To all my North American friends,
I was hesitant about posting this message, another Coronavirus message, but I feel compelled to do so, so here goes.

I'm in Sardegna, and we are in the 'thick of it' right now. "In the thick of it" is relative. We are far from the drama of the major affected areas in Italy, but we do have many cases here. This situation is "unreal", "crazy", "ridiculous", whatever you want to call it, it's REAL. My personal fear is not the virus, and it shouldn't be because most people recover from it. The real fear is the collapse of the health care system. Heaven forbid someone in my family gets the virus and needs to be intensive care...only to find out when they get there that there aren't enough ventilators for them. This is the reality. Italian doctors ARE choosing who lives and possibly dies. Over 60? Unlikely you'll get access to a ventilator if there is someone younger and healthier than you who needs one. Kids? Great carriers, which means they can easily spread it to their grandparents. The statistics go on and on...which I'm sure you've all been reading about. I'm not writing this to encourage a debate. I'm over it. We've been bombarded enough with coronavirus updates/ info/ graphs/ he-said, she-said, etc.

Two weeks ago, I felt the same as many of you. I'm a private business owner and was resistant to closing my studio, until I was forced to. No wages for one month, possibly two, and who knows what the economic situation will be like in the coming months. We are told to stay in our homes. If we leave the house we need to fill out and sign a document in case we get stopped by police. Only one family member is allowed to go to the grocery store at a time. Grocery stores will now be closing on the weekends until at least April 3rd.

What is the point of this message? It isn't to scare anyone. It's a friendly reminder to wake up. We ALL have to do our part, however ridiculous it may seem. Follow the rules. Stop complaining about them (and I get where you're coming from because I am one of the people who was very resistant to all of this madness!). This isn't about this horrible virus that will kill everyone, it's about doing our part and taking care of others around us who are weaker than us.

On a side note, you may have noticed that I've been posting a ton of quarantine posts; playing in the yard with kids, reading a book, etc. So, you might think...quarantine isn't that bad, right? It's not as dire as they say. WRONG! I'm fully aware that there are so many families suffering so much more than we are. Instead of focusing on the negative I have CHOSEN to post POSITIVE. To let YOU know that life goes on, and that we have a choice to wallow in it or just accept it. We are 4 people living in 60 square metre house, so I can surely sit here and complain about THAT all day long!!! But, I don't want to. I want to focus on what we are blessed with right now; living in the countryside, enjoying beautiful weather, and our health. There is chaos going on in the world around us but WE don't have to let the chaos in. Whatever it is that you have to GIVE UP at this time, let it go. Focus on what you HAVE.

You all may be in quarantine in 1-2 weeks time. Prepare yourselves...and I don't mean go buy mass amounts of toilet paper or prepare the bunker! I mean, go buy some books, some board games, whatever else you might need to help you pass time. Do an online course, learn something new, CALL a friend, slow down and spend time with family. But most of all, accept the situation and just wait for it pass.


Post source link below. By Lisa Codina
An abandoned street in Treviso, Italy. Mimmo Lamacchia/ NurPhoto via Getty Images

Link: www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10163154466210424&id=662875423