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The unforeseen and unprecedented spread of COVID-19
over the past couple months has wreaked havoc on the economy,
local businesses, and many individuals. It’s kept many at home
and changed what “normal” life looks like in the short-term.
remember the weeks and months that neighbors
became neighbors and were connected by spirit
instead of by street or neighborhood.
I’ll remember the visual ways that people
became creative to bring joy to others around them.
How many participated in “bear hunts” by placing
teddy bears in their windows so that kids in their
neighborhoods could go on walks and look for bears
when just about everything else fun to do was closed?
I’ll remember seeing so much sidewalk chalk art.
The times that friends would draw pictures in the
driveways of other friends to brighten their day or
the one time that I saw the words “You can do it”
stretched out and drawn down our main street in
our neighborhood. I’ll think back on the many
posters in windows of homes saying that a hero
lived there.
I’ll remember the hours and hours of overtime
worked by so many to keep our food supply chain
stable and our bellies full. I’ll remember medical
workers who put their own families and lives in
jeopardy to take care of our lives and our families.
Who needs a superman when you have a trucker,
a farmer, a nurse, a pharmacist, or a grocery store
worker?
I’ll remember how our governor personally
wished thousands of children across the state,
who couldn’t have birthday parties like normal, a
happy birthday, and how he later read the names
of thousands of high school graduates to honor
them in spite of a different graduation and senior
year than they hoped. Who needs politics when
you have heart?
I’ll remember the ways that individuals came
together to make events memorable, the best way
that they knew how. I’ll look back and think about
the neighbors who did virtual baby showers for
those who were expecting and the piles of gifts that
were lined up for them at their doorstep, by people
they may or may not have known. I’ll remember the
many drive-by birthday parades for children with
honking horns, vehicles decorated to the tee, and
waving hands and smiling faces hanging out the
windows. I’ll remember the letters that were handdrawn
and mailed in by the hundreds to local
nursing homes for Grandparent’s Day.
I’ll remember the way that God worked in the
hearts of others to turn the biggest COVID-19 mess
into an even bigger message–a message of love,
hope, and community.
In trying times like these, when it has felt like
there’s a lot of uncertainty and not a lot of good,
COVID-19 has proved to me that the opposite can
also be true. That within the uncertainty and
unfortunate times, we can be certain that “good”
or “goodwill” isn’t just a circumstance. It is in fact
something that lives within the hearts of a great
community.
A great community like ours.
Hometown MADISON • 13