This cover of The New Yorker says so much about how the coronavirus is affecting people. It tells a story that would take many words to tell and would not be nearly as poignant. Here is a doctor, on duty one evening during the height of the pandemic. We can see her colleagues, rushing and focusing to do their best to help sick and suffering people. The doctor herself has paused for right now. She is stealing a minute to wave goodnight to her husband and children. The children are safe and cozy in bed, hugging their stuffed animals. The husband is taking care of them, and they are all missing her, loving her. They are trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy when they all of them—the parents in particular—know that absolutely nothing is normal and, indeed, the lives of each of them and so many others are at stake.
This illustration speaks of duty, both professional and domestic. It speaks volumes about love. It reminds us of how love gives us the courage to grab the treasured ordinary in the midst of the frightening extraordinary, because those moments of ordinary treasures become, in such times, the most important thing in the world to take care of.
May you give and receive moments of beauty during this hard time.
Image Credit:
- Ware Bedtime 040620: Chris Ware, The New Yorker
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