Daffodils and Hellebores
Pictured: a hellebore, the “Lenten rose”
How many times have you heard this phrase when you have a problem or situation and the answer escapes you: “Oh just sleep on it, amazing what 12 hours will do!”
Well, the Covid pandemic took a bit more than 12 hours, but congratulations - you made it through 12 months to this week’s anniversary of the quarantine! This weekend is the start of Spring, and I’d like to take a retrospective look at why this Spring is probably the greatest Spring that I have experienced during my time on earth.
Now, some of you may think I’m hyperbolizing to get you to read this week’s article. But let’s look at the facts…
Last year, at this time, our office was going through new sterilization protocols to fight a virus we knew nothing about.
Within two weeks, we were mandated to shut down, first time in my 36 years!
We remained closed for six weeks… then saw a few emergencies, using triple sterilization procedures against an unknown foe.
My normal hosting of our family’s Easter dinner, sharing expelled air with 45 relatives, was viewed poorly by DeWine…
We cancelled, of course, as it was the socially responsible thing to do. Church services (and most vestiges of the Easter Bunny) were also cancelled. You were allowed (or felt safe) to cut your grass, as long as you stayed in your own yard with no more than one person on the mower at a time.
Last Spring really sucked!
But I feel the biggest issue was the hopelessness we felt by not knowing what lies ahead in our future… and we sure had no idea how we were going to get there. The quarantine last Spring was restful at first, but then it was scary… the despair and depression that ran rampant through society I hope not to experience again in my life.
People did more than clench and grind their teeth. It was very interesting and scary, as to whom we looked to for information and hope. The internet, television, and talk radio sure spawned overnight epidemiology experts, who were quick to offer advice, until by mid-summer one really didn’t know whom to believe.
It was as if we were in a cave just waiting for the stone to be rolled away…
And we would see a brighter day and the rest of our family and friends.
Hindsight being 20-20, five years from now they will have studied this last year from stem to stern and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a better understanding of what we just went through. Let’s roll the calendar ahead to this weekend…
I truly feel this last year was an excellent example of the tenacity, determination, and even intestinal fortitude that humans will exhibit when the chips are down.
The research may not have been to everyone’s liking - and with any medication, there are side effects - but the production of three separate vaccines in as short a time as was allotted is bordering on amazing and possibly biblical.
This Spring, I feel, is my greatest because the stone has been rolled away…
I know that for the most part, I am doing ok and my family, patients, and friends are going to make it.
The future may be a bit cloudy and not totally in focus, but we are all going to have one nonetheless. So let’s take a minute to look at what we have to be thankful for this Spring…
Positive Covid numbers and deaths are dropping daily. We have toilet paper and hand sanitizers. Heck, we have plenty of masks. And we have adjusted fairly well to social distancing. Even restaurants are starting to reopen.
I was at the art museum in Cleveland last weekend and, in 5 weeks, Cleveland will host the NFL draft (as the downtown vibe comes back to life!).
And yes, the Pfister’s Easter dinner will be held this year, a little smaller, but I’m thankful that we can get back to breaking bread as a family once again.
This will truly be a great Spring to remember.
So get outside and enjoy the longer days, warmer breezes, the fresh smell of nature waking up, and the daffodils and hellebores. What is a hellebore you ask? A pink or purple delicate first flower of Spring, also called the Lenten Rose.
I wish each of you the confidence of a hellebore, that once it has broken through the earth that has protected it all winter, it knows it can blossom and it will be a great Spring!
Cheers to the stone being rolled away,
- Dr. Pfister