What a Difference Three Weeks Makes

Three weeks ago tonight I was on a high. I had just closed a show that meant more to me than any other in my career. I felt like the work I had done and the success of the show took me places I had never been in my 46 years of acting, and tonight, 3 weeks later, unless I have to get groceries, I am staying in my house along with most of the world . It's called social distancing, and it's something I have never experienced in the 56 years I have been on this earth. We are all trying to do our part to "flatten the curve" of a deadly virus that has taken so many lives already, and I fear will take many more. I am sure you have read over and over again about the Coronavirus and COVID-19. That's not what this is about. I am one of the lucky ones. I am able to work from home. I have not lost my job nor any of my salary. My children are grown. They have not missed their graduation or senior prom or saying good-bye to their friends. All things considered we are very lucky, but all of this has really made me think. As I observe what goes on in the world around me, I am in awe. Mostly I cannot believe the way a large part of our country is acting about what has to be done in order to make this virus manageable, not to eradicate it, just make it manageable so we don't have to choose who will be treated because we are so overcrowded in our hospitals and have no equipment or beds to accommodate every sick person. I am sad, and my heart hurts.
I have recently gotten into books on tape. I live further from work, and I have about a 30 minute drive to and from. In the past 6 months I have listened to 2 books in particular that I want to talk about. They are The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Lilac Girls. Both took place during World War II. I have always been very interested in that time in history, but I think about America then and America now. During World War II, almost every man, woman and child did their part to contribute to the effort to win the war. Women went to work in factories, and kids did scrap metal drives, and just about every male who was able couldn't wait to enlist to fight for their country. Hollywood might romanticize it a little, but they weren't far from the truth. The books I read talked about the sacrifices and conditions in England and Poland during the war. Those people did everything they could to survive, and so everyone could survive. There was no selfishness in the camps, in the occupied towns. Most were united against a common enemy. "United we stand. Divided we fall." That's not just a saying on a coffee mug. It's the truth. If we would all work together, we could help our medical personnel make it through this. Lives, unfortunately, would still be lost as in any war, but perhaps not as many. Yes, I know many of us are following all the rules, doing what our medical community is telling us to do, but I am shocked at the amount of people who are doing exactly what they want and ignoring every plea to help. Have we become that selfish? Why can't we see how lucky we are? No one is invading our homes, taking every possession we own, all of our food in exchange for ration cards. No one is dragging us into the street and shooting us because they can. We are being asked to stay home and watch television. This should not be difficult. I know that I'm preaching to the choir here. Most of my readers, I am sure, are doing their part, but if anyone is reading this who maybe thinks we're not fighting a war, WE ARE! Please, please do what you're asked. We can unite, we can come together! We have to!