Pandemic’s Effects Part 2

Last week I sent out my NEWSLETTER. Hope you got it because this post picks up from there and goes on. Here’s the link if you’re not receiving it, and if not, why not? 😊  https://mailchi.mp/7b701ce592e4/pandemics-effects

Last week I wrote about things I thought would be better because we’ve gone through these dark days.  So, let’s look at some others.

We’ve been aware for years about the disparity between the wealth of many minorities and whites. This pandemic has ripped any veil of concealment from that and highlights the wealth/health gap. It’s painted in bold letters the names of the large numbers of African Americans who’ve died from Covid 19. Death numbers way out of proportion to their numbers in the general population. And let’s remember those aren’t numbers. They are people with all their loved ones and friends who suffered this loss.

I may be too much of an optimist, but I gotta believe this pandemic will push us to make better and more humanitarian decisions about health care. And, the environment. And education.

Wednesday was the 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day. And while we’ve made progress, we still have a long way to go to protect the earth and make sure it’s around in a livable manner for our kids and grandkids. 

Let’s talk about education. (Something I know a bit about. 😊) Some districts have been able to kick into virtual learning more easily than others. It’s easier to do that if all your students have access to a computer/laptop and the internet. Private schools? No sweat. Many public school students, not so much. Because of the big gaps in internet availability and laptops, this whole distance learning can be more of a challenge in some areas of our country—think rural—and in districts with higher numbers of economically disadvantaged kiddos. That needs to change.

The parents who had already moved into home schooling are certainly ahead of the learning curve. Afterwards, whenever that is, do I think we’ll see more folks join the home schoolers? No. People are being able to home school now (in some form or another) because they are staying home from their jobs. Afterwards, the ones who were already homeschooling will continue because it’s a personal decision they’ve made for their family.

I hope and expect everyone will come out of this experience with a heightened appreciation for teachers, for those in the medical professions, and those in the front lines in our grocery stores and food supply chain. Because of the pandemic, we’ve learned how interconnected we all are. That’s a good thing, and hopefully this will lead to better decisions to help folks in those jobs and thus all of us.So, we keep on keeping on. We practice social distancing. Please practice social distancing—6 ft. That’s roughly two arm’s lengths away. If we go out, we wear our masks. We do online exercise rather than going to the gym or Pilates studio. Our meetings and religious services are on Zoom or some other site. We make an attempt to continue eating healthily. (Though I’ve noticed an uptick on Facebook posts about baking. I’m not baking, but I admit to wanting and eating more sweets than I should! LOL Thank heavens for Noom because I’m able to maintain right now. )

We reach out to others to check on how they are doing. If we have extra dollars, we send them to agencies that can help the hurting. Our church has a program called Just Bring It that we’ve been doing for several years. Each month we bring items to help a different agency. Now we’ve changed it to Just Send It, encouraging our members to send money to church to be directed this month to the Tarrant Area Food Bank. I’m sure you have something similar wherever you live.

These are some of the good I hope to see come out of our experiences with the pandemic. Do you see any good coming from our pain? I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks to the five people who volunteered to be a Beta Reader for TAINTED. Still slaving away on the overused words. Still shooting for mid-May to send it to you.

In the meantime, if y’all need something to read, 😊 check out. TRUTH BE TOLD, my second published book. Set in Fort Worth, Texas.

Meg Bourland, a SWAT member visiting her family in Fort Worth, wants to stop the person blackmailing her father. She seeks help from  her brother’s former homicide detective partner, Scott McClain, who’s struggling to accept his physical limitations received saving her brother’s life.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2gTtfDs

Amazon Print: http://amzn.to/2hs7UTk

KOBO  https://bit.ly/2hAEccW

B & N   https://bit.ly/2wUzrRq

iTunes https://apple.co/2Xtp7wU

Please, please take the virus seriously. Stay in. Be safe. Be well.