It's now almost Thanksgiving. Once a holiday where families and friends set to gather around the table not only to feast but to give thanks. To give thanks to everything they cherish in life. This Thanksgiving will not be like the others. This Thanksgiving is the start of the Covid holiday season.
For most, the holidays will be a ghost of their former self. Numerous families will have empty seats. Some are empty for traveling bans and others for reasonings that are much worse. For those of us who will have loved ones around us, we gather in fear of the spread. A spread that is not only contagious to all of us but deadly to those of great age.
As we sit across from each other, millions of thoughts travel within our brains. Am I prepared for this? Am I safe? Am I endangering my loved one sitting no more than 6 feet away? Is sharing a feast this Thanksgiving worth the after thought of the potential panic? But, how can we not do the holidays?
Years passed dozens of people gathered in one place. This year, only a handful will. A number no bigger than a toddler can count up to. Depression will set in. Loneliness will become apparent. Emotional changes are approaching to a mass of people. Staying inside during summer, giving up vacations for lockdowns, that was the easy part. But, for the highest suicidal rate time of the year, this is where the real inner strength of a person comes visible.
Without knowing, thousands on thousands rely on the holiday season to feel fulfillment in their lives. The sight of looking at a loved one, holding a significant other after being deployed for months or even going over a someone's house to see their dog that your jealous that they have. These are joyful moments that people will not have.
Living with Covid is a new lifestyle for all around the world. No one was ready for what came to be. Some thought it was a sign of Armageddon. Others thought it was a hoax, nothing more than a government stunt to abolish financial institutions. Whichever side a person chooses, one thing is certain. The virus does not choose sides. The virus does not choose when to take time off for a holiday. We the people need to continue to adjust and adapt to this lifestyle.
No matter what questions are asked in a persons head. Only one question matters and it might not hit you at the moment, but will definitely after. What are the odds, that one of those ten people have Covid I just ate with?
The holidays are not going to be the same. The holidays are not going to have the same warm fuzzy feeling. This year is the year, we the people will realize the growth that needs to be. The growth of our thought process and our ability to embrace what is right in front of us. The life that we have, the life that we get to wake up and decide that today is a day that I am new.
This is only the start of the holiday season. Thanksgiving starts the five week period of the highest suicidal rates pre-covid. Loneliness, depression, anxiety and anger will be more apparent. Confusion and a sense of lost. But, that is going to be normal. To everyone that is reading, it is going to be normal. Even if the house is less full or possibly empty, during this Covid holiday season, not a single loved one will be forgotten.
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