When terrorists struck the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Northern Virginia., and a third jet that crashed in a small field in Somerset County on September 11, 2001, first responders, firemen, and police rushed to help the survivors.
In the days that followed, we came together in sadness, compassion, and hope.
When the Spaceship Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight and fell out of the sky on January 28, 1986, we were all saddened. Most of us didn’t personally know the crew members, including teacher Christa McAuliffe, but they still represented the best in us all.
In the days that followed, we came together in sadness, compassion, and hope.
When the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 mysteriously disappeared one day in March 2014, family members with passengers onboard were obviously impacted, but so too were people across the globe. We all questioned our shared existence. We questioned what happened.
The same thing happened too when the San José Mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert caved in and trapped 33 miners 2,300 feet underground, until they were able to be rescued and brought to the surface a record 69 days later.
In both instances, in the days that followed, we came together in sadness, compassion, and hope.
Life is like that.
Slowing us down
We’re all living our lives. One minute, we’re worried about getting home on time. We’re running a mile a minute. We cut-off the guy behind us with little if any thought. We’re worried about numero-uno. We’re worried about me, myself and I. But then, something happens that slows us down and makes us think about things bigger than ourselves.
Coronavirus is sort of like that.
We’re all connected
A few short weeks ago, maybe longer depending on where you’re reading this blog, we were all worried about ourselves. We were living our lives. Now all bets are off, everything has been turned on its head. For example, I watched a young man in the grocery store the other day help an old woman by reaching up and pulling down a large package of paper towels. The man kept his distance, but he still went out of his way to help the woman. In the age of Coronavirus, I wanted to spend as little time as possible in the store, but I was struck by the power of the simple act of kindness and the smile on the woman’s face.
With the image fresh in my mind, when it came time to leave, I let an older gentleman go in front of me. In the grand scheme of things, my simple act didn’t change the situation much, but I’m convinced that every little bit helps.
And that’s how we’ll get through this . . . together.
We’re all in this together.
Writing from the Heart with Brian 
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