Hindsight provides for lessons learned

While it seems a lifetime ago, the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 are only five years past. My column from this week back then was hopeful that it would be short-lived, that sanity and humanity would prevail and all would be right with the world. By the next week, March 25, 2020, the governor issued a stay-at-home order for all but essential workers in Idaho.

It’s truly a blessing that we didn’t and couldn’t know how much havoc would be wreaked on this country and our communities over the next two years. The damage done to our collective mental health and relationships over the course of the next nearly two years was unimaginable.

So, five years later I’m optimistic that while we’re all somewhat worse for the wear, we are so much smarter. Back then, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Now we do.

Main Street March 18, 2020

Here’s what I know to be true ... the sun will rise tomorrow. Other than that, things are changing so quickly in our little corner of the world — and the whole world — it’s hard not to get whiplash watching and reading the news updates.

Therein lies the conundrum. The all things/all day and night stories about the coronavirus can and do create anxiety and panic. But being informed is crucial in these uncharted waters. The key is to apply a rational filter to the information we’re receiving.

Other than paper products and hand sanitizer there’s no shortage of empathy for our neighbors with already compromised health, parents with children at home from school and/or who live paycheck to paycheck with that paycheck no longer coming in because businesses are closing. There’s the front line workers in hospitals, assisted living, grocery stores and first responding who are in the line of fire with the virus ... our neighbors.

Less than a week ago, the cancellation of NCAA March Madness seemed tragic. Today, schools are closed, disappointed students missing instruction and their plays, concerts, sports and perhaps even proms, put things in perspective.

Nonprofits depending upon fundraising events having to pivot with the cancellations or postponements. It can be overwhelming to ponder the depth of the cost of this pandemic, both human and economic.

Unlike the terrorist attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001, when everyone came together in solidarity to fly American flags and help a city and a nation heal, this is a scenario where we’re doing our duty as citizens by voluntarily isolating ourselves at home as best we can.

I have no words of wisdom since in my 67 years on earth I’ve not lived through anything quite like this. I participated in air raid drills in elementary school, hiding under our desks in the ’50s. In the ’60s there was the assassination of President Kennedy, and in the past couple of decades there’s been mass shootings that have reverberated through the fabric of our lives.

In 2020 we’re experiencing an unknown along with the rest of the world. There’s no playbook, everyone’s flying by the seat of their pants, learning as we go. We can be courteous and kind, we can seek to help and extend comfort however we’re able, we can take a deep breath, soldier on and know that this too will pass. Have faith.

Here’s to you, this village of readers-friends-neighbors; we’ll celebrate our resilience on the flip side of this all. In the meantime, extend a little extra grace to everyone around you ... from a safe distance, of course.

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Happy Main Street Birthdays today to Taryn Nichols (40!), Kris Storey (80!), Megan Merry, Troy Jones, Judey Brown, Patsy Andres, Janet Batchelder and Taryn Moliter. The first day of spring birthdays for Pam Houser, Kristi Granier, Aaron Sadler (18!), John Blanchette, Tad Thompson, Julie Clark, Carolyn Anderson and Matt Hansen. On Friday, Brandie Chapman, Trey Bartoo, Luke Paul, Michelle Lewis, Marla Lopez, Trudie Chamberlan, Julie Billetz (70!), Steve Hanson, Jacque Kress, Derek Teal and Jack Crawford turn the page on another year. Jessica Bonar, Beverly Larsen, Rich Anstine, Greg Cook, Jack Budvarson, Julie Perry, Katie Vaughan, Pam Adams, Boston Pierce, Cole Jaworski (21!) and Rob Carpenter frolic Saturday. Sunday birthdays for former Lake City Harmonizer Herb Severtson (95!), Tad Leach, Paul Ray, Lori Weaver, Julie Perry, Linda Lewis (93!), Landon Stepro and Jacey Brockhoff. On Monday, Esther Paul and Nichole Frank have their cake and eat it, too. On March 25, Jamé Davis, Ray Oliver, Colleen Brown, Brenda Buckingham, Alyssa Romero, Mike Carle and Alexander Carle do a birthday dance.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email thoreson.kerri@gmail.com.