Happy (Virtual) Easter
Donald Trump recently asked if you were better off four years ago than today. As I looked back at my posts from that time, it was a reminder of just how dark and sinister it was four years ago when we were in the jaws of a coronavirus global pandemic that had shut down the country (and much of the world), preventing families from gathering on Easter Sunday.
On Easter Sunday 2020, my family from across the country gathered on a Zoom screen to spend some time together on a day when we normally would have all gathered at one house for our usual big family meal and Easter activities.
As I re-read this post, it made me grateful for the leadership currently in the White House.
Happy (Virtual) Easter
Originally published April 12, 2020
Reminiscent of “The Brady Bunch,” stacked in boxes on the iPhone screen, my family’s smiling faces looked back at me on this Easter Sunday, sharing greetings and life updates and weather reports.
The weather reports were because we were, literally, stretched across the country from coast to coast: Richmond and Shenandoah Valley in Virginia … Nashville … Houston … and Los Angeles. Nashville had rain; LA and Virginia were cloudy and gray.
It’s a coronavirus Easter. With everyone sheltering in place as the worldwide pandemic continues, meeting online was a necessity at a time when our family members in RVA, Shenandoah Valley, and Nashville usually spend this time together and Skype with the others. This year we all were on the Facebook Chat session getting our family fix.
At an unusual and historic time when everyone is working from home, businesses are closed, many retail stores are closed, and we are encouraged to travel outside our homes only for groceries, pharmacies, and other essentials, many are talking of spending their days in their jammies (the running joke is, “I changed out of my daytime pajamas into my nighttime pajamas”).
If they’re like me, they’re saving a bunch on makeup. Why put on base, mascara, blush, eye shadow, and whatever else when there’s nowhere to go? Besides, my skin is breathing like it hasn’t breathed in a long time.
But today I found myself not only pulling out my makeup bag but also searching my closet for an Easter outfit to wear, and I even ran a brush through my hair. There are few occasions to get dressed up these days.
We are a cat family so the ones with cats brought them to the camera for all to see on the screen. Food, afternoon activities, and pending tornado warnings in Nashville and beyond were discussed. For me, it wasn’t even the conversation that mattered … it was laying my eyeballs on my children and their spouses, and my nieces and sisters and brothers-in-law.
It’s a different Easter for everyone. In many places here in Virginia and around the country some are mourning family and friends who have died from Covid-19 … others have loved ones in ICU, or slowly recovering. On the front lines, health care workers are spending 24/7 caring for those affected by it all. Their Easters are different, too, and we cannot thank them enough for what they do.
As Americans, we will get beyond this. It will be a while … it will most likely take development of a vaccine (and that will, from what the experts say, a year or longer) before we feel safe going back out in crowds. But we will eventually get beyond it.
As for today, we are reaching out to our loved ones the best we can. And for many that will be a virtual Easter.
Be well … and happy Easter!
Four years later we not only have a vaccine that began distributing in February-March 2021 but also boosters that continue to roll out on a regular basis to cover new strains of coronavirus that come along.
Businesses, restaurants, schools, and the world reopened.
When the pandemic hit, financial experts predicted runaway inflation as we emerged from shutdown but the U.S. has fared far better than the rest of the world.
Grocery prices remain high and housing has definitely been affected but overall inflation has been held low. Business and stocks continue to recover; indeed, stocks hit record highs last week.
The bottom line is there are still areas that need to be addressed but the U.S. has done well during Covid recovery.
Have a blessed and happy Easter.
For a deeper dive, check out these resources….
-U.S. Department of Treasury: The U.S. Economic Recovery in International Context
-Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Chart Book: Tracking the Recovery From the Pandemic Recession
-Pew Research Center: How Americans View the Coronavirus, COVID-19 Vaccines Amid Declining Levels of Concern
