Hope

“…it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person…” F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Since the beginning of self-isolation and social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, I’ve been wanting to write; however, I’ve not been sure of what to write. Then, Friday it was nice out, and we went for a family walk. Before we came back in the house, I checked the rear of the house for storm damage from the previous night. That’s when I passed my flowerbed and saw the tiny bloom on my phlox. In that moment, I knew what to write about: hope.

As we are in the midst of a global pandemic, the media is full of gloom and doom. Yet if you look for it, there are signs of hope in the media. Here are some that I think need to be shared:

• Two of the elderly at the nursing home in Washington where so many have died fully recovered.
• Two of the people diagnosed in Kentucky have fully recovered (perhaps more by now)
• People are doing the kindest things for the elderly in assisted living and nursing homes like putting up bird feeders outside their windows
• People are finding alternate ways to visit while maintaining social distance
• Andy Beshear is leading our state by showing how much he cares for the people
• China (as of yesterday) has had no new mainland cases for 3 days
• Last week, our local school district delivered 26,911 meals to school age children and elderly/at risk communities members
• Government is coming together to help those facing unemployment, loss of health care, etc.
• Groups of people are coming together to raise funds and deliver meals to those in need.

All of these example have helped me to have hope during this pandemic. I not only have hope for health, I also have hope that we will come out of this stronger. I have hope that we will come out of this as better people who are generally more caring. I have hope that our planet will come out in better shape because people are using less resources. I have hope that everyone else can see the silver lining in this cloud!

I’d love to know how you are seeing hope! Share in the comments!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby