COVID-19: A Survivor's Story
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We tell the COVID-19 story by the numbers; the latest count of infections and deaths. We tell it by geography; a trail of grief marked by the latest hot spots. And, of course, we tell it by politics: judging the worthiness of our elected leaders based on the decisions they make and the actions they take.
Tthis story never pauses. Any minute of the day you can find new updates online or on your television. It can be numbing.
Only when the story narrows to focus on individuals does it grab hold of us in a new and more compelling way. First there were the simple, often anguished testimonies of health care workers on the front lines, devoting long and dangerous shifts in nursing homes and intensive care units. They tend to the afflicted while constantly risking affliction themselves.
Now, you can also find moving tributes to individuals who have perished. Every day on MSNBC, anchor Nicole Wallace ends her program with a profile of one or two of lives claimed by the virus. It leaves you with a lump in your throat not just because of inherent sadness, but also because the people remembered are uniformly such outstanding human beings. In that vast middle ground between the anarchists and the raging racists lives a nation full of wonderful people who you would love to befriend.
For some reason, MSNBC’s website does not link to a compendium of these profiles. Too bad. So, the only way to see them is to tune in yourself.
But I can bring you one story that might evoke the same reaction. It’s told by a man who faced COVID death, but fortunately made it through to the other side. He’s a guy who lived in my neighborhood before he retired…whose kids went to the same schools mine did. He wouldn’t consider himself a hero in any sense, particularly just for contracting a disease. But he, too, is someone you would love to befriend.
Here’s the link…
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