Sara’s Diary, Day 74 without baseball: Memorial Day

Memorial Day is supposed to be a day to remember the men and women who have died in military service in the United States. It’s traditionally marked with flags, parades, cookouts and a lot of baseball.

Even as states begin reopening the National Memorial Day Parade was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the cancellation of official events thousands of people threw caution to the wind as they gathered in crowds at beaches, lakes and other outdoor venues. I’m honestly just some mix of horrified, weary and speechless watching people behave so carelessly as the United States approaches 100,000 deaths due to the pandemic.

Perhaps the fact that there are only three wars in the 244-year history of the United States that have killed more Americans than the COVID-19 pandemic is what has me at a loss for words today. So I’ll leave you with the words that resonated with me the most over the weekend.

On Sunday the front pageof the New York Times attempted to tell the stories of 1,000 of the coronavirus deaths that have occurred in a little less than three months. It is the tiniest fraction of the people who have lost their lives so far. The tiniest fraction of people impacted by this pandemic. And a chilling reminder that we still have many months to go.

Sometimes the inadequacy of words is the story.

New York Times