When it is All Over

When the pandemic is all over, what will I remember?

Living in fear of this unknown and new disease.

I will Remember how this pandemic brought out the best in us. We found time for family. In the social distancing we found new ways of connecting. We discovered that what is essential at the end is family. I will remember the sacrifice of nurses and doctors and many other care givers who gave their all so that the sick can be cared for. I will remember this as the silver lining in the pandemic.

I will Remember the Restrictions. 

So many!

Of travel – of people who can travel in one car or bus

Of how many people can gather at any one time.

Above all I will Remember the Restrictions

Around Church – How many months passed without mass… How we celebrated Easter at home and missed the ceremonies…

Not one year but two!

And what became the New Normal! Masks. Social distancing. Washing hands. Use of sanitizers. The new normal  brought us new perspectives, new vocabulary… Isolation. Quarantine.

The hope that was kindred when the vaccine was finally discovered.

I will Remember  the daily reports on live TV about  new infections, deaths, recovered cases. The rate of infections growing in other countries and the fear that the same thing will happen here.

I will Remember the joy of knowing more people have recovered than are sick… The hope that the curve is slowly coming down to acceptable percentages.

In fact I will Remember that WHO had set 2% as the indicator that infections are controlled.

I will Recall the anxiety I felt when I heard that all ICU beds in the hospitals around Nairobi are full… When I heard that people died in cars because there were no beds in hospital.

I will Remember the anxiety I felt when our friends and family were sick and we could not visit them…  When I too was sick and in isolation…

I will never Forget how much I and in fact all of us prayed – For a cure, for a vaccine, for an end to the pandemic. And God heard our prayers. He rescued us from the snares of Corona and brought us to healing. For in the end I understood the fragility of our lives and our outmost dependence on God, who is above all, cares for all, and controls all things… Even our lives.

I will remember. And thank God it all came to an end, having brought me closer to God.

Sr. Mary Gitau IBVM
Kenyan Province