Even people who didn’t get deathly ill. Who aren’t still struggling to recover. Who didn’t lose a loved one—or more than one. Who didn’t bear the brunt of it because of their race and class. Who didn’t lose a job because of it.
Those who didn’t miss out on senior year. Or the play. Or the prom, quinceanera, or bat mitzvah. Those who didn’t sit alone for months. Didn’t shutter their family’s business. Didn’t die of a curable disease because the hospital was full.
Even those who had enough to eat and someone to talk to. Who did not lose their homes. Those whose animals survived.
Even the lucky ones who had internet access and books and music. And who, when a vaccine came along, had access to it, and were not dissuaded by madness.
Even the most privileged among us are living with trauma.
Not one of us has escaped. Not one is unchanged.
Take a moment to be gentle with yourself, and with all whom you encounter. Even the monsters are crying inside.
