Perhaps

I’ve been trying to sit down and write this blog for a while. But my way is to be optimistic and positive. I always look for the silver lining. Right now, my way feels trite. I am safe and well, as is my husband and family. We are largely retired, so our financial situation is stable. And we live quietly, so our today is not so different than the days before. But so many are living in fear and desperation. So many are putting their lives at risk in the event someone like me needs their help. So many are seeing their businesses sink, perhaps never to recover. So many do not know if they will eat today. How do I dare to look for the bright side in all of this?

It is said that each generation is defined by a singular event. My grandparents were defined by the Great Depression, my parents World War Two, my generation by the Vietnam War and my adult children by the 9/11 attacks. My grandchildren, and perhaps even the next generation, will be forever defined by this pandemic, Covid 19. 

I had the honor to visit Hiroshima many years ago. As we walked through the museum that told the horrific story of the World War Two bombing, I was filled with shame. I could not believe the guests and workers nearby could be so kind and polite to a couple of visiting Americans. But they were. Further, we learned the mayor of Hiroshima sends a letter to the leader of any country about to test an atom bomb asking for restraint, pleading that what happened in Hiroshima would never happen again. Outside in Peace Memorial Park, school children in tidy uniforms stood passing out notes of peace and love to all visitors. 

Perhaps we have a chance to do as they did, to take this time of horror and use it for the good. I see a glimpse of it happening now, with the front line workers risking their lives to save others, with all of us wearing our masks and respecting the space of those around us. With the doctors and scientists working so hard to find a way to bring health back to humanity. With photographs like the one above of India, showing us what clean air looks like for the first time in decades. This generation will inherit these positive examples also. Perhaps, rather than being defined by a pandemic they will see a chance to do right by our planet and its humanity. And perhaps given this frightening, tragic time they will do better with this chance than those of us who came before them. Perhaps.