How Are You, Really? Confronting the Other Pandemic
THIS WEEK FROM THE STREAM January 28, 2021 How Are You, Really? Confronting the Other Pandemic Annemarie McLean January 26, 2021 How are you, really? I ask the question simply because it needs to be asked — both of others and myself. Like so many, my mind is preoccupied with an abundance of concerns. Like the one about my 70-year-old friend who is on day eight of COVID seclusion, having his food delivered outside his bedroom door by his wife. Or my 15-year-old daughter’s question playing on repeat in my mind regarding when, or even if, she’ll ever be able to go to high school without a mask. She said she misses seeing her friends’ faces. I said, “Be glad you’re even in school.” Add my grocery store encounter yesterday to the list. I made eye contact with a fellow shopper across the aisle and smiled at them. I was immediately hit with, “Did they know I smiled? Could they read the smile through my eyes? They certainly couldn’t see it through the mask!” Compound these fleeting thoughts wi...