NEW ORLEANS — On March 9, we learned of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Louisiana. Then, our world began to change.
What few of us realized at that time was how much and how fast we’d have to change.
A virus… What some call “the invisible enemy” has made so many visible changes to our world.
It has changed the way we celebrate. Parades of cars drive down the street of a home where a birthday is observed. Friends aren’t there to watch the candles extinguished.
It changed the way we govern. Public policy is now decided via Zoom meeting, a technology many city councils had no idea how to use a month ago.
It has robbed us, at least temporarily, of the most common social interactions.
Handshakes are replaced by six feet of space between us all.
A pat on back for a job well done now replaced with garden signs expressing our gratitude, gatherings in backyards or porches have been replaced with conversation by computer.
It has changed the way we talk.
We now discuss things like “social distancing” and “flattening the curve," phrases that didn’t exist for us just a month ago.
But there are so many things that haven’t changed.
Our resolve. Our appreciation for those who bravely face risk and danger. Our willingness to sacrifice for the greater good.
The surgeon general said this week would be our Pearl Harbor week, our 9/11 week.
But he wasn’t talking about victims. He was talking about coming together as a community... coming together as a nation.
That will make us stronger, and that might be the best change of all.
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