The Front Door of the Cedar Street Cinema in Manistique,
We are living in historic times reminiscent of both the 1918 “Spanish” influenza pandemic and the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
People’s lives have been turned upside down, and it is difficult to plan beyond today or this week. The way forward is uncertain. The Upper Peninsula has thus far been spared the devastating numbers of virus cases and deaths that has ravaged Detroit and its suburbs. The danger of course, is that any widespread outbreak here would quickly overwhelm our rural hospitals and sideline many of our health care professionals.
Now is a time when all our instincts tell us to come together and support one another; yet we must be “socially distant” to avoid spreading the virus and to stay healthy. Even our worship services are experienced remotely “on-line.”
The Bostique Store Front in downtown Manistique.
Sign at the Good Neighbors Thrift Store
In 1918, the nationwide death toll from the “Spanish” influenza reached 165,000, with additional waves of the virus in 1920, 1921 and 1922 with thousands more deaths. During late November and December of 1918, thirty-two people in Schoolcraft County died from influenza and related pneumonia, the vast majority under the age of 30.
Until there is a vaccine, we will be challenged to adjust to a “new normal.” In the meantime, we can support our local food-banks, order “take-out” at our restaurants, patronize local business by ordering on-line or buying gift certificates, and reassure our children that this strange time will someday be over; we just don’t know when. We all can do our part.
You also might consider keeping a journal so your grandchildren will know what life was like back in the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.