brother, his fiancee, my cousin, and uncle to play our regular D&D game (perfect for Easter). But actually...it really IS perfect for Easter. Finding time to celebrate with your family and just enjoy each other's company sounds like exactly what Easter means to me.
In national headlines, Democrats are all rallying to #votebluenomatterwho, which at this point means our presumptive nominee, Joe Biden. #GoJoeGo. With more promises and concrete messages from "moderate" democrat and former VP Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders has started to endorse him in a monumental effort to unite the displaced, disenfranchised, and just plain disheartened voters. No matter which candidate you hoped for in 2016 (yes...I am looking at everyone in the nation-not just blue voters), 2020 could be the defining election for many generations to come.
All eligible voters (that's most of you, America), please hang with me. Whether you wanted Bernie Sanders to get the ticket for his progressive ideas in the last election that remained steadfast throughout this one...whether you finally hoped to see a woman in the White House, be it Hillary Clinton in either of her races, or Elizabeth Warren in this race, or even both...whether you wanted a moderate voice like Gov. Kasich or another smaller grassroots nominee...whether you were one of the Trump supporters who did not have promises delivered to you the way you hoped and expected and now do not know how to vote...I hear you. I see you. I am working to understand all viewpoints as is Joe Biden, because we are one American people. One thing is clear--the way that the current president has mishandled more issues than I care to recall here, but most predominantly right now: this pandemic, we need a shift in our country's momentum. So please, please, consider opening yourself up to the importance of voting this November to be a world-changer in the course of our history.
This is not just about voting, my friends, although that is hugely important. Right now, unity is the word characterizing actions that will keep all of us safe as a community. Fighting COVID-19. Providing resources for our country. Voting rights. Perspective taking. Uniting under one banner to prove we are worth even more than the sum of our parts when we put our minds to it.
Locally, Ohio has currently reached the peak of resource use, providing that all current isolating and quarantining measures remain in place. We expect to hit our peak death rate in the next week. Although it is so much more comfortable, relatively speaking, to look at these as pure facts and figures. Take a moment, just one moment, to consider the death of one person from COVID-19. Maybe you know someone who has died at this point. Maybe not. Maybe you respect some of the celebrities who have died, such as John Prine. Maybe not. Find one person in your life, tangentially or intimately involved in your life, and reflect on that loss that would not have happened except for the spread of this contagion. Yes, the data and the numbers are invaluable as instruments to help save more lives and understand how to move forward in an educated way. They also matter in humanizing just how many individual lives have been affected, or lost, in this pandemic. The ripple effect of each person who knew that person, or people. What they gave to the world every day in their laugh, their smile, the spark behind their eyes.
When you feel alone, or as if it is all too much, remember the beautiful smiles you are surrounded by. Even if we have never met, I care about you fundamentally for being a human being on this planet, for doing your best, and for continuing to fight. This smile is for you. Keep going.
Prepare, don't panic.
-Allison
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