Director’s Message:
Be ready to share some empathy by the end of this piece because I am going to bear my soul. I am going to share something true and personal that happened to me. Something that caught me completely off guard. Sometimes things don’t really hit us, I mean really hit us, until it becomes personal and hits home. Explanation on the way.
It was two months into our Coronavirus lockdown when I first went shopping on my own (before this I had been ordering my groceries from Tops via Instacart and only going out for my medications.) Truly, what kept me from even thinking about going out during those first two months (aside from common sense) was the pain (understatement) of bursitis and sciatica I had recently developed in my left leg.
Of course, I kept up with the news of Covid-19 and the growing number of people getting sick with it and the thousands of victims dying from it. This was some serious virus. It affected the whole world, basically. It was no respecter of persons. Rich and poor, famous and getting there, young and older. Everyone was fair game for this bad boy. Scientists, Physicians and Health Professionals, etc., were doing their best to find a solution. People on the frontline (health care workers, cashiers, stores, stockers, etc.) were chancing infection to serve us and all we (meaning the rest of us) were asked to do was to take precautions by washing our hands, sanitizing, keep a distance and wearing masks. Which brings me to the point of this piece.
Please note that I had constantly prayed (during those two months) for everyone affected by this virus, those who have passed away because of it and all of us. I felt deeply sad about them and for us all, but I knew we would get through this…together. Well, on the day I am talking about in this article, I had decided to go grocery shopping for myself and dawning my mask, gloves and sanitizer, drove to Tops Friendly Markets, the parking lot was full of cars and as I slowly pulled through the lot and got almost to the front of the store, I stopped. That is when it hit home. Despite all the things I ‘knew’, researched and was aware of what was going on in the world, when I saw the shoppers going and coming out of my store, Tops, wearing masks and gloves. It hit home.
At that moment, my empathy, my praying and my faith, yes, my faith also, reached a deeper level. It is one thing to see it on television, to hear it on the news or read it in the newspapers, but to see your friends and neighbors in person, doing what they have to do to carry on in light of a difficult situation: It hits home. And I so realized that fact as I sat in my car with tears rolling down my face.
Please stay safe, Readers.
A respectful, grateful and very proud shout-out to all of the fathers and graduates. God bless you. Love you and am very proud of you all.
Always, with love,
Della