DY: In Just a few Words (#4)

Everything has a silver lining, even a pandemic.

It’s Thanksgiving Week. This year that means lots of calories without loved ones to share them and football without spectators. We all know what to blame for that. It’s the relentless COVID-19.

I set out to see if there was anything positive to harvest for Thanksgiving from our COVID experience. Don’t we all feel better when we can find a bright side? Nobody wants to hang around with negative people. In that spirit, here’s my list of Pandemic Thank Yous this Thanksgiving.

Thank You Pandemic that Karen and I still get along after all these years, which makes what I refer to as house arrest much more palatable than it would otherwise be.

Thank You Pandemic for the opportunity to enjoy numerous socially distanced outdoor Happy Hours with neighbors in the last six months.

Thank You Pandemic for constantly reminding me to wear my mask to protect both others and myself.

Thank You Pandemic that I’m not one of the people who think they have a Constitutional right to expose their fellow citizens by not wearing a mask.

Thank You Pandemic that I haven’t bought into some sort of witchcraft solution to your ugly presence in our lives.

Thank You Pandemic for reminding me that I am not immune to getting sick and that I need to pay attention to eating, drinking and living smart(er) especially since I am ancient and vulnerable.

Thank You Pandemic for giving me the time to clean my garage and my basement storage area several times each.

Thank You Pandemic for helping me save a boatload of money by avoiding expensive indoor restaurants for eight months so far and counting.

Thank You Pandemic for being a constant reminder that America needs to prepare a lot better to be ready for future crises.

Thank You Pandemic for giving my wife the opportunity to make and donate 350 masks to the Cleveland Clinic and for our friends on the street to donate 2,000+ masks.

Thank You Pandemic for inspiring me to do some home video Zumba exercise.

Thank You Pandemic for convincing me rather quickly that outdoor exercise beats indoor Zumba every time.

Thank You Pandemic for reminding me it’s more important to spend time looking for solutions than to blame ordinary Chinese people for something they couldn’t control and never intended.

Thank You Pandemic for spotlighting the importance and selflessness of both front-line health care workers and all those who support them, especially their families.

Thank You Pandemic for reminding us to pay attention to science.

Thank You Pandemic for giving our messed up world a good wake-up call.

To all who have died and to those continuing to fight for their lives, you are not alone. We are thankful for you and know that you will be in our thoughts and memories this Thanksgiving (and always).

And to the Pandemic.... You are cunning and quick, but we are smarter and faster. We will defeat you. And we will learn from this experience. Now, get out of here. That would make us really thankful this holiday season.

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DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.

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