My Hometown vs. Covid

My friends,

I am taking a break from my usual format for an impassioned plea in a dire time.

I grew up in the town of Stow, Ohio. Jeff grew up in Streetsboro, Ohio. I went to Jr. High in Munroe Falls, Ohio, and went to church in Hudson, Ohio.

As we have been watching the numbers rise up and up and up, Jeff and I have equated the death toll to our homes. More people have died than if both of our hometowns and the surrounding towns all died.

·      Stow Ohio, population 34,857 as of 2018 Census

·      Hudson Ohio, population of 22,285 as of 2018 Census

·      Streetsboro Ohio, population 16,503 as of 2018 Census

·      Munroe Falls, Ohio population 5,077 as of 2018 Census

·      Total of 78,452

Covid deaths 80,128 as of this morning (It went up by 10 people as I was writing this!)

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Every teacher who ever taught us in school. Every pastor or Sunday School teacher we ever had at church. Every one of our friends, their siblings, their parents. The football team and the band. The cheerleaders and the chess club. The guy at the meat market who used to save my dad the good steaks because they were pals. My mom and all the ladies at the Baptist church who used to make bandages for people in Haiti. The guy who rented me skates on Friday night at the local roller rink. The mailman, the librarians who checked out my books, the guy who ran the frozen custard stand. All the folks at Osman’s Pies, Eddie’s Bike Shop, Isaly’s, Stoddard’s, Parasson’s, and Altieri’s Pizza. All the merchants in the little shops in Hudson Square. My entire family, aunts uncles, cousins, grandparents, and all of their friends. My piano teacher, Grandma’s friends at the Garden Club, the guy who drove the ice cream truck. Everyone. Every one. EVERY ONE. All gone. The equivalent of my hometown, Jeff’s hometown, and the towns surrounding us. More people have died than THAT. 

When I hear people say, “More people died of the flu.” I want to scream. No, they didn’t! 

In 2019, 34,200 people died of the flu in an ENTIRE YEAR. Covid-19 has killed over 80,000 American’s in 7 weeks!  (Source CDC.gov.)

My own family has been impacted by this, and several of my close friends. It’s not a hoax. Ask any of the 80,000 US families who have lost a loved one to it. Or any of the 280k+ families around the world who lost a loved one. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Please stay inside. I know you hate it. So do I. But the more you “exercise your rights” to go out and roam around in the middle of a pandemic because you’re bored, the more people DIE.