6 feet is closer and further than we think.

The World Health Organization officially announced the coronavirus pandemic on March 11th, 2020.

At the time I was the Director of Nursing. Emails started flooding in. Phones rang off the hook. Policies were drawn up and immediately implemented, just to change almost hourly as we gathered more information.

The air itself felt thick and heavy. The entire globe’s axis felt just as confused as we did.

Even our worst nightmares could not have foreseen the magnitude of what has unfolded in the years since.

Over 7 million human beings have died worldwide from the covid19 pandemic. That number is still rising daily.

The virus could not see and did not consider economic status, race, ethnicity, religion, political stance, occupation, sexual orientation, gender, age, belief’s, income, character, location, preferences, personality, genetics, education. Read that number again. 7 million and counting.

There is no clear direction or goal as I write this. Whatever you take away from it is for you to determine. Personally, I just started typing to get this lump out of my throat. It is making me nauseous.

If I thought it would help, I would share countless stories and describe detailed images of things I experienced on the front lines of the pandemic that would have you clutching at your chest, leaving you gasping for air as you read them. It has been devastatingly life altering and an honor.

Four years ago, we covered our faces with scarfs, socks, bandanas, and fabric masks that we kept in paper bags to reuse because it was all we had. We were scared.

We stopped watching tv for entertainment and only watched it for survival, because maybe just maybe something they said would save us. We were scared.

Those who could shut down, stocked up, and stayed home. We were scared.

Even then we had no idea. How could we have.

In many ways we have since returned to a glimmer of what the world used to be. Maybe in this case ignorance is bliss, maybe avoidance is too.

But what about the child whose fundamental development was affected by not seeing facial expressions as they learned about the world around them. Or the children, including mine, who were denied the comforting touch of their mother or father because we were terrified that rocking them to sleep would make them contract the virus that was responsible for more flatlines and toe tags then we could count if we tried. The educational, social, and emotional implications that will forever change an entire generation that we are yet to even see the full capacity of. The businesses that shut their door and could never reopen them. The people who were stuck at homes that were not safe. The increase in addiction, suicide, domestic violence, and homelessness.

Band aides do not fix bullet holes. Avoidance does not erase. Carrying on like it never happened is not the cure.

6 feet is closer and further than we think.

Until we can all get comfortable with being uncomfortable, we cannot make sustainable changes for the better. We have to do whatever it is that is to be done united. There is no way that it was all for nothing. We have lost more than 7 million of our loved ones. The secondary and other losses are too numerous to even fathom.

Somethings cannot be fixed; we carry them with us always.

So much is out of our control, and I have no idea what needs to be done but I do know that if we all move from a place of love, we might just make a difference.

Photo Credit: Sherisavino