I am not in a panic in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and I encourage everyone else to remain calm and take the necessary precautions as we flatten the curve on COVID-19.
As a hand-wringing worrier, deciding not to panic is a pretty big deal for me, especially when it comes to illness.
My decision to keep calm and carry on and continue to vigilantly report the news to the people of Carroll and Montgomery counties can be attributed to two things: the words of a very wise man and an ordinary trip to the grocery store. Let me explain.
In January 2018, my father died after being diagnosed with the flu. Richard Sexton, just 73 at the time of his death, was never sick a day in his life. He exercised daily, was always watching his weight, and only depended on prescriptions to aid in allergy relief and anxiety (a family trait, obviously).
He developed the flu the day after Christmas in 2017, and four days later, he was battling pneumonia and voluntarily placed on a ventilator to give his lungs rest to heal. For 10 days, my sisters and I stood vigil by his bedside. He became septic, and his organs began shutting down. He never regained consciousness.
It has taken a long time, and counseling, for me to talk about my father’s death. My sisters and I still grieve every day for the loss of our father, and seven months later, our mother, from a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Since then, the flu has terrified me. I have seen how the flu will devastate one family while others recover without incident. So, since 2018, I spend about half the year worrying about the flu and praying the strain that killed more than 61,000 people in the United States in 2017-2018 will never return.
When I first heard of coronavirus, I didn’t give it much thought, as it was being battled in other countries, not in the United States. But then, the United States had its first case, and the number of new cases began to increase.
When the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic, I was still skeptical. After all, the flu kills tens of thousands each year, and the United States only had a handful of confirmed cases.
The great race for toilet paper didn’t do much to wane my skepticism. People were at the stores purchasing hundreds of rolls of toilet paper in a panic over the virus, and in several cases, fist fights ensued.
At that time, healthcare leaders from the Mississippi Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control were simply asking people to be vigilant in washing their hands. What exactly was the panic over toilet paper? Paper towels I can understand due to the increase in handwashing, but toilet paper?
I suppose the crisis didn’t get real for me until a case was confirmed in Leflore County. Before that, I was reasoning that because we lived in a rural community with a much smaller population than say Madison or DeSoto counties, we would be insulated from the pandemic. So when, a case was reported so close to home, I began to worry, especially with the virus causing pneumonia and other lung problems.
When Governor Tate Reeves closed schools, my anxiety spiked. If children could not go to school, what would parents in our local community do about childcare? How could they continue to work in our stores, restaurants, service providers, and other small businesses? How would the local economy be affected? How could I urge everyone to support our small businesses, so when this crisis was over, our counties would thrive once again? How would my friends and neighbors and customers and readers endure being forced to stay home until the virus could get under control? I was so fueled by anxiety that I wasn’t sleeping.
Then I got an email from Wyatt Emmerich, the president of Emmerich Newspapers, the company that owns The Winona Times and The Conservative. As a creative, I am driven more by emotion and instinct, while Wyatt is a data person, a number guy. He can look at past trends and current data and develop a sound opinion of what is on the horizon. He is also strong in his faith, which is comforting when a pandemic has been declared.
Wyatt’s email began with one sentence, “I know everybody is stressed. This is the nature of life.”
Then he shared Romans 5:3-5, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
And in a very Wyatt way, he provided seven numbered points to show us that we will all be okay in the end. “Stay calm and carry on,” he said. “This is all we can do.”
He was right. I can fret and worry all day about things completely out of my control, or I can do what I’ve spent my entire adult life doing – reporting the news – and help my community get through this crisis with accurate, up-to-date information on what is happening in Montgomery and Carroll counties.
On Saturday morning, after posting a story about the first case of coronavirus confirmed in Montgomery County on our website, I needed to buy groceries for my family.
Earlier that morning, I talked to my sister in Southaven, and she had been to every store in DeSoto County looking for toilet paper with no luck. Every store was packed, and people were fighting over packs of chicken and other household staples as empty shelves loomed.
There was no way I was going to get into an altercation with someone over toilet paper at a big chain store. No way. I was going to shop at my regular stores close to home.
I headed to SuperValu, where I knew most of the employees, and I hoped that there was still food on the shelves. When I arrived in Winona, the parking lot was full, but there were still parking places. Other customers were calmly pushing buggies of bagged groceries out of the store and waving at friends across the lot. No one seemed angry, and no one had an overloaded buggy of toilet paper.
With my six-year-old son, Dean, pressed to my side with his hands deep in his jeans pockets, as instructed by me in my best drill sergeant voice, we grabbed a buggy and went into the store. I was greeted by the store manager, who was overseeing the front of the store, and a few of my fellow Winona Rotarians picking up a items of their own.
As I maneuvered my way through the store, the shelves were full. I collected all the groceries on my list, and I even landed a four-pack of toilet paper – one pack per customer.
When I finished shopping I pushed my buggy to an open register – all registers were open and checking customers. My groceries were quickly processed, bagged, and ready to be taken to my car by a polite high school senior I knew quite well from his success on the football field for the Tigers.
I know it sounds silly, but that completely uneventful trip to the grocery store gave me a sense of peace. It reminded me of how kind and caring people in this community really are. I have seen that kindness time and time again when tragedy strikes. This community binds together in support, generosity, and prayer.
I’m never surprised by the care and concern in this community, and I am glad I was reminded of this with a little visit to the grocery store.
We will endure this current crisis, and soon, things will be back to a new normal. I hope that new normal includes a greater appreciation for more quality time with our families; our wonderful healthcare workers, first responders and other essential workers, teachers, and small business owners; and a community that is quick to lend a helping hand to those in need.
Stay safe, wash your hands, and practice social distancing.
