Like many of us, I haven’t gotten to actually SEE and be with
any of my kids for about two months now. We have two that we’ve raised and two
that have joined our family and I miss each one of them. Yes we’ve spoken on
the phone and actually had a few video chats but I miss being able to hug them.
The holidays were a letdown, we usually make a point of having a Passover Seder
together, but it didn’t happen this year. Yes, I know that has been the case
for most parents of grown children. And I feel weepy and miss them so much.
And what really, really bothers me most is I know how many
other people they see every single day… You see all four of them are first
responders. Two of them are working “in-house” positions along with others, and
two of them are riding in ambulances and treating innumerable patients all day
long — sometimes their hours are so long that they are too exhausted to answer
their phones or return text messages. I am so damn proud of each of them, they
are heroes.
I am not insulted because my kids don’t have the time to see
me, or that they can’t because of social distancing. I am insulted by the fact
that so many people just assume that there will be a response each time they
call 911 and they seem to forget the sacrifices that each responder makes often
for very little pay. I am insulted by the fact that all these highly trained
individuals, of which my children are a part of, are forgotten when the crisis
is over. Heck some of them aren’t even considered to be ESSENTIAL even though
they are risking their own lives with every single patient and every single time
tones go out.
For now everyone is referring to our FRONTLINE during this
Coronavirus crisis and thanking them with thoughtful meals and cards, blue
ribbons on trees, and cheers. What is going to happen when this crisis is over?
Will our first responders be forgotten again? Will most of today’s heroes have
to continue working multiple jobs to pay their bills? I’ve seen it happen
before and I worry that it will happen again.
It’s time to recognize our TRUE heroes, the ones who respond
to cries for help, the ones who save our lives even when it puts them at risk.
Make a list NOW of them people you are able to depend upon for all of the
important stuff — all the people who come when you dial 911, all the people who
restock the grocery store shelves, all the people who maintain the roads so
that trucks can get through with supplies, all the nurses and doctors in the ER
and ICU, our military and National Guard, the people who man the food shelters…
these are the people we need to value, we need to thank, and we need to
remember.
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