The kraken has been released
It’s early here on this Sunday morning. It’s still dark-thirty outside, as I like to say. I’ve been awake since around 4:30 a.m. I couldn’t sleep. My mind was racing. I tried to think upbeat and positive things.
I even wrote a little fantasy story in my head hoping it would lull me into sleep. It really wasn’t that interesting and didn’t work.
After tossing around a bit, stretching, even yawning, I gave up. It was no use. Sleep was not going to come again. I couldn’t get my children, grandchildren, close family, friends I love out of my mind. I kept picturing my friend Lisa standing in our driveway with me in the front yard some distance away. We sent imaginary hugs and talked a while. It did not seem normal and it wasn’t.
We have a crisis hitting our world. It’s not a disaster movie. It’s real and it’s wrecking havoc everywhere. It’s called COVID-19 or coronavirus. No, it’s not called the “China” virus by experts. It was coined that name by our leader. I can hear some saying now, “Yeah, that’s right. It’s them Chinese that started all this over there.”
I hate this kind of thinking. It doesn’t solve anything. It causes people to be angry, which doesn’t help anything. Yes, the spread of this virus came out of China, but if you think they did this on purpose, this is ludicrous. Nobody is really sure how this happened, but it did and that’s all I’m saying about this.
The problem I have is that our government ... our leadership from the bottom all the way to the top chose to ignore warnings back in late December/early January. They chose to believe the situation didn’t have anything to do with the United States. They sloughed it off as “not our problem.” As more and more news came out of China, more and more people were getting sick, with some dying. The concerns and warnings were out in the open. Our leadership continued to ignore them.
I will never, as long as I live, understand this. How can what was happening in China be ignored? I am a listener, reader and researcher. I like to know what’s happening in the world. This whole situation became alarming. It appeared that something serious was happening. As time went on it became it became outwardly apparent that this was a dire situation.
Finally, the leadership concluded that the warnings could no longer be ignored.
The word “pandemic” started surfacing in the language of some people — experts. And the first victim of the virus in this country died in Washington state.
We have a new grandchild born on March 4. We were there at the hospital to welcome him. Gaines Colligan Brooks is an absolutely beautiful newborn with dark hair. I got to hold him. There’s something about holding new born babies that brings me such joy. They have their own smell. They like to nuzzle your neck just under your ear. They make little mewling noises and gurgling sounds. They jump into your heart and stay there forever.
I haven’t held Gaines since that first weekend in March after his birth. My husband and I have been home at the advice of our doctors and with the threats of our children. The advice was to stay home and away from close contact with other human beings. We have adhered to that advice. As the experts have voiced, this is the best course of action to stem the continued advancement of this horrible pandemic. Some choose to ignore this and go about their lives. This could be our downfall.
And we have been lied to in this country. We have been told that there are plenty of medical supplies for those personnel on the front lines doing their best to save lives. This is not true. If it were true, why are medical people all over this country begging for masks, protective clothing, respirator and ventilators?
Thousands of people in our country are sick. Hundreds have died. Where are the promised supplies? As of this morning, these supplies have started to trickle in, but not nearly enough. They need to be in the hands of the medical personnel now, not later. Time is of essence.
Here’s the thing. The unthinkable just might happen. Medical personnel may have to choose who lives and who dies — a 35-year-old mother of three or someone older like my husband or me?
Yes, the kraken has been released and it’s out in the open. We all need to do our part to destroy it. Stay home. Use common sense. Be fair to others. Keep your distance.