Everything’s cancelled, and my community is on lockdown (“shelter in place”).

I know I should be happy about that. If we were all blithely going about our ordinary business, I’d be on my digital soapbox screaming: no!

Be careful what you wish for, right?

I’m not calling it overreaction (It’s not.) The science, the history, the math, the data, the image of obituary pages from Italy all “reassure” me that our society has made the right choice. We’re awesome. Slow to get started, maybe, but once we’re ready for collective action we’re unstoppable.

But I’m human too, and I feel like crying. Everywhere I see a million disappointments, small and large. For me personally, it’s exercise classes at Del Norte. Several charity benefit dinners. Breakfast out with friends. A play at Capital Stage that I was looking forward to. A trip to visit my parents. Weekend Masses. All cancelled. Then there are bigger concerns. A friend expecting her first child in April. Elderly relatives and neighbors at risk. I know that others are facing much more. Lost jobs. Cancelled weddings. Lost graduations. Failed businesses. Banned funerals for loved ones. Sickness, fear and death. It all makes me sad.

My goal for these blog posts in the time of coronavirus is to inform, calm, and if possible, uplift. This is not the end of the world. Maybe I’m a wimp. The virus could itself be much worse. Most of us won’t ever be infected. My kids are being sent home, not to a war in southeast Asia or the beaches of Normandy. Because we’re aggressively doing social distancing, the ultimate toll of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will be closer to best-case than worst-case scenario.

But let’s be honest. Some things, like a beloved local eatery or arts organization, may not survive. Some people won’t too. Today, I do not have a problem with panic. Things actually are starting to feel more predictable, like the other shoe has dropped. My enemy is sorrow.

Tomorrow I’ll be alone in my car for 9 hours as I drive to fetch my son from his college dorm.  In solitude and silence, with the hope I already have, I will pray for joy.

Get the scientific backstory on SARS-CoV-2 and emerging infections. Read my concise ebook “The Coming Pandemic” for free. If you like it, please share with others and leave a review on amazon.

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