"Hope."

Covid-19 lock down progressed and the growing fear as I left my final shift from work, I walked past shops that closed up with signs addressing the hopes of returning on a given date only for the dread inside of the unknown.... the unknown. How could we be so sure we'd return as if nothing happened, that the panic and fear that slowly became a plague of its own, would just disappear. How foolish we were. Almost seemed like we were losing hope. The hope I had seemed to lose itself when my job called and gave me the news that the predetermined date of our reopening would never happen and that we would close until further notice. Hope faded. Sadness crept back in.

The pandemic, for me, felt like the end of the World. Self isolation officially started that day like the days before after my final shift and it just felt boring & dull. Even if I had everything to keep me entertained I still felt like I had nothing to do. But something came. At least to me, maybe many others that shared this special thing with me, it came like it always did. No matter how lost or alone, afraid or in question, there it was shining like a beacon of hope. And I remembered how I use to feel as a child, when I first met that hope. It taught me then as it continues to teach me now and everywhere I go, to keep the faith and keep the hope. The hope that one day, even as the world changes and grows beyond itself;

"You will be okay. You will be stronger, wiser, you will be braver than you are now. So get up, do your part in this world and continue the fight, cause fear is in us all but it's the courageous hope that'll always win if you allow it to stand by you."

M.G. 03/26/2020